Flores-Flores in 2025 Class of Pew Latin American Fellows Pursuing Scientific Advances

Pediatrics Postdoctoral Fellow Marycruz Flores-Flores, PhD, is one of 10 in the 2025 class of the Pew Latin American Fellows Program in the Biomedical Sciences announced today by The Pew Charitable Trusts.
  
The 10 postdoctoral fellows from five Latin American countries – Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile and Mexico – will receive two years of funding to conduct research in laboratories throughout the United States. They will work under the mentorship of prominent biomedical scientists, including alumni from the Latin American fellows program and the Pew Scholars Program in the Biomedical Sciences.

“Scientific exchange and collaboration foster new discoveries that help advance human health for all,” said Donna Frisby-Greenwood, Pew’s senior vice president for Philadelphia and scientific advancement. “Pew is proud to support this outstanding group of young researchers, whose pursuits will help pave the way to biomedicine’s future.”

Fellows who choose to return to Latin America to launch their own research labs will receive additional funding from Pew. Nearly 70% of program participants have taken this path, which has helped cultivate a robust biomedical research community in Latin America.

Scientists in the 2025 class are exploring a range of research topics, including examining how brain tumors evolve to resist therapy, the ways in which immune cells reduce chronic pain during pregnancy, and how the nervous system rebuilds after injury. Flores-Flores – who received a doctorate in molecular and cellular physiology in 2024 from the Center for Research and Advanced Studies (CINVESTAV) in Mexico City – is training with Associate Professor and The Helen and Arthur E. Johnson Chair for the Cardiac Research Director Christian Mosimann, PhD, in the Section of Developmental Biology, Department of Pediatrics at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. In the Mosimann Lab, she will explore how membrane potential – the distribution of ions across cell membranes that triggers various physiological functions – helps to orchestrate cardiac development.

“This new group of fellows embodies the curiosity and talent driving scientific innovation today,” said Eva Nogales, PhD, distinguished professor in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of California, Berkeley, and chair of the program’s national advisory committee. “I am thrilled to welcome this outstanding group of Latin American researchers into our rich community, and I look forward to watching where their efforts lead.”

Founded in 1948, The Pew Charitable Trusts uses data to make a difference. Pew addresses the challenges of a changing world by illuminating issues, creating common ground, and advancing ambitious projects that lead to tangible progress.