Grace Diaz

Grace is a first generation student who grew up in Los Angeles County California. She attended UCLA and graduated in 2021 with a bachelor’s degree in Biology and a minor degree in both History and Evolutionary Medicine. As an undergraduate, Grace was passionate about genomics and its application to patient diagnosis and treatment. At the Center for Neurobehavioral Genetics, she was a student volunteer for the Paisa project which focused on analyzing the genetics of severe mental illness within an isolated population in Colombia to improve current methods of diagnosis. She was also a volunteer for a peer counseling club on campus, Wazo Connect. After graduating, Grace began working at the USC Department of Translational Genomics. Her time at the department was dedicated to working on ORIEN, a cancer research project involved in the development of precision medicine, and Moonshot, a nationally funded cancer research study concerned with analyzing the increase of colorectal cancer within Hispanic populations while also providing free genetic testing to a historically underserved community. She hopes to continue working with Spanish speaking populations well into her career, and is excited about the diversification of the field of genetic counseling and its growing accessibility. During her free time Grace enjoys reading, traveling with friends, and trying out new recipes.