Beatriz Sosa-Pineda, PhD named Program Director for NUGoKidney SciHigh Program.

SciHigh, NUGoKidney’s summer mentorship program for high school students, recently named  Beatriz Sosa-Pineda, PhD, Professor of Medicine in the Division of Nephrology, as the new program director. The program aims to provide interactive educational opportunities and mentorship to foster learning, discovery, and wonder in range of topics in science and medicine. The SciHigh Summer Program recently hosted it’s third cohort of scholars, which included 13 budding young scientists from high schools across Chicago. 

In this role, Dr. Sosa-Pineda will assist in engaging and selecting students, pairing them with mentors, and guiding the structure of the program. She will also assist with the development of the program’s content along with expanding the program’s partnerships.  

Dr. Sosa-Pineda has two decades of experience in cellular and molecular mechanisms in pancreas and liver development. She received a Bachelor's and Master’s degree in Biological Sciences from the National University of Mexico, and a PhD degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Uruguay. During her postdoc at Max Planck Institute in Göttingen in Germany, she identified the first murine homeobox gene, Pax4, which is an essential part of differentiating insulin production cells. She joined Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine in 2015 and is currently a member of a variety of departments and associations within and outside of Northwestern including an editorial member of Developmental Biology.  

On top of that, she is committed to helping students access resources, develop valuable professional skills, and build their confidence in STEMM. We can’t wait to see how she’ll help take the SciHigh Summer Program to new heights!