Alumni Updates: Denisse Morales-Rodriguez

Nov 14

Welcome to our new series, Alumni Updates! This series will share what alumni of UChicago NEURO Club are up to now, and we are so excited to connect alumni with current members!

First up, meet Denisse Morales-Rodriguez:

I graduated from UChicago in 2021 with a BS with Honors in Neuroscience and a minor in Health and Society. During my time in Hyde Park, I performed hippocampal place cell research in Dr. Mark Sheffield’s group, played the violin in the University Symphony Orchestra, and was the President of the NEURO Club!
After graduating, I moved to New York to study the dynamic nature of memory in Dr. Denise Cai’s lab at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. There, I worked on projects studying memory updating and memory integration using miniscope calcium imaging and complex behavioral assays in mice. During my gap year, I loved spending time exploring ice cream spots with my lab, continuing my love of art museums (I missed the Art Institute), and traveling with my UChicago friends.
Now, I’m a first-year MD/PhD student at the University of California, San Francisco. I still play the violin in Symphony Parnassus, am trying to become a little more outdoorsy, and continue my love of learning by reading Foucault and de Beauvoir in Golden Gate Park in my free time. I am hoping to study memory consolidation during my PhD and become a physician-scientist that clinically serves marginalized patient populations.
My advice to club members is to find what you’re passionate about and look for mentors that will advocate for you and support you as you work to accomplish your goals.
My favorite ice cream is coconut chocolate chip!