Diana Marcela Bolaños Rodriguez

This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Bolaños and the second or maternal family name is Rodríguez.
Diana Marcela Bolaños Rodríguez
Born 1981 (age 34–35)
Bogotá, Colombia
Nationality Colombian
Alma mater Universidad Jorge Tadeo Lozano
University Of New Hampshire
Years active 2003–
Employer University of the Andes
Universidad de Cartagena
Known for Tissue regeneration research
Spouse(s) Joseph Dunn

Diana Marcela Bolaños Rodríguez (born 1981) is a marine biologist from Colombia, who has studied and classified various types of platyhelminths. She was a recipient of the L'Oréal-UNESCO Fellowship for Women in Science in 2010, was selected as Colombian biologist of the year in 2012, and in 2013 was named by the BBC as one of the top ten women in science in Latin America.

Biography

Diana Marcela Bolaños Rodríguez was born in 1981[1] in Bogotá, Colombia, and grew up there. At the age of 19 she enrolled in the Universidad Jorge Tadeo Lozano at the campus in Santa Marta on the Caribbean side of Colombia. After completing her undergraduate work with a thesis on flatworms,[2] in 2003, Bolaños continued her education at the University of New Hampshire (UNH) in the United States.[3] She received her PhD in zoology from UNH in Durham, New Hampshire, in 2008 with an Award for Excellence in Research from the Department of Zoology.[1] Her research focused on polyclad flatworms,[4] a marine worm which is unique in its ability to generate tissue through stem cells.[1]

She married an American, Joseph Dunn,[5] whom she had met while in New Hampshire, and in 2008 returned to Colombia to continue her research, completing a database of flatworm species and their taxonomic groups. Bolaños also took a teaching post as a visiting professor for the University of the Andes (Uniandes).[2] In 2010, she was awarded a L'Oréal-UNESCO Fellowship for Women in Science[1][6] and she used the award to complete her postdoctoral research at Uniandes. Bolaños then took a post as an assistant professor in the Biology Program at the Universidad de Cartagena.[4] In 2012 she was named Colombian biologist of the year[3] and in 2013 was named one of the top ten women scientists in Latin America by the BBC.[7] Despite the difficulties of finding funding for research, Bolaños has remained in Colombia, in part to inspire others' interests in science and in part to fill the gap because so many post-graduates from Colombia remain part of the diaspora. She has continued her research and is working on comparisons between polyclads, planarians and other types of platyhelminths and their abilities to regenerate.[4] In addition, she has published numerous articles in international, peer-reviewed journals such as Evolution & Development, the Journal of Natural History and Zootaxa in the areas of evolution and biological systematics,[3] as well as continuing her education at courses such as the Society for Developmental Biology short course held in Montevideo, Uruguay.[4]

Selected works

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "La investigadora colombiana Marcela Bolaños, premio Unesco – L´Oréal for Women in Science" (in Spanish). Salamanca, Spain: Agencia de Noticias para la Difusión de la Ciencia y la Tecnología. 5 March 2010. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  2. 1 2 Toro Vesga, María Alejandra. "Una colombiana con mucha ciencia". Plaza Capital (in Spanish). Bogotá, Colombia: Universidad Del Rosario (32). ISSN 1900-5113. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 "Diana Marcela Bolaños, profesora del Programa de Biología escogida como Bióloga del Año en Colombia" (in Spanish). Cartagena, Colombia: Min Educacion. 27 September 2012. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Interview with Colombian scientist Diana Marcela Bolaños". Bethesda, Maryland: Society for Developmental Biology. Spring 2012. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  5. ↑ "Las 100 colombianas con más 'batallas ganadas'" (in Spanish). Bogotá, Colombia: El Tiempo. 29 September 2010. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  6. ↑ "L'OREAL-UNESCO Awards and Fellowships for Women in Science 2010 to be presented at UNESCO". Geneva, Switzerland: UNESCO. 25 February 2010. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  7. ↑ "Ecuatoriana entre las 10 científicas más destacadas de Latinoamérica" (in Spanish). Quito, Ecuador: El Universo. 18 October 2013. Retrieved 15 November 2015.

External links

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