Jessica Rodriguez is a PhD candidate in Epidemiology with a focus on Genomics and Bioinformatics at The University of Texas Health Science Center School of Public Health. She holds a Master of Public Health (MPH) in Epidemiology with a minor in Biostatistics from the same institution, and dual Bachelor of Science degrees in Biology and English Literature from The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

Over a seven-year period, Jessica has accumulated considerable experience in conducting public health research. Her work has involved wastewater surveillance for microbes, and laboratory adaptation of various molecular diagnostic assays including those for SARS-CoV-2. She also has experience conducting molecular sequencing, running ELISA assays, performing chemical/molecular analysis, and in profiling pathogen biomarkers. She is passionate about addressing health disparities and improving health outcomes for underserved, minority populations.

Jessica is now a Research Associate in the One Health Laboratory at UTMB under Dr. Gregory Gray, and serves as the Editor for the One Health Newsletter.

I studied Bacteriology and Clinical Laboratory Sciences at the Universidad Industrial de Santander (Bucaramanga, Colombia), did a MS in Basic Sciences at the Universidad de Antioquia (UdeA Medellín, Colombia) and a PhD in Biology at the University and coordinated the Primary Immunodeficiencies (PID) diagnosis laboratory for 18 years. During this time, I also did postdoctoral fellows at University College London (UCL, London, UK) and Baylor College of Medicine (BCM, Houston, TX). I left UdeA in 2022 as a Full Professor.

At the beginning of my scientific career, I participated in projects to discover the immunological factors that determine the susceptibility to Cutaneous Leishmaniasis. Then, I did my PhD testing potential microbial-derived adjuvants to prevent allergic asthma. As a professor at UdeA, I led research to discover and characterize new genetic immune disorders. Intrigued by the environmental factors that influence the function of the immune system, I joined a team at Baylor College of Medicine to study how factors such as the microbiome and ageing can contribute to the development of Dry Eye Disease and Sjögren Syndrome. All this work has led to the publication of more that 50 peer-reviewed articles.

Since 2018 I have been hosting El Panal - la ciencia de nuestras defensas, a Spanish radio program at the Public University Radio Network in Medellín-Colombia that is aimed to exchange useful knowledge in Immunology with the non-scientific community. Our audience expands to more than 25.000 listeners from all over the country, even in places that still lack internet connectivity.

I am also a passionate yoga practitioner, gardener and naturalist. Together with my husband, we created the Sustainable Stories Film Fest (SSFF) at University of Houston Clear Lake UHCL. I also enjoy a lot applying active learning strategies to teach at the Undergraduate and Graduate level. 

The integrative, multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural approaches are characteristics that captivated me from the One Health Initiative and I am very proud of belonging the team from Prof. Gregory Gray as a Research Project Coordinator from a Vaccine Clinical Trial.

Most recent publications:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10457069/pdf/aging-15-204651.pdf
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2023.1212138/full

Related links:
Nuestrasdefensas.org
Sustainable-stories.org
Instagram, Facebook: nuestrasdefensas, Sustainable Stories.