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A Research Study On Human Genetics

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While some outside of the university setting think researchers within academia do not work, that could not be farther from the truth. After following Ryan Hernandez, PhD, weekly duties, we saw that his responsibilities are anything but few.
From family man to professor to researcher, he somehow manages to lead his laboratory of seven people in their study of genetic variation. He also takes on additional tasks that are outside his job responsibilities, like serving on several committees.
The population geneticist is an Associate Professor in the UC San Francisco School of Pharmacy, Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences and serves as a core member in the Quantitative Biosciences Institute and the Institute for Human …show more content…

“By understanding what has been done and the holes in our knowledge, we can make steps to identify ways to fill in those gaps.”
The rest of Hernandez’s week is filled with joint lab meetings with two other labs that have similar lines of research that feature a presentation of one researcher’s work and a discussion of possible next steps. These meetings take place on Mondays and last 1.5 hours. Additionally, each year Hernandez teaches for one quarter. This year he is teaching during the winter quarter and is in the classroom for twice a week, for a total of three hours per week.
“The most enjoyable part of teaching is interacting with students,” Hernandez said. “I also mentor some students and post-doctoral researchers by helping them develop scientific maturity in their career development.”
Two of the past students that Hernandez taught have completed their PhD’s. One now works in the industry for a startup, and the other is completing their post-doctoral fellowship at Stanford University.
Hernandez is also graduate advisor for the Biological and Medical Informatics Graduate Program (BMI) and a co-primary investigator for the Initiative for Maximizing Student Development (IMSD) Grant.
“The IMSD Grant is an initiative for maximizing student development through a minority oriented training grant where we seek to develop and foster underrepresented minorities at the graduate level at UCSF to ensure that they are given the resources they need to be successful

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