Erika M. López-Alfonso

Degree: 
PhD
Year: 
2023
Current Position Title: 
Research Associate
Current Employer: 
Yale Ciencia Initiative

Q. What aspects of your MCB degree program best helped you prepare for your career?

A. As a Berkeley PhD student, I also coordinated the NIH Bridges to Baccalaureate Program at UC Berkeley. This experience serving community college students from the East Bay Area served as an inspiration for my current position, where I am to serve undergraduate and graduate students from underrepresented backgrounds in academia to pursue their goals in higher education.

Q. How did you decide on your current career path?

A. Serendipity and self-reflection helped a lot since other jobs I applied to did not come through or were not as exciting to me.

Q. Share your favorite Berkeley lunch place, coffee shop, landmark study spot...etc. 

A. I loved the White Lotus Thai Restaurant on Solano Ave (technically in Albany) and any of the Peet's Coffee locations.