Santiago Pineda

Current Position:

Scientist at Seegene Technologies

Bio:

I was born in Bogota, Colombia and immigrated to New Jersey at 6 years of age with my family. We lived there for 5 years as my father, a psychiatrist, finished his residency training. He obtained a sponsored position in Indiana and we moved there when I was 12. I stayed in Indiana through college, a master’s program (Masters of Science in Medical Science through IU Med school), and work as a technician in Dr. Anthony Firulli’s cardiac development lab. I then applied to graduate school and was fortunate enough to be accepted and attend UCSD Biomedical Sciences PhD program in 2010. There I worked with Dr. Rolf Bodmer on ion channel and idiopathic cardiac arrhythmias using Drosophila as a model. I graduated in 2016 and am now in the lab of Dr. Leanne Jones working on the characterization of factors that influence cell fate decisions of stem cells and their progeny, also using Drosophila as a model system.

My ultimate goal is to teach as a main lecturer in a primarily undergraduate institution while also taking my passion for teaching and research skills into my own lab.