Diaz-de la Garza, Rocio Isabel

I am a researcher and head of the Integrative Biology Unit at the Institute for Obesity Research. My research group focuses on studying vitamin metabolism in plant-based foods and in individuals with obesity. I specialize in one-carbon metabolism in both humans and plants. This metabolic pathway is fundamental to life and, in humans, depends on vitamin intake. Therefore, my research explores vitamin production in plants as well as its role and alterations in obesogenic processes, with the aim of identifying nutritional strategies to improve the quality of life of the Mexican population. I earned my degree in Chemical Engineering in 1997 from the Instituto Tecnológico de Cd. Madero, a Master of Science in Biotechnology from the Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua in 2001, and a Ph.D. with a specialization in Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, in the United States. I joined Tecnológico de Monterrey ¿ Monterrey Campus in 2007, where I currently serve as a Tenured Research Professor and hold Level II distinction in Mexico¿s National System of Researchers (SNI). I am also a member of the Mexican Academy of Sciences and of the SheSTEM Chair at Ingenia, an initiative that seeks to empower female researchers at Tecnológico de Monterrey to help close the existing gender gap. My passion is scientific research, and my greatest challenge is to train professionals and scientists who will contribute to improving human well-being and the environment through science and technology.