Natalie M. Meléndez-Vázquez is a microbiologist with an interest in understanding the role of the microbiome in modulating cancer therapy response. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Microbiology with a second degree in General Biology from the UPR-Humacao Campus. During her undergraduate studies, she worked with isolation of nematophagous fungi as a biological alternative to fight nematode infections in plantain crops. This allowed Natalie to present in local and national meetings, during which she was awarded with the Puerto Rico Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation Scholarship for two consecutive years. In 2019, she began her Ph.D. at the Microbiology and Medical Zoology Department at the UPR-Medical Sciences Campus (MSC), where she assessed the role intestinal microbial communities have in viroimmunotherapy efficiency used to treat solid tumors. Natalie has presented at local, national, and international symposiums; becoming a fellow of the NIGMS-RISE program. Natalie has published abstracts, a review article, and research articles as first-author/co-author in peer-reviewed journals. She is very active, observed highly through her leadership in professional activities, including the presidency of the UPR-MSC Microbiology Chapter. Recently, Natalie completed her doctoral degree and will begin postdoctoral research assessing the human papillomavirus and cervical cancer in Puerto Rican women.

Email: natalie.melendez2@upr.edu