Victor Vázquez is a former member of PREM and has achieved many things throughout his academic career. During his Bachelor’s degree at the University of Rio Piedras he went on three internships, won awards and published a paper as first author!
The Wisconsin-Puerto Rico Partnership for Research and Education in Materials Science (PREM) prepares students for an outstanding academic career in STEM. Victor Vázquez is a former member of PREM who is currently pursuing a P.h.D. in Immunology at the University of Pennsylvania. He graduated from the University of Puerto Rico Rio Piedras campus magna cum laude and received the Academic Excellence Award in Biology. Victor has a strong passion for research; therefore, he was determined to participate in different projects and workshops that would help him acquired the skills necessary to become a great researcher.
His journey began when he joined the Crystallization Design Institute, led by Dr. López-Mejías and Dr. Stelzer, where he became part of PREM. Their work conducted in the CDI was published in a peer-reviewed manuscript on which Victor is the first author.
“Our team in the Crystallization Design Institute developed a procedure to accurately measure the solubility of polymorphic drugs that are prone to undergo unfavorable solvent-mediated structural transformations. This method consisted of comparing experimental solubility to simulated solubility obtained from mathematical models and validating these data with structural characterization techniques.” Said Victor.
When Victor decided to expand his experiences, he began participating in a summer internship at the University of Chicago in Dr. Phoebe Rice’s laboratory in 2016. He went on to join Dr. Björn Kafsack’s laboratory Weill Cornell Medicine the following summer.
Victor presenting his research from the University of Chicago at the Laadership Alliance National Symposium (Summer 2016) 
Victor after presenting a poster at the ACCESS Program Research Ceremony and receiving his certificate for completion of the program (Summer 2017)
Nonetheless, Victor is a dedicated student and his efforts were shown when he was awarded the Jaime and Teresa Scholarship in 2017. After winning this award, he conducted research over the summer of 2018 in Dr. Sunny Shin’s laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania. Furthermore, he presented his works at 9 different conferences and symposiums.
Victor is grateful for his experience at PREM, and plans to return to Puerto Rico once he finishes his graduate studies, to become a tenure-track professor “My goal is to return to Puerto Rico and become a tenure-track Professor who will conduct research on the immune response to infections, provide opportunities for students to explore science, and educate the public.”
-Victor.
