Ariana Umana

Ariana Umana has a diverse work experience in the scientific field. Ariana currently works as a Scientist at Rise Therapeutics, a position they have held since 2023. Prior to this, they were a Postdoctoral Researcher at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), where they focused on studying somatic mutations in endometrial carcinomas and the role they play in tumorigenesis. Ariana conducted in-silico analysis, biochemical and cell-based assays, and performed molecular dynamics simulations to predict protein-protein interactions. Ariana also has experience as a Graduate Student Researcher at The Slade Lab at Virginia Tech, where they studied host-pathogen interactions in colorectal cancer and established an online database of Fusobacterium genomes. Ariana also worked as a BQ technician at Hospira, where they performed routine environmental monitoring and conducted microbiological and biological testing of medical devices.

Ariana Umana received a Bachelor's degree in Bioctechnology Engineering from Tecnológico de Costa Rica, which was completed from 2011 to 2015. Following that, they pursued higher education at Virginia Tech and obtained a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in Biochemistry from 2016 to 2020. In addition to their formal education, Ariana Umana obtained a certification in Principles of Preclinical Translational Science from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) in May 2022.