Irania Santaliz Moreno

Irania is from Rincón, Puerto Rico. Her undergraduate degree in Psychology is from the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus. She joined the OGR program because she wanted to pursue a career in Genetics and Genetic Counseling as it is her passion. Her goal is to achieve a translational approach between research and clinical counseling. Irania is currently pursuing a PhD from Washington University School of Medicine.

Research Area

Irania was part of the Brody Lab in where they study a rare genetic disease known as Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia (PCD). This is a commonly autosomal recessive disease that impairs motile cilia. PCD can occur in different organs but we are focusing on disease in the lungs. Her project had to do specifically with how motor proteins are assembled for cilia beating.