Marisol Cortes

Marisol Cortés
Biochemistry Major
City College

mcortes000@citymail.cuny.edu

Marisol Cortés was born in the small rural town of Cerécuaro in Mexico. At the age of seven, she and her family immigrated to the United States in pursuit of brighter prospects. At City College, she joined the Pharmacology lab of Dr. Eitan Friedman to work closely with Dr. Heike Rebholz on her Parkinson’s disease project and fell in love with biochemistry as a tool to help decipher the mysteries of the mind. The goal of her project is to shed light on the biochemical pathways involved in levodopa induced dyskinesia, which is a major pharmacological drawback of current levodopa treatment, the gold standard for treatment of Parkinson’s disease. Her previous work at the Pharmacology lab had her identify a new enzyme involved in the pathway leading up to dyskinesia. She looks forward to further investigating the intricate roles of this and other target proteins, in order to identify optimal pharmacological targets. Her research in this lab has cemented her interest in pursuing a career in medical research focused on neurodegenerative disorders. After completing her Bachelor of Science in biochemistry, she plans to pursue a Ph.D. in Neuroscience. It is her goal to advance our understanding of the workings of the mind, in order to create better treatments for conditions like Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s and dementia.