Cohort Year: 2023-24
Isabel earned her B.S. in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology from UC Davis in 2015. She then worked as a virologist at the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory (CAHFS) performing disease surveillance and outbreak response for livestock and poultry animals in the state of California. She chose to pursue her PhD in Microbiology at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, where she used genomics to understand the fundamentals of bacterial survival in an effort to identify targets for the development of new antibiotics. During graduate school, Isabel became involved with the National Science Policy Network (NSPN) where she was a Science Diplomacy Fellow and the Chair of Grants and Finance, and currently serves as the National Chair-Elect. Isabel thinks science is for everyone, and her experiences working through disease outbreaks and in science diplomacy cemented her belief in the importance of science communication and scientific expertise in policymaking. As a MOST fellow, she is keen to support the legislature and broader community to help create a bright future for Missouri and its people.
