Dr. Leslie Rodriguez, an El Paso Community College (EPCC) alumna, recently returned to her alma mater to present cutting-edge vaccine research and share her journey from hesitant student to accomplished scientist. According to EPCC News, Dr. Rodriguez's seminar at the Transmountain Campus focused on her doctoral research, which includes a dissertation on "γδ T Cells Mediate Protective Immunity Following Vaccination with an Insect-Based Chikungunya Fever Vaccine in Mice."
The occasion marked a full circle for Rodriguez, who graduated from EPCC with an Associate of Science in Biology in 2017. "Fun fact, when I started at EPCC, I actually did not want to do research! I wanted to be an MD," Rodriguez shared, as per EPCC News. Her mindset shifted after engagement in the college's Rise to the Challenge program, which propelled her into research and beyond. Rodriguez completed a B.S. in Biomedical Sciences at UTEP in 2019 and earned her Ph.D. from the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), Galveston, where she also studied SARS-CoV-2 vaccines.
Dr. Rodriguez credits much of her success to the encouragement she received during her time at EPCC. EPCC Biology Professor and Director of the Rise to the Challenge program, Dr. Maria Alvarez, touted Rodriguez's trajectory as a model for students, expressing pride in her engagement in amazing activities."She has conducted cutting-edge research and published her work on SARS-CoV-2 and Chikungunya fever vaccines. She is an excellent role model for our students, and we are very proud of her," Alvarez told EPCC News.
