Maribel Vazquez    Whitehead Institute    9 Cambridge Center     WI-339    Cambridge, MA  02142    Ph:617.258-5109    FAX: 617.258.7663    maribel@wi.mit.edu

 

Maribel was born in New York City in 1971. She received a Bachelor of Science from Cornell University in 1992 from the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. She then worked for Intel Corporation as part of clean room manufacturing until 1995. In February of 1995, she began graduate study at MIT and received a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering in June 1996. In January 1999, she joined the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research as part of Paul Matsudaira’s DNA sequencing/Bio-MEMS laboratory. Shortly thereafter, she began working with Gareth McKinley on the rheology of Linear PolyAcrylamide (LPA) solutions used in DNA electrophoresis. Her doctoral thesis seeks to analyze and optimize the loading of the LPA matrix and DNA sample during electrophoretic separations of DNA.       In early 2000, a shearing study on LPA fracture during gel-loading was completed and will be submitted for publication shortly.  Her continuing research uses micro-fabricated devices to facilitate digital imaging of DNA during electrophoretic sample loading.