Daniela Lucas

I was born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela. My family and I immigrated to the United States in 2015, with hopes of a better future for us all. I was determined to make a positive impact to make my parent's immigration efforts worthwhile.  It all started with a  full ride scholarship at a local community college, Miami Dade College. Unsure of what to pursue, I started to look back into my past and what inspired me. From a young age, I have been exposed to the medical field because my dad is a doctor.

The ability to have an impact like my dad had on his patient's and my inner child dreams of becoming a scientist made me want to pursue a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering  at the University of Florida. My research was split between two labs: Dr. Murfee's Lab in which I was able to understand  basic physiological concepts about the microvasculature in tissues to develop models that allow the study of alternative solutions for cancer treatments; and Dr. O'Dell's Lab in which I understood the value of intersecting engineering methods and clinical scenarios to learn more about tissues, in the case the heart, and important cardiac functions and mechanisms. Even though these laboratories were very different, they revolved around the same topic, cardiovascular engineering. These experiences showed me the importance of research in academia making me realize I wanted to pursue a PhD. After long applications and tough decisions, I accepted my admission to UCSD, given their bioengineering department’s strengths in cardiovascular engineering and their historical focus on microcirculation. I hope that as I develop as a professional and work towards my future goals, I also inspire younger Latinas to pursue careers in STEM and understand that we also "belong" in the STEM field.