Dr. Dayami Lopez, Ph.D., is a tenured Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and a Principal Investigator in the BRITE Institute at North Carolina Central University. Dr. Lopez has over 20 years experience in academic research with focus on atherosclerosis, breast cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Lopez received her B.S. in Cuba with concentration in Math and Biology. Dr. Lopez earned her Ph.D. in Medical Sciences, with concentration in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, at the University of South Florida (USF) College of Medicine. Her postdoctoral work (two years) and initial faculty position as Instructor (four years) were carried out in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, at the Tampa General Hospital and USF College of Medicine, with research support from the American Heart Association. Then, Dr. Lopez spent four years as a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular Medicine at USF Medical School and one year as a Research Scientist at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute (Tampa). During this time, Dr. Lopez was supported by grants from the American Heart Association and the Florida Department of Health. During her time at USF, Dr. Lopez mentored two M.D. fellows and one Ph.D. student. Dr. Lopez joined NCCU in 2008 and since then, she has mentored 15 Master level and one Ph.D. level graduate students. Her lab currently focuses on identifying novel regulators of PCSK9, a protease involved in hypercholesterolemia and atherosclerosis. Dr. Lopez serves as course director and main instructor for the undergraduate teamwork dynamics and pharma technical writing and graduate-level metabolic diseases and scientific writing classes. She is co-author in 46 publications and has submitted one patent application and invention disclosure.

Atherosclerosis, Breast Cancer, Alzheimer’s Disease (AD)