​I have always been naturally curious growing up in Arizona, so it is no wonder I ended up pursuing a career as a scientist.  I used to have jars of insects in my room, let my lunch items mold just to observe the changes, and was always outside making lists of birds, plants, and rocks. So I was lucky my mother put up with my curiosities and let me buy lots of books on different subjects growing up. My mother helped support my passions in life and as I got older I was inspired by my mentors from different programs like Si Se Puede Foundation and Arizona State University’s Los Diablos.  I saw people leading change in the community and people with similar cultural experiences as mine being Latinx clinicians and professors. I think it was a culmination of these things that really motivated me to pursue a career in science, to eventually be that person for others as well, and is part of my path that led me back here to University of Arizona. 
 
I recently defended my Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia this summer. My graduate work was centered on microbiome research working with VCU’s Vaginal Microbiome Consortium (VMC). My research for the VMC encompassed comparative genomics of cervicovaginal bacteria especially Bifidobacterium species, understanding correlations between the cervicovaginal microbiome in reproductive health and disease, as well as maternal-infant microbial transmission and toddler health progression. I joined Dr. Melissa Herbst-Kralovetz’s lab at University of Arizona’s College of Medicine-Phoenix July 2021 and have been using both my passion for advocacy work and science to assist with my research on the cervicovaginal microbiome.
 
 I am currently facilitating research as a postdoctoral researcher investigating the cervicovaginal microbiome and its role in endometrial cancer and gynecologic conditions like endometriosis. Specifically, I am utilizing my skills in microbiome analysis, microbial genomics, computational biology to better understand potential oncogenic bacteria and beneficial bacteria like Lactobacillus and their contributions to the cervicovaginal microenvironment in health and disease. I am also assisting in a collaborative project between Dr. Herbst-Kralovetz and Dr. Greg Caporaso’s group, creator of the popular Qiime2 microbiome software, from Northern Arizona University to look at the microbiome’s role in endometrial cancer, I am specifically analyzing the low-microbial biomass body site of the endometrium to validate our findings of this site. I am delighted to be part of Dr. Herbst-Kralovetz’s lab as we are currently using multi-omic approaches with immunoproteomics, metabolomics, and genomics in conjunction with the lab’s 3-D human cell models and large clinical studies to set the foundation for creation of innovative microbial biomarker diagnostics. In addition, our lab’s societal goals of expediting the research pipeline from bench to bedside tries to focus on health disparities within gynecologic conditions in context to Arizona’s diverse populations with many studies focusing on the Hispanic/Latinx, Native American, Aging communities. Thanks to Dr. Herbst-Kralovetz’s mentorship and collaboration, I was recently awarded a postdoctoral fellowship from the Community Foundation of Southern Arizona to begin work on studying three new bacteria that were recently classified as Atopobium vaginae, a key vaginal bacteria linked to the most common vaginal disorder bacterial vaginosis, that has also recently been associated with cervical and endometrial cancers. We hypothesize that there are different cancer-causing contributions amongst these three novel vaginal bacteria. Our first goal of this project is to analyze the “cancer-causing” potential of these newly identified bacteria using a well-characterized 3-D human endocervical cell model in the lab. While our second goal is to evaluate the clinical phenotypic presentation and microbiome relationship of these novel bacteria in two previously collected cervical and endometrial cancer cohorts. Potential clinical and immunometabolic differences seen from this study could impact early diagnostics and future clinical care of gynecologic cancers and provide insight into potential oncogenic mechanisms of bacteria that inhabit the cervicovaginal environment.
 
While much of my time is dedicated to my research, I also like to be heavily involved in different advocacy initiatives on and off campus. During my time at ASU (undergrad) and VCU(grad), I began advocating for science, STEM education, diversity, and mental health and well-being for the campus. These outside activities have taught me the importance of inclusivity in research and dissemination of science to the public. Although plenty busy with my research and advocacy work, I find time to unwind by playing intramural sports like dodgeball, hiking, crafting cocktails, cooking, reading, and being a cat mom. Want to chat about science or why Arizona is a great state, reach out via LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimeneznr/) or follow me on Instagram(@Prettyfly4asci) and Twitter(@ScientistNicole).
 
