Growing up in Puerto Rico where music is magical and the people transform their stress into relief by dancing, Carola Sanchez-Diaz follows uses music and optimism to help her get through adversity.
Sanchez-Diaz brings her music-fueled optimism to her efforts to improve life for patients with cancer.
Sanchez-Diaz—having earned a bachelor’s degree in biology in 2011 from the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez, and currently studying public health at the University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus—is focusing her thesis work on breast cancer and diabetes. She works at Comprehensive Cancer Center in Puerto Rico, where she recruits participants for a research project on breast cancer and metabolic syndrome.
With her desire to make a mark in cancer research, Sanchez-Diaz applied for Éxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training program, which offers a five-day summer institute and internships to encourage master’s-level students and health professionals to pursue a doctoral degree and a cancer research career.
Having attended Éxito!, Sanchez-Diaz said she has the tools to successfully apply for a doctoral education degree which will allow her to make her mark and improve the quality of life for many.