Dr. Ingrid Montes-Rodríguez earned her bachelor’s degree in Industrial Biotechnology as well as her doctorate in Biophysical Chemistry at the University of Puerto Rico’s Mayaguez Campus. She did her doctoral research at Dr. Carmen Cadilla’s Human Genetics and Genomics core on the University of Puerto Rico’s Medical Sciences Campus, where she received molecular genetics training. She began working as a postdoctoral fellow at the Comprehensive Cancer Center of the UPR (CCCUPR) in 2016, where she helped to establish and develop the facilities of this institution’s “Puerto Rico Omic Center” (PROMIC). She is currently the CCCUPR’s cancer biology division’s research scientist. She has worked on a variety of research projects, including thyroid cancer, gastrointestinal cancer, acute lymphoblastic leukemia in children, and rare genetic illnesses in Puerto Rico. Her research focuses on the ancestral genetic contribution to hereditary syndromes that confer an increased risk of cancer in Hispanics living in Puerto Rico, such as Lynch syndrome, as well as the relationship between its etiology and the various cancer phenotypes. Her contribution as a genetics specialist focusing on the Puerto Rican population has resulted in a better understanding of how genetic variation contributes to the health disparities observed among Hispanics in Puerto Rico in comparison to other ethnic groups.
(Updated: Feb 16, 2023)