 

​My main research interest is autonomous systems and robotics as well as simulation technologies in medicine. During my Ph.D. studies and the postdoc period at the University of Arizona, I have mainly focused on development of medical robotic systems especially for minimally invasive surgery (MIS) training. MIS has been widely performed in the last three decades and is integrated into modern day surgical practice. Its advantages are widely acknowledged, with benefits of minimizing blood loss, post-operative pain, and reducing recovery time. However, this surgical technique is more challenging than open surgery and has a steeper learning curve. This is due to the need for special surgical instruments, laparoscopes and logistical issues of viewing the 3 dimensional (3D) operating field on a 2 dimensional (2D) digital display. Given the complexity of learning and performing MIS, it is required to develop novel simulation-based training systems which enhance training procedures in non-patient based settings.
I have been developing a novel training system called Computer-Assisted Surgical Trainer (CAST) for laparoscopic surgical skills training with my supervisor, Dr. Jerzy W. Rozenblit, through the NSF grant in Smart and Connected Health Program. As a lead researcher, I designed a visual and force guidance system as well as an assessment system to actively assist a trainee. Given a specific training task, CAST can provide visual and force guidance to assist a trainee using augmented reality (AR) rendering to convey depth information and fuzzy adaptive sliding mode controllers to adjust force feedback based on a trainee’s performance, respectively. Also, a scoring system with achievable goal-based evaluation metrics such as total time, idle time, average speed, path length, and direction profile has been developed to evaluate trainees’ performance objectively.
Currently, I am designing a “virtual coaching” system which provides personalized learning programs tailored to individual strengths and weaknesses for both standard laparoscopic surgery training and robotic surgery training. Computer-assistance in the form of guidance for manipulation of robotic arms or standard laparoscopic surgery instruments can be a step forward towards virtual coaching systems and, subsequently, improved and more efficient training. The novel guidance systems will ultimately improve patients’ safety as well as surgeons’ skills acquisition and maintenance.
During my master’s degree studies, I developed a mobile robot for mobile haptic interface in large immersive virtual environments. Based on the human-machine interaction research outcomes with current research outcomes in medicine, I am pursuing a robotic nursing assistant system through a Postdoctoral Research Development Grant. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed our lives in many ways. Especially, in hospitals, we may need robotic systems to assist healthcare workers by minimizing workers exposure to patients with the highly contagious virus. A robotic nursing assistant is envisioned to be an intelligent system which consists of sensing, perception, and actuation layers. The initial research of the robotic nursing system will be a basis for the future research. The novel robotic systems are not limited to medical domain but can also be applied for various applications such as space exploration and rescue operations. 

​Organic pollutants (dyes, pesticides, explosives, pharmaceuticals, etc.) are constantly released into the environment due to human activities. Many of these compounds are xenobiotics, which means that microorganisms in nature have never seen them before (please, imagine Mariah Carey's "I don't know her" meme). Luckily, some microorganisms can adapt to this major inconvenience. For example, enzymes used for naturally occurring substrates can end up degrading a new contaminant in the environment. Alternatively, microorganisms can evolve and develop new specific enzymes to do that. However, microbes are not alone in nature or engineered systems (e.g., a biological reactor treating wastewater). Instead, they are surrounded – and affected to – by other microorganisms, water, nutrients, inert or reactive minerals, natural organic matter, gases, etc.  The organic contaminants and their biotransformation products (i.e., whatever the microbes transformed the contaminants to) can also react with these other components, affecting the contaminants' environmental fate and generating final products with different toxicity levels. Most of my experimental work (yes, it does involve long hours working at the lab bench) consists of breaking these complex environments into smaller pieces, which we call microcosms, to discover what chemical and biological phenomena are occurring after a new compound gets released in the environment. My research philosophy is to generate solutions to remediate environmental contamination by organic pollutants and, in the process, to find out how nature works.
This whole scientific journey started as a kid in my parents' backyard when I observed that the water with red ink that I had exhaustively extracted from a marker pencil became clear after passing it through a pot with soil (poor plants!). Years later, more formally, during my graduate studies at the Federal University of Pernambuco (Brazil), I initially worked with the treatment of azo dyes, which are largely released by the fashion industry in many aquatic environments. I optimized oxygen injection in a biological reactor to transform heavily contaminated textile wastewater into a non-toxic effluent. Next, I worked with the environmental remediation of explosive contaminants released on the soil by military activities, especially in four different topics: the ability of some reactive minerals in the soils and aquatic sediments to degrade explosives; the unusual phenomenon of soil bacteria making a living breathing an explosive; the (bio)degradation of a product of explosives compounds in contaminated wastewater; and the oligomerization reactions that lock the contaminant inside complex humic substances, which is a safe dead-end for some explosives in the environment.
During my postdoc at the University of Arizona, where I am supervised by Dr. Jim A. Field and Dr. Reyes Sierra-Alvarez, I am currently investigating the remediation of nitro-aromatics (including but not limited to explosives) using the soil natural organic matter's ability to shuttle electrons between biological and chemical systems in subsurface environments. The intense knowledge exchange with the brilliant people in the research group has made my research life fulfilling. Furthermore, it is evident to me how the new challenges and responsibilities as a postdoc are quickly preparing me for my career.

