Alejandra Rosario-Crespo

Alejandra Rosario Crespo was born and raised in San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico. She graduated from the University of Puerto Rico Cayey in May 2024 with a B.S. in Biology. As an NIH URISE scholar, she researched oropharyngeal cancer at the Comprehensive Cancer Center in Puerto Rico. Under the mentorship of Dr. Stephanie Dorta, she explored how the modulation of the oral microbiome can impact tumor development, the tumor microenvironment, and immune cell activation with mouse and in vitro models. She has also worked on various research topics through summer internships in cancer genetics, immunology, and metabolism. Outside the lab, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends, visiting different beaches around Puerto Rico, and trying new restaurants.

Alejandra is broadly interested in understanding the mechanisms and pathways cancer cells use to bypass certain challenges in the body, to develop new therapeutic targets. As an incoming student she looks forward to exploring multidisciplinary topics and learning new techniques.

Rackham Merit Fellowship, University of Michigan 2024

Outstanding Honors Thesis Award, University of Puerto Rico at Cayey 2024

Barry Goldwater Scholarship 2023

Undergraduate Research Training Initiative for Student Enhancement (U-RISE) Scholar 2023-2024

U54 University of Puerto Rico/MD Anderson Cancer Center Partnership for Excellence in Cancer Research Scholar 2023

Rosario Crespo, A., Díaz Rivera, J., Rodríguez Rivera, M., Bernardo Silva, D., Dorta Estremera, S. (2024) Streptococcus salivarius as a Therapeutic for Oropharyngeal Cancer. 2nd University of Puestro Rico Comprehensive Cancer Center Scientific Congress, San Juan, PR.

Rosario Crespo, A., Pinto Medici, N, Martínez Saucedo, D., Escobar Hoyos, L. (2023) Synthetic lethality drives mutual exclusivity of splicing factor mutations with mutant p53 in pancreatic cancer cells, Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minoritized Scientists (ABRCMS), Phoenix, AZ, United States.

Rosario Crespo, A., Chang, S., & Vander Heiden, M. (2022). How cancer cells maintain NAD+ availability to support biomass synthesis in serine depleted environments [Poster presentation]. Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minoritized Scientists (ABRCMS), Anaheim, CA, United States.

Rosario Crespo, A., & Santana Palacios, J. (2022). Exploring Spin Configurations in Model SrFeO3/LaMnO3 Heterostructures [Poster presentation]. Partnership for Research and Education in Materials (PREM) Research Conference, Humacao, PR, United States.

Rosario Crespo, A., Kouaho, S.C. A., Medina, S., Hayes, J. M., & Irish, M. J. (2021). Introducing inhibitors to primary glioblastoma tumor cultures to characterize and target aggressive cell subsets [Virtual Poster presentation]. SACNAS National Diversity in STEM (NDiSTEM).

Santana, J., Bugallo, D., Mirea, A., Tucker, T., González, D., Rosario, A., Sanchez, Y., Marrero-Hernandez, G., Rosa-Dieppa, K., Garcia, A., Kumar Rai, R., Stach, E., May, S., Rappe, A. (2024) Octahedral and tetrahedral coordination influences the ordering of oxygen vacancy channels in SrCoO2.5 and SrFeO2.5 thin films. [Submitted for Publication]