Heber Isai Lara

Heber was raised by immigrant parents in an Arizonan border-town. Early on, he developed interests in art and the nature around him: taking up sculpting with Play-Doh and bug collecting in his backyard. These interests were further developed in his art and math classes in grade school. Heber studied biochemistry as a first-generational student and earned his bachelor of science in both biochemistry and molecular and cellular biology at the University of Arizona. His undergraduate research was supported by the NIH funded MARC program and focused on triple-negative breast cancer signaling pathways. This research exposed Heber to immune networks that captured his curiosity. He would soon go onto applying to graduate programs in Immunology bringing him to Seattle, WA. There he now pursues a Ph.D. in immunology at the University of Washington where he is passionate about utilizing the communication of art into the teaching of science.