​As a post-doctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Frank Porreca, my research has focused on studying orofacial pain.  My approach has been to use pharmacology, genetics and animal behavior. My professional goal is to establish a research program that focuses on the exploration of neural, immune and hormonal mechanisms that promote migraine pathophysiology disproportionally in women and to uncover mechanisms that can be exploited for the development of new therapies that will help patients suffering from this debilitating and often chronic condition.
Migraine is a common, disabling neurological disorder with a strong genetic component that impairs patients’ quality of life.  Currently available therapies are effective in less than half of people with migraine. During my post-doctoral period, I have published several studies on preclinical assessment of migraine and other underlying headache and craniofacial pain disorders with a goal of understanding mechanisms that may promote pain. One of the problems with preclinical studies of migraine is that we cannot replicate the genetic basis that underlies the human condition. For this reason, surrogate strategies have to be used to model the disorder mechanistically. I recently developed an injury-free model of migraine-like pain by evaluating the effect of inhalational exposure of umbellulone, an agonist at TRPA1 receptors that are found on afferent fibers innervating the cranial meninges.  Umbellulone is the major volatile constituent of Umbellularia californica, commonly known as the “headache tree”.  Anecdotal reports reveal that people with underlying primary headache disorders can develop migraine and cluster headache when exposed to the tree, likely from this volatile substance.  Importantly, however, people without headache disorders do not experience headache attacks with umbellulone suggesting a requirement for pre-existing vulnerability.  I approached this by subjecting mice to repeated episodes of stress, another known trigger of migraine, to induce vulnerability. Repeated episodes of stress induced a “sensitized” state in mice so that a normally subthreshold stimulus, i.e., umbellulone, now produced pain behaviors that were reminiscent of migraine-like pain. I then used this model to study possible mechanisms relevant to migraine and to investigate new anti-migraine therapies.  Using this model, I found that activation of the protease activated receptor 2 (PAR2) receptor could produce migraine-like pain in vulnerable animals and that systemic administration of a monoclonal PAR2 antibody could be an effective preventive migraine therapy. I am currently working with a major pharmaceutical company in their efforts to perform a clinical trial in migraine patients with this antibody.
Currently, I have been using genetically modified mice, CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing as well as opto- and chemogenetic methods to explore the peripheral and central neural circuits that can promote migraine pain and that might contribute to the sexually dimorphic nature of migraine. I have also focused on understanding of the neurobiology of the different phases of migraine, including especially the premonitory phase, which appears to be the critical period in which the pain attack begins and represents the transition point from the interictal phase.  Finding ways to extend the duration of the interictal phase would allow us to prevent the transition of episodic migraine to chronic migraine.
These experiences have led me to improve as a scholar and to become competitive for research funding.  I had the honor of receiving my first competitive extramural grant as a principal investigator in 2019. This year, I was delighted to receive an Honorable Mention from the review committee of University of Arizona Postdoctoral Affairs, as one of four finalists for the 2021 Outstanding Postdoctoral Scholar Award. The recognition and my collective experiences will increase my confidence in competing for future grants, aiding my transition to independent status as my career progresses.  My goal is to pursue studies of high significance that will be impactful in helping the overall efforts of the headache research community to improve therapy for patients with migraine, post-traumatic headache and other craniofacial pain disorders.As a post-doctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Frank Porreca, my research has focused on studying orofacial pain.  My approach has been to use pharmacology, genetics and animal behavior. My professional goal is to establish a research program that focuses on the exploration of neural, immune and hormonal mechanisms that promote migraine pathophysiology disproportionally in women and to uncover mechanisms that can be exploited for the development of new therapies that will help patients suffering from this debilitating and often chronic condition.
