Estela Jacinto, Ph.D.

Provenance: Bulacan, Philippines

How I got into science: my fascinating high school chemistry teacher

Favorite Movie: La la Land

Hobbies: painting (link to my artwork), gardening, poetry, dance

Future plans/bucket list: Do science and art somewhere exotic

Fun fact: I love Boba Tea!

 

Dr. Estela Jacinto is a Professor at the Dept. of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Jersey.  She obtained her B.S (Zoology) from the Univ. of the Philippines (1986) and her Ph.D. (Biomedical Sciences) from the Univ. of Calif, San Diego in 1997, where she elucidated the role of MAP kinases in T cell signaling in Michael Karin’s lab.  She was a Cancer Research Inst. Post-doctoral fellow at the Biozentrum, Univ. of Basel, Switzerland, in the lab of Michael N. Hall, pioneer of mTOR studies, where she helped identify and characterize the mTOR protein complexes.  Her lab studies cell metabolism as it relates to cancer, aging and the immune system with the goal of targeting metabolic abnormalities to improve therapeutic strategies against diseases.  Her work is currently funded by the NIH/NIGMS and New Jersey Commission for Cancer Research. Her lab has received previous funding from the NIH/NCI, American Heart Association, Cancer Research Institute, and American Cancer Society.  She is one of the recipients of the 2011 Innovative Research Grant from Stand Up to Cancer/AACR.  She has received the UMDNJ (Rutgers) Excellence in Research Award and the Edward Ill Outstanding Medical Research Scientist Award.  Estela has mentored over 60 trainees who have gone on to pursue successful careers in science and/or medicine.