Dr. Jamie Garcia Joins JCC as the Associate Director of Scientific Partnerships and Engagement
Dr. Jamie Garcia has joined the Jane Coffin Childs Fund for Medical Research as the Associate Director of Scientific Partnerships and Engagement. Dr. Garcia obtained her PhD from Duke University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Vanderbilt University where she interned with the Health Research Alliance before joining JCC.
Scientific Journey
Garcia is originally from California and attended UCLA for her undergraduate studies. She majored in Physiological Science and thought she would be a nutritionist or a physical therapist. However, around that time she joined the Program for Excellence in Education and Research in the Sciences (PEERS). In addition to general education science courses, PEERS allowed her to attend cutting-edge scientific seminars and gain first-hand research experience in the lab. This experience piqued her interest in the biological sciences. Perhaps more importantly, PEERS expanded Garcia’s perception of who could be a scientist and helped her envision herself in that role.
The next step on Garcia’s scientific journey took her to Duke University for her PhD. There Garcia revealed the structural role of caveolae in notochord development using zebrafish, genetic mutants, and elegant microscopy imaging.
Fluorescent microscopy images of the zebrafish notochord (Garcia et al, 2017).
About half way through her PhD studies, Garcia realized that while she loved working in science, she didn’t want to pursue her own research program as a postdoc and beyond. She identified her strengths and interests in organizing projects and people, and in improving and optimizing current systems and protocols.
While still at Duke, Garcia exercised these strengths by participating in the Building Opportunities and Overtures in Science and Technology (BOOST) at Duke program. Boost provides 6th through 8th grade students, from demographics that are underrepresented in STEM fields, with in-depth explorations of STEM education and careers. Garcia viewed this experience as an opportunity to give back and help young students develop an interest for science as she experienced in PEERS at UCLA.
Health Research Alliance
Garcia finished her PhD and transitioned to a postdoctoral fellowship in Dr. Alyssa Hasty’s lab at Vanderbilt University during the coronavirus pandemic. There she examined the role of the adipose tissue immune niche in disease states such as obesity and type 2 diabetes. Part of the draw to Hasty’s lab was her strong support for leadership and personal development, as well as the presence of a strong career office at Vanderbilt. During her postdoc, Garcia made good use of these available resources by interning with the Health Research Alliance (HRA), a nonprofit organization dedicated to maximizing the impact of biomedical research on human health.
For part of her HRA internship, Garcia worked with Dr. Anita Pepper, Executive Director of JCC. Pepper was impressed with Garcia and her contributions during her HRA internship and decided she would be a great addition to JCC. “Jamie’s ability to positively engage and manage the HRA community made her an obvious choice for our team” Pepper observed. Additionally, with Garcia’s impressive scientific training “she understands what our applicants, fellows, and alumni are experiencing first-hand.”
Role with JCC
Garcia joined JCC full time this summer as the Associate Director of Scientific Partnerships and Engagement. In this role she will focus on better integrating current fellows with alumni to promote a more networked JCC community. New programming along these lines is coming soon – so stay tuned! Additionally, Garcia will mine through the rich database of fellows to research, and communicate, the impact that JCC has already made to date.
We are thrilled to have Garcia join us at JCC – welcome Jamie!