Migraine is a common, disabling neurological disorder with a strong genetic component that impairs patients’ quality of life.  Currently available therapies are effective in less than half of people with migraine. During my post-doctoral period, I have published several studies on preclinical assessment of migraine and other underlying headache and craniofacial pain disorders with a goal of understanding mechanisms that may promote pain. One of the problems with preclinical studies of migraine is that we cannot replicate the genetic basis that underlies the human condition. For this reason, surrogate strategies have to be used to model the disorder mechanistically. I recently developed an injury-free model of migraine-like pain by evaluating the effect of inhalational exposure of umbellulone, an agonist at TRPA1 receptors that are found on afferent fibers innervating the cranial meninges.  Umbellulone is the major volatile constituent of Umbellularia californica, commonly known as the “headache tree”.  Anecdotal reports reveal that people with underlying primary headache disorders can develop migraine and cluster headache when exposed to the tree, likely from this volatile substance.  Importantly, however, people without headache disorders do not experience headache attacks with umbellulone suggesting a requirement for pre-existing vulnerability.  I approached this by subjecting mice to repeated episodes of stress, another known trigger of migraine, to induce vulnerability. Repeated episodes of stress induced a “sensitized” state in mice so that a normally subthreshold stimulus, i.e., umbellulone, now produced pain behaviors that were reminiscent of migraine-like pain. I then used this model to study possible mechanisms relevant to migraine and to investigate new anti-migraine therapies.  Using this model, I found that activation of the protease activated receptor 2 (PAR2) receptor could produce migraine-like pain in vulnerable animals and that systemic administration of a monoclonal PAR2 antibody could be an effective preventive migraine therapy. I am currently working with a major pharmaceutical company in their efforts to perform a clinical trial in migraine patients with this antibody.
Currently, I have been using genetically modified mice, CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing as well as opto- and chemogenetic methods to explore the peripheral and central neural circuits that can promote migraine pain and that might contribute to the sexually dimorphic nature of migraine. I have also focused on understanding of the neurobiology of the different phases of migraine, including especially the premonitory phase, which appears to be the critical period in which the pain attack begins and represents the transition point from the interictal phase.  Finding ways to extend the duration of the interictal phase would allow us to prevent the transition of episodic migraine to chronic migraine.
These experiences have led me to improve as a scholar and to become competitive for research funding.  I had the honor of receiving my first competitive extramural grant as a principal investigator in 2019. This year, I was delighted to receive an Honorable Mention from the review committee of University of Arizona Postdoctoral Affairs, as one of four finalists for the 2021 Outstanding Postdoctoral Scholar Award. The recognition and my collective experiences will increase my confidence in competing for future grants, aiding my transition to independent status as my career progresses.  My goal is to pursue studies of high significance that will be impactful in helping the overall efforts of the headache research community to improve therapy for patients with migraine, post-traumatic headache and other craniofacial pain disorders.

