Jocelyne Rivera

Jocelyne Rivera was born and raised in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. Jocelyne’s concern in global health disparities arose from my experience at age 17, when representatives of her high school in Mexico encouraged her to assist American physicians who were providing free medical services in a small municipality near her hometown. Assisting these doctors as an English/Spanish translator in a small town was an indelible experience that opened her eyes to the unmet medical needs of the Third World.

In 2016, she came to the United States to pursue college education. She started her journey at Pima Community College (PCC) and then transferred to the University of Arizona (UA) to major in Biomedical Engineering (BME). During her sophomore year at UA, she joined the BME laboratory of Dr. Philipp Gutruf to develop a wearable flexible biosensor that monitors the patient’s blood pressure and glucose levels, allowing for clinical decision-making at home, and thus reducing frequency of clinic visits. Jocelyne applied for and was selected as a trainee in Maximizing Access to Research Careers (MARC), a prestigious undergraduate research training program for underrepresented students funded by NIH. As a MARC trainee, she chose to work in the Biomaterials laboratory of Dr. Minkyu Kim. Jocelyne’s work in Dr. Kim’s lab involved the innovation of drug delivery systems that can be translated into the clinic to target and treat cardiovascular disease. Though she was accepted to a National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program at Johns Hopkins University for the summer of 2020, the pandemic made it impossible for her to gain in-person research experience. Fortunately, Jocelyne was able to apply for and was awarded a position in the Multi-Scale Systems Bioengineering “virtual” NSF REU program at the University of Virginia. To investigate the impact of network defects present in hydrogels, she innovated an agent-based model that measures mechanical properties of hydrogels based on crosslinking efficiency and rate of polymer network formation using an agent-based modeling software. Although the summer research program at UVA was completed, she initiated an interdisciplinary collaborative project between the laboratories of Drs. Kim and Peirce-Cottler.

Jocelyne graduated Summa Cum Laude from University of Arizona BS in Biomedical Engineering in May 2021. As an NIH-Oxford Scholar, Jocelyne intends to accelerate the development of accessible diagnostics, treatments, and cures for the most devastating diseases facing humanity.