My Passion - Prevention of Human Health Conditions Using Personalized Medicine
I have been a scientist for over 40 years. As a Molecular Biologist and Geneticist, my research has been about learning how genes work and creating tools for personalized medicine.
Social Entrepreneur
I've lived in Ithaca NY, Tompkins County since 2004, and I am involved with my community in many ways. I have been a board member in multiple non for profit agencies dedicated to the common good. Currently, I am a member of the board of directors of Cornell Cooperative Extensions of Tompkins County (CCETC). I am also a volunteer docent at Cornell Botanical Gardens and the Cayuga Meadows Senior Community Garden.
I am an active Spanish-English-Spanish language interpreter and cultural broker for the Tompkins, Seneca, Broome, and Onondaga counties.
As a passionate and committed coach for the CDC-National Diabetes Prevention Program (CDC-NDPP), my goal is to use my knowledge to prevent human conditions for the maintenance of youth. I want Ithaca to be on the blue zones map.
About My Knowledge and Experience
I am a naturalized citizen of the USA since 2017, born in Colombia, my family temporarily moved to the United States when I was a child so my father could pursue graduate school at the University of Minnesota. My sisters and I grew up surrounded by a scientist working for a better world at multiple levels including Academia, Extension, and Diagnostics. Today we are a family of scientists that learned from my father, Doctor Uriel Ariza-Pardo DVM Ph.D., research skills, discipline, and ethics from a very early age.
I’ve always been an interpreter of complex processes into simple applications. I am interested in understanding complex bench research and applying it to personalized bedside solutions. The link between the environment we live in, agriculture, and human health. And I also get tremendous joy when being a language interpreter. I obtained my undergraduate degree in Food Science with a major in Phytopharmaceuticals and Phytonutrients.
I started my career in Colombia and then went to graduate school at Wageningen Agricultural University in The Netherlands where I focused on Analytical Chemistry and Biotechnology. After that, I enrolled in the Department of Crops Soil and Environmental Sciences at the University of Arkansas and obtained a Ph.D. in Cell and Molecular Biology. I received an award for my dissertation research from The Society for In Vitro Biology in 2004.
I worked as a scientist at Cornell University from 2004 until 2015 and discovered multiple episensors useful to monitor changes in the human epigenome using in vitro models and clinical studies.
Today at epiWELL, LLC we work in the development of personalized medicine clinical tools to understand the etiology of epigenetic abnormalities (to identify early signs for prevention, and to monitor changes during treatments).
About My Company, epiWELL, LLC
Great discoveries are only great if they can be used. Because of that, we work in the development of molecular diagnostic tools to improve human quality of life.
“Prevention Rather Than Treatment”
I want everyone to adopt healthy living strategies in their everyday lives, with active learning, a balanced diet, and physical activity. Wellness interventions are part of a prevention action plan to make sure every individual is healthy in their 60s, 70s, 80s, and beyond. Intergenerational interactions demonstrate the highest family wellness benefits.
We are committed to keeping individuals mentally and physically active while enjoying a lifestyle that will ultimately enhance social engagement among people of all ages. Our mission is to improve family health, with a holistic interdisciplinary approach.
I believe in healthy living and happy families.
We develop molecular medicine diagnostic tools to prevent instead of treat.