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Personal Profile of Prof. Mariel Vazquez

Biography
Mariel Vazquez is a Professor of Mathematics, of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics and Faculty Director of the Center for the Advancement of Multicultural Perspectives on Science (CAMPOS) at UC Davis. She is inaugural fellow of the Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM), fellow of the American Mathematical Society, the 2016 recipient of the Blackwell-Tapia Prize, the 2014 Mohammed Dahleh Distinguished Lecturer (UC Santa Barbara), a 2012 recipient of the U.S. Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), and a 2011 NSF CAREER Awardee. The PECASE honored her “for excellent interdisciplinary and international research at the interface of mathematics and biology, and for creativity and dedication to recruiting, training, and mentoring, and helping students from underrepresented groups achieve their goals.”

Vazquez has served on the HRAC committee at MSRI 83 years as co-chair), on the Advisory Board at the National Institute of Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS) and on the SACNAS Math Taskforce. Notable engagements include plenary lectures at the 2018 SIAM National Meeting, the 2017 AWM Research Symposium, 3rd PRIMA Congress, the 8th Australia-New Zealand Mathematics Convention (Melbourne, Australia), the 2014 Mohammed Dahleh Distinguished Lecture (UCSB), a 2014 Distinguished PIMS lecture in Mathematical Biology (University of Saskatchewan, Canada), and the 2010 BaMBA Conference (Stanford University). She has also given public lectures at multiple venues including the 2015 and 2017 National Math Festivals and the 2017 PRIMA Conference.

Vazquez obtained a B.Sc. in Mathematics from the National University of Mexico (UNAM) and a Ph.D. from Florida State University, where she worked with De Witt Sumners and was supported by fellowships from DGAPA UNAM and the Program for Mathematics and Molecular Biology/Burroughs Wellcome Fund. After receiving her doctorate, she held appointments as a Postdoctoral Fellow/Visiting Assistant Professor at UC Berkeley working with Rainer Sachs. While at Berkeley, Vazquez received an Exxon Mobil Project NExT Fellowship. She joined the faculty at San Francisco State University in 2005, and the UC Davis faculty as a CAMPOS scholar in July 2014. In 2019 she became faculty director of CAMPOS. Vazquez has held numerous visiting positions, including appointments in the Biochemistry Department at the University of Oxford (UK), the Molecular Biology Department CID/CSIC (Barcelona), and the Institute for Mathematics and its Applications, (Minneapolis). Her research focuses on the applications of topological and discrete methods to the study of DNA and RNA, with an emphasis on chromosomal rearrangements and topological changes affected by cellular processes such as DNA packing, recombination, transcription. She is also interested in DNA repair work in the context of radiation cytogenetics and cancer. More recently the Vazquez lab studies the molecular evolution of coronaviruses.

Current/Future Committee Membership
Name Office Start Date End Date
No Memberships

Past Committee Membership
Name Office Start Date End Date
Board of Trustees Ex officio, HRAC Co-Chair Apr 01, 2017 Mar 31, 2020
Broadening Participation Advisory HRAC Co-Chair (4/1/17-3/31/20) Apr 01, 2014 Mar 31, 2020
Steering Committee HRAC Co-Chair, ex officio Jun 01, 2017 Mar 31, 2020
  1. Workshop Spring Opportunities

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    Mar 13, 2012
    Tuesday
    02:15 PM - 03:00 PM
      Tenure (Moderator: Trachette Jackson)
    Sheldon Axler (San Francisco State University), Jamylle Carter (Diablo Valley college), David Scott (University of Puget Sound), Vera Serganova (University of California, Berkeley), Mariel Vazquez (University of California, Davis)