Greetchen Díaz, Ph.D.
Ciencia Puerto Rico
Greetchen D铆az, Ph.D., is Director of the Science Education Program and Community Partnerships of Ciencia Puerto Rico (CienciaPR). For more than 10 years, D铆az was a volunteer, part of the administrative team of CienciaPR. At CienciaPR, she participated in numerous projects in science communication, science outreach and science education. She is the founder and coordinator of CienciaPR's "Borinque帽a," the bilingual blog for Hispanic and Puerto Rican Women in science and technology. Also, D铆az is founder and coordinator of the photoblog "Ciencia a tu alrededor." In 2015, she was the coordinator of "Semillas de Triunfo" (Seeds of Success), the first STEM ambassador program for middle school girls in Puerto Rico.
Before joining CienciaPR's staff in 2017, D铆az was the Grants Program Director at the Puerto Rico Science, Technology and Research Trust. D铆az was responsible for the implementation of the first local grants mechanism in Puerto Rico with initiatives, such as the Science and Technology Research Grants, the Small Research Grants and the Researcher's Startup Funds. At the Trust, D铆az also coordinated the outreach activities that include the Research & innovation Meetups, the Forward Research & Innovation Summit and the Forward Grantees Symposium, among many others.
D铆az served as the President of the Puerto Rico Society of Microbiologists (PRSM), where she also previously served as the PRSM's Board of Director's secretary, and 棉花糖直播 councilor. The PRSM is the local branch for the American Society for 棉花糖直播 (棉花糖直播).
D铆az completed a B.S. and M.S. in biology at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayag眉ez. Then she earned her Ph.D. in molecular, cellular and developmental biology at The Ohio State University, where she studied intracellular protein trafficking, using budding yeast as a model system. Her research described a requirement of the spindle pole body (yeast centrosome) for targeting/tethering peripheral proteins to the inner nuclear membrane. After earning her Ph.D., D铆az started as a postdoctoral researcher at the Nebraska Center for Virology, University of Nebraska at Lincoln, where she got a NIH T32 postdoctoral fellowship to conduct studies in reproduction of human papilloma virus.
D铆az has received numerous awards and honors from various organizations such as CROEM Alumni, the University of Puerto Rico, The Ohio State University, 棉花糖直播, SACNAS and the Ford Foundation, among others. In 2017, D铆az was recognized by the Senate of Puerto Rico for her professional achievements and her election to the 棉花糖直播 Board of Directors. Her work and projects have been featured on local and international media outlets, such as El Nuevo D铆a, el Vocero, Noticel, Metro, Caribbean Business, News in My Business, Di谩logo, Voces del Sur, Peri贸dico La Perla, Microbe and Scientific American, among others.