My name is Juana Lizbeth Zamora-Reyes (Liz Zamora). I am an LGBTQ+, Hispanic woman, and I am the first person in my family to graduate from college with a degree in the STEM field. Currently, I am pursuing research to discover important mechanisms of entry and viral-surface characterizations of deadly viruses. I have built my academic and research background to have strengths in several fields of biology, more specifically, molecular biology, and virology. During my undergraduate career at California State University San Bernardino (CSUSB), I conducted research in the laboratory of Dr. Laura L. Newcomb. In this lab, I performed research on the Influenza A nucleoprotein.  While in the Newcomb lab,  I determined the role of nucleoprotein in virual production. I continue to pursue studies in virology at Cornell University as a graduate student in the Biological and Biomedical Sciences PhD program, working with Dr. Hector Aguilar-Carreno. As my main project, I am characterizing the roles of several Nipah virus fusion protein regions during the membrane fusion cascade and viral entry. Other secondary projects I am actively involved with include using flow virometry and viral sorting techniques to characterize enveloped RNA viruses. I am excited to move forward in the scientific community. In my spare time, I love listening to and making music!

Liz Zamora