I have been fascinated since I was an undergraduate by the human immune system, which in its elegance is both a fundamental and complicated system in our body. The system distinguishes the components of foreign pathogens or viruses from our self components and keeps up the pathogen surveillance. If pathogens or viruses invade our body, the immune system mobilizes immune cells and clears these invaders. The invader's information is relayed from cell to cell and is memorized in cells to respond quickly during a future attack, just like human society. But sometimes, this elaborate system mischaracterizes our self components as pieces of hostile foreigners and starts to attack our body. This abnormal condition is called 'autoimmunity'. The trigger of autoimmunity has not been clear despite big efforts by the researchers. 'Why our immune system attacks ourself? What happens in the immune system during an autoimmune disease?’. My journey into immune research is a quest to answer these simple yet profound questions.
 
I have learned immunology under the mentoring of Dr. Takeshi Watanabe and obtained my Ph.D. from Kyoto University in Japan. In my Ph.D. work, I focused on a type of T cells in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), which is one of the autoimmune diseases, and elucidated how T cells contribute to continuous inflammation at the local site in the patients by investigating RA patients’ samples. Through my Ph.D. work, the more I knew about a piece of the immune system, the more I was engrossed in immunology. I gradually desired to apply my knowledge and skills to the treatment of patients.

This passion drove me to work on the five modules CAR (5MCAR) project led by Dr. Michael S. Kuhns (University of Arizona, AZ) and Dr. Thomas Serwold (Joslin Diabetes Center, MA). The 5MCAR technology is based on the chimeric receptor (CAR) technology and aims to target pathogenic T cells. T cells expressing 5MCAR can eliminate only specific T cells via the receptor. We applied 5MCAR technology for the treatment of Type 1 diabetes (T1D), which is an autoimmune disease and is caused by pathogenic autoimmune T cells. Our data showed that 5MCAR expressing T cells eliminated only pathogenic T cells in T1D mouse models and prevented the onset of T1D in the mice. These results indicate that the 5MCAR technology has the potential for the treatment of not only T1D but also diseases caused by pathogenic T cells. We are now trying to apply the 5MCAR technology for the treatment of T-Lymphoma.
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I have had a fulfilling research life at the University of Arizona under the mentorship of Drs. Kuhns and Michael Worobey, support from the university, especially the BIO5 Fellowship, and by Arizona's incredible culture. My journey into immune research is in its prologue. There is a long and rocky road ahead to answer my research questions and apply our technology to clinical studies. However, I am going to continue this scientific quest to impart my knowledge and skills to the patients diagnosed with autoimmune diseases.

am I am an archaeologist and anthropologist, studying the complex and dynamic relationship between humans and their environments. I focus on the settlement of the Americas in modern day Alaska and in the Northwestern Plains.

In Alaska, I am building upon my doctoral work in researching archaeological sites that date to the end of the Ice Age and are among the oldest in North America. I focus on the study of animal bones both visually (zooarchaeology) and chemically (isotope analysis) to understand the changing environments that hunter-gatherers experienced and how they interacted with other species. In this endeavor, I work closely with University of Alaska geoarchaeologist and University of Arizona alumnus Dr. Joshua Reuther.
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In the Blackfoot Early Origins Project, Dr. Nieves Zedeño and I are working with tribes of the Blackfoot Confederacy in Montana and Alberta to understand how the Blackfoot and their ancestors have interacted with their landscape for thousands of years. We train tribal members in field methods, allowing them to pursue rewarding careers with cultural resource management companies. Several University of Arizona graduate students also receive training and develop their own research programs as part of the project. We translate much of our research into educational material to be used by Blackfoot educators, including interactive maps of the Blackfoot ancestral territory and its archaeological record.

Symbiosis, or the co-existence of organisms, is a fundamental factor in maintaining the structure of the ecosystem, as well as in the development and evolution of species. Its importance has been increasingly recognized in various aspects of biological research and changed our perspectives on many topics. Instead of focusing solely on individual species, more and more studies are taking into consideration the influences from symbionts when investigating certain behavior of an animal, the evolution of specific traits, or structural changes in a population.

A unique case of symbiosis is the mutualistic relationship between the spotted salamander Ambystoma maculatum embryos and the green alga Oophila amblystomatis. The algae appear inside the salamander eggs during development and become so abundant that the entire egg clutch turns green (see attached picture). Recent discoveries revealed algal presence inside the embryonic cells. Such intracellular symbiosis has never been reported between animal and algal cells. It was also found that the embryo would turn down its immune defense to allow the presence of the algae. Does the embryo tolerate these green symbionts to obtain nutrients? Or maybe the algae protect the embryo from harmful bacteria? Early experiments showed that without algae, the survival/hatching rate of embryos dropped significantly. Further studies suggested that the algae may provide extra oxygen for the embryo to survive stressful conditions. However, to date, there is no direct evidence of material exchange between the algae and the embryo. Moreover, little is known about the influence of algae on the bacterial community inside salamander eggs, which plays a critical role in embryo survival and immune system development.

