Maribel Patiño
M.D./Ph.D. in Neuroscience
- Profile
Profile
Maribel Patiño is an M.D./Ph.D. candidate in neuroscience at the University of California, San Diego. Her research involves developing innovative circuit mapping neurotechnology by combining viral tracing with single-cell transcriptomics. This work seeks to create a tool that will allow the field to study cortical circuits at a new resolution. Maribel was awarded the Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans and was recognized by the Society for Neuroscience as a Neuroscience Scholars Program fellow. She received a Bachelor of Arts in molecular and cellular biology from the University of California, Berkeley where she was awarded the department’s I.L. Chaikoff Memorial Award and was a recipient of the NSF-California Alliance for Minority Participation (NSF-CAMP) Fellowship, the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship, and the UC Berkeley Bergeron Scholarship. Maribel co-founded Colors of the Brain, an award-winning graduate student organization dedicated to increasing diversity in neuroscience through direct mentorship and informational sessions. She was also instrumental in launching the Colors of the Brain-Kavli Institute for Brain & Mind Scholars Program, a paid summer research program for minoritized UCSD undergraduate students. She also serves as a graduate mentor for STARTneuro and Chicanos/Latinos for Community Medicine. Maribel seeks to establish a career where she can combine her interest in healthcare and basic science to deepen our understanding of the mechanisms that underlie neurological and psychiatric diseases, while continuing to advocate for STEM diversification.