In early October I had the joy of attending the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science national conference held in San Antonio, TX. Not only was it amazing to be back in the south in the land of queso and the word ya'll, but my family drove down to tour the city as well during my down time.
This conference was a bit different experience for me, as it was the first conference I attended as a recruiter for UW-Madison and my graduate program, Cellular & Molecular Pathology. I had a blast connecting with undergraduates intent on succeeding in graduate school and sharing my experiences during the application phase as well as during my time at UW-Madison. I even found a few McNair Scholars (including a fellow OU McNair alum Paul Delgado pictured below) with whom I was able to connect with. Minority/Diversity inclusion programs such as SACNAS, McNair, LSAMP, & more are programs which I believe strongly in and will continue to support as they teach students such as myself the lessons and skills to become competitive applicants for graduate programs. Without the support of my OU McNair Family during undergrad (& the continued support of my SciMed GRS cohort in grad school), I would not be where I am today. So thank you to Dr. Sophia Morren & my OU McNair family for your continued support and encouragement of my ambitious dreams! Fingers crossed I will see a few familiar faces interviewing with UW-Madison this spring! 

At the end of September, I had the honor of traveling with a few scientists from my lab to visit Tokyo, Japan for the International Federation of Placenta Associations international conference! There I attended 4 days of seminars and workshops focusing on placental research in both clinical and research areas. I was selected to present a poster titled "Human endometrial epithelial cells resist Listeria monocytogenes infection in vitro against strains deficient in Internalin A, but not Internalin B". As you can tell, my poster was very stylized and a great representation of me as a scientist which I am very proud of! In addition, I am so honored to be chosen for an NIH New Investigator Travel Award to aid in covering the costs of attending the conference. Japan itself was an amazing experience! We ate much sushi and ramen, visited numerous temples and shrines, and toured a myriad of historical sites and museums!