Hometown:
Pueblo, CO, USA
Year entered CMB program:
2025
Lab:
Brief Summary of Research:
Generally, the lab studies the mechanisms of asymmetric cell division using the neural stem cell (NSC) as a model. My project is focused on mitochondrial asymmetries that exist between NSCs and their progeny cells in Drosophila. I am interested in how differential mitochondrial inheritance satisfies the respective metabolic needs of each cell type and how this relates to the fate of both the NSC and progeny cell.
Awards and Publications:
Graduate School Awards: R.M. Bock Scholarship
Publications:
Denfeld, Q.E., Hiatt, S.O., Rosenkranz, S.J., Camacho, S.A., Chien, C.V., Dieckmann, N.F., Ramos, T.B., Lee, C.S., Riegel, B., & Hansen, L. (2024). Background and design of the Physical Frailty and Symptom Monitoring and Management Behaviors in Heart Failure (PRISM-HF) study: A mixed methods study. Int J Nurs Stud Adv. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnsa.2024.100282
Xu, C., Ramos, T.B., Marshall, O., Doe, C.Q (2024). Notch signaling and Bsh homeodomain activity are integrated to diversify Drosophila lamina neuron types. eLife. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.90136.3
Xu, C., Ramos, T.B., Rogers, E.M., Reiser, M.B., & Doe, C.Q (2024). Homeodomain proteins hierarchically specify neuronal diversity and synaptic connectivity. eLife. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.90133.3
Why did you decide to attend graduate school?
Graduate school was a choice that came a couple years after finishing my undergraduate degree. At that time, I was working at a research hospital in Portland, OR doing research and spending time considering my personal goals and aspirations. I recognized the best way to combine my love for science and research with my interest in teaching and mentoring was to further my education and skillset. While making the decision took time and personal reflection, pursuing a graduate education was the best choice I could’ve made.
Why did you choose UW Madison’s CMB Program?
I am grateful to have had options for graduate school the year I interviewed, and I put true effort in attending all visit days to see what each place had to offer. For me, CMB blew everyone else out of the water. The biggest factor was the apparent graduate student quality of life. Everyone I interacted with during the interview and visit day seemed like there was nowhere else they’d rather be but in CMB. It was very refreshing to meet students who actually enjoyed being in graduate school and felt supported by their program.
What inspired you to go into your field of study?
My scientific interests are quite wide, but I find development, and the ways it can go awry, to be captivating. My introduction to research during my undergraduate degree was in a developmental neuroscience lab, and this kick-started my fascination with both development and the brain. I’ve tried other types of science and fields since then, but my questions and interests seem to always return to what is happening during development of the central nervous system. It’s so cool!
What lessons have you learned throughout your graduate career so far?
That no matter how determined or productive you are, some things just take time. I thought if I could hit the ground running in my new lab, I’d be able to bypass some of the waiting periods I’ve heard about from other graduate students. But even with high energy and focus, so many of my experiments and ideas simply just take time to acquire reagents for, perform, and understand. I definitely believe in the marathon vs. sprint analogy for graduate school.
What is a fun fact about yourself?
In middle school, I spent 6 months with a partially ruptured appendix. Evidently, it did not kill me, but it was a bummer 6 months that’s for sure.
When you are not in the lab, you are…….?
Either climbing rocks (indoors or outdoors), making my way through Letterboxd’s top 200 films, or reading poetry probably by Mary Oliver or Hanif Abdurraqib.
What is your favorite memory so far in the CMB Program?
During Thanksgiving time in Fall of 2025, my cohort had our first potluck. We were all trying to decide on which rotation we were going to choose for our PhD thesis and were full of bubbly excitement/anxiousness. It is a great memory of sharing a meal with new friends and existing in our collective anticipation for what the future might hold.
What is the most fun part of your research?
The most fun part of my work so far, perhaps surprisingly, has been sharing my ideas and questions with not just my lab, but across campus at poster sessions. Everyone has been immensely supportive and interested in what our new lab, the LaFoya lab, will be studying. I am finding the collaborative and communal aspect of research to be really energizing and rewarding.