Maria Pia Rodriguez Salazar (she/her/hers)
Co-Chair, Graduate Student
Pia is a Cell Biology PhD student investigating the role of astrocyte mitochondrial dynamics in brain development in the lab of Dr. Cagla Eroglu. She earned her Biology bachelor’s degree at UNC-Chapel Hill, where she also led undocumented student advocacy efforts. Pia then joined the Regenerative Medicine Lab at United Therapeutics, where she studied stem cell-based therapies for chronic lung disease. At Duke, Pia is a BioCoRE Scholar, 2020 PD Soros Fellow, 2021 HHMI Gilliam Fellow, and co-chair to our Department’s DEI committee since 2020. Outside Duke, she is Executive Co-Director of the Graduate Student Engagement and Community (GSEC) Program in Cientifico Latino. Through these efforts, Pia is committed to diversifying academic spaces and empowering historically excluded STEM trainees.