Samira Diaz De Leon, a Washington State University senior from California, is one of 12 new recipients nationwide of a $20,000 National Institutes of Health (NIH) Undergraduate Scholarship given to those pursuing future careers in biomedical, behavioral, and social science research.
A first-generation student, Diaz De Leon is majoring in biochemistry in the College of Veterinary Medicine, specializing in molecular biology. Her career plan is to earn a PhD and engage in skincare research and development to help resolve skin inflammatory diseases such as eczema and psoriasis.
“I am thrilled to have received this scholarship but almost more than the funding, this NIH recognition of my potential and future plans means so much to me,” she said.
She said her undergraduate research was important to her application.
“Getting this award shows me that those efforts are valuable in many ways. Not only do I learn every day in the lab, but what goes into it and what I get out of it is going to help me help other people in the future, which is something very important to me.”
Getting this award shows me that those efforts are valuable in many ways. Not only do I learn every day in the lab, but what goes into it and what I get out of it is going to help me help other people in the future, which is something very important to me.
Samira Diaz De Leon, student and NIH scholarship recipient
Washington State University
Diaz De Leon has been involved in undergraduate research since her second year at WSU and has grown progressively more confident and competent.
At Palm Springs High School, before college and during the COVID pandemic, she said she excelled in math studies but did not get too involved in science. She chose to attend WSU because it was most affordable and friendly. To venture more into science, she has intentionally taken classes with labs and liked the experience.
In 2022 as a sophomore, Diaz De Leon applied to be a technician in the lab of Arden Baylink, assistant professor of veterinary microbiology and pathology, soon after he arrived at WSU. The lab focuses on engineering new therapeutics against bacterial gastrointestinal pathogens.
Once proficient with lab techniques and protocols, Diaz De Leon applied and was one of seven undergraduates accepted into the summer RNA Bioscience Initiative Summer Internship Program at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora in 2023. In the David Barton lab there, she focused on the sexual replication of the poliovirus and what was causing it to recombine with non-polio enteroviruses. That fall, she presented a poster on her work and findings at the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minoritized Scientists (ABRCMS).
Back in Pullman, she was accepted into MARC-WSU, an NIH-funded program for students in research, leadership development, and graduate-school preparation. As part of MARC, she received a stipend for her ongoing work in the Baylink lab where they explore the effects of Salmonella in a healthy gut by determining how reactive oxygen species affect Salmonella enterica growth in a competitive environment with the microbiome. In spring 2024, she communicated her results at WSU’s Showcase for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities (SURCA).
This fall, Diaz De Leon plans to launch her project working with third-year doctoral student Siena Glenn in the Baylink lab to investigate how Salmonella takes hold in an unhealthy gut. She will use pig feces to create a microbiome with two distinct metabolisms or microflora to complete with Salmonella to see how bacteria grow in the presence or absence of oxygen.
When she graduates in spring, she said that though her undergraduate research topics will not relate directly with her graduate work investigating skin diseases, the protocols and techniques she has mastered will carry over perfectly.
“It’s all part of my ongoing education.”
She credits her love of learning and hard work ethic to her parents, Jose and Lucia Diaz De Leon, who moved to America in their teens. They taught their eight children that education is the key to finding one’s purpose and success. They “get that I am doing what I like with research and that I have a plan to help others and my community. They appreciate that.”
Diaz De Leon likes to stay busy. In addition to her research and MARC-WSU participation, she is a senior resident advisor for Stephenson East residence hall after serving two years as a resident advisor in Stephenson North. She is also active in the STEM Student Support Services (SSS) program in the Office of Academic Engagement, designed to boost engagement and persistence to graduation.
Diaz De Leon’s new NIH scholarship funding can be used for tuition and living expenses. Accepting the award commits her to participate in a summer 2025 internship at NIH in Maryland plus a service commitment to work full-time for one year at an NIH facility when her education is complete.
