Arianna Gómez (she/her/ella) is a doctoral candidate in the Molecular Medicine and Mechanisms of Disease PhD program at the University of Washington (UW). She is completing her doctoral degree in the laboratory of Dr. Dan Doherty, whose lab focuses on human hindbrain malformation conditions. Her project goal is to determine how Hedgehog signaling is disrupted across genetic causes of Joubert syndrome. Her project will provide a basis for future work to better understand abnormal brain development in JS and identify the highest value targets for future precision therapies. Arianna’s doctoral studies have been funded by the Graduate Opportunity and Minority Achievement Program (GO-MAP) Research Assistant Award, the Molecular Medicine T32 training grant, and the GO-MAP Dissertation Fellowship. In 2020, Arianna was selected as a Yale Ciencia Academy Career Development fellow, a competitive year long program that provides doctoral students from underrepresented backgrounds with opportunities for mentoring, networking, skills development, and contributing to their communities through science outreach.

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Outside of the lab, Arianna is involved in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts around the UW campus to recruit and retain graduate students from historically marginalized groups. She serves as a GO-MAP Outreaching Grad and is the graduate student representative for the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology Diversity and Equity Committee. With help from other M3D graduate students, Arianna is leading the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology outreach partnership with Denny International Middle school. From 2017-2019, she served as an officer (Secretary and President) for the UW Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) chapter. In the future, Arianna either wants to run her own lab or work in higher education administration. In either role, she will work to reduce barriers in STEM for individuals from historically marginalized backgrounds. In her spare time, she likes to read, spend time with her dog, and paint.

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Thank you Arianna for being a part of the 2020 Summer PR2ISM program!