Degrees
Ph.D, Microbiology & Molecular Genetics (2022)
B.S., Biophysics
Research
Epigenetics & inflammation
Biography
Lauren Urban grew up in Austin, TX and obtained her BS in Biophysics from Brown University in Providence, RI. She worked as a research consultant at Gerson Lehrman Group (GLG) after graduating for two years and then decided to pursue a PhD at UCI in microbiology & molecular genetics. Lauren is working in the labs of Drs. Timothy Downing & Albert Siryaporn on novel projects investigating the epigenetics effects of DNA methylation on aging-associated inflammation and the molecular pathways involved in neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs). She is proud to be the first member of her family pursuing a career in scientific research and hopes to always be guided by curiosity and intellectual openness in science and life.
Why is science communication important to you personally?
Communication is one of our greatest responsibilities as scientists. Science can be beautiful and fascinating or boring and obtuse, all depending on who’s telling the narrator. I hope to inspire people to be curious about the world, to question everything and to be okay with uncertainty. Being a clear, engaging communicator also benefits me as a scientist. Our writing should aim to communicate ideas and science not exclude people without a degree in the field. Society and science mutually benefit when we make research open and accessible.
*Managing editor term
2021