My research goal is to address these questions using two approaches: 1) track the fate of essential biomolecules such as sugars and amino acids that are produced by the algae, and 2) investigate the impact of algal symbiont on the bacterial community structure. For approach 1, I am currently working in Dr. Solange Duhamel’s laboratory at the University of Arizona to establish an Oophila laboratory culture labelled with stable isotopes (13C, 15N). For this approach, I will be working with collaborator Dr. John Burns at the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences to prepare salamander samples that will be injected with 13C and/or 15N labeled Oophila. Further, I will collaborate with scientists at Stony Brook University and Arizona State University to visualize the isotopes in algae-inhabited salamander cells using nano-Raman molecular imaging and nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometry (nanoSIMS), respectively. For approach 2,  I will visit Dr. Ryan Kerney’s laboratory at Gettysburg College and conduct a series of experiments in his laboratory to compare bacterial abundance and taxonomic diversity in eggs that harbor algae with eggs that do not have algae. With combined expertise of three collaborating laboratories and state-of-the-art technologies, we are expecting to answer some lingering questions and provide new insights in understanding the alga-salamander symbiosis.
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My interest in developmental and evolutionary biology grew during my PhD study while I was working on a group of microscopic invertebrates called rotifers. Specifically, I was interested in the ultrastructure and evolution of their extracorporeal sheath (a defensive structure secreted by some species of Superorder Gnesiotrocha). Fascinated by the intricate yet diverse design of nature, I decided to delve further into the field of development and evolution. Here at University of Arizona, my journey entered a new chapter. Along with new opportunities came great challenges and responsibilities. However, with the mentorship of Dr. Duhamel and the support from the university, especially the BIO5 Fellowship, I have been able to face those challenges and strengthen my skills for my future career. 

​Viruses are the most abundant biological entity on Earth and infect all domains of life. They have been shown to be a driving force of several important processes in many ecosystems, such as nutrient cycling and bacterial diversity modulation in the oceans. Metagenomic approaches have recently enabled an unprecedented understanding of the viral diversity and the interactions between micro-organisms in many ecosystems.
 
I became fascinated by the role and diversity of viruses in ecosystems while working as a master’s student in Dr. Wilhelm’s lab at the university of Tennessee. So, when I joined Dr. Hurwitz lab as a postdoctoral fellow, I was excited to work on developing bioinformatics tools and methods for the identification of novel viral sequences from environmental metagenomes. My current work aims to improve current computational methods by combining cutting-edge approaches, such as machine learning and natural language processing techniques with more traditional bioinformatics algorithms. One of the hurdles that currently impairs the study of viruses in their ecosystems is the difficulty to recover full-length virus genome sequences from natural populations. Recently, the new single-molecule long-read sequencing technologies (such as Oxford nanopore) has provided an unprecedented opportunity to recover entire viral genomes from a single viral particle. With that in mind, I was really excited by the opportunity the Postdoctoral Research Training Grant (PRTG) provides for postdocs to acquire new skills. I am extremely grateful of the PRTG to support my training in sample preparation and sequencing of viral genomes using nanopore technology, that I hope to complete this fall under the supervision of experts in this novel technique.
 
While much of my research focuses on new computational approaches to unravel the role and interplay of viruses and microbes in their environment, I am also passionate about the development of tools and methods to help researchers share and interconnect the product of their research to ensure long-term availability and reproducibility. In the Hurwitz lab, I was involved in the development of a web-platform called Planet Microbe (https://planetmicrobe.org), for the integration of marine metagenomics datasets in their broader environmental context. Since February 2020, I joined the first Data Science fellow cohort at University of Arizona Data Science institute. As a fellow, I am given the opportunity to be part of an exciting cohort of postdocs that share a common passion for data science but has a very diverse background. This has brought a lot of great discussions and exchanges that certainly pushed me to discover new technologies and analytical methods to enrich my research projects.