Monica Duran

My name is Monica Duran and I am from San Juan, Puerto Rico. I am an MD-PhD student, currently pursuing a PhD in neuroscience. For my thesis work, I am working on using novel neuroimaging techniques to better understand brain development and structure in autistic children. My long-term goal is to become a pediatric neurologist specializing in caring for children with neurodevelopmental disabilities. Simultaneously, I hope to lead a lab in an interdisciplinary center like the Waisman Center to continue to elucidate the complex mechanisms that drive brain development and behavior. Outside of the lab and clinic, my favorite things to do are working out, snowboarding, and kiteboarding.

What excites you most about UW-LINK?

This study is very unique in that it seeks to answer complex questions about the cooccurrence of ASD and ADHD by taking neuroimaging, behavioral, genomics, and cellular/molecular data and then making sense of it all via machine learning approaches. That is just AMAZING!!! I think this is the future of precision medicine and science. I am very excited to be a part of this and I can’t wait to learn about the multiple dimensions that make up this study.