Bio

Dr. Luz M. Cumba García is an immunologist working at the intersection of biomedical sciences, public policy, and science diplomacy. She is currently an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science & Technology Policy Fellow at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). She works with the Middle East Regional Cooperation (MERC) Program, a research grants program that promotes Arab-Israeli scientific cooperation and regional development. Additionally, Luz is an Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) Science, Technology, and Policy (STeP) Science Diplomacy Fellow. Previously, Luz worked as Policy Advisor at the government relations firm Lewis-Burke Associates where she advised clients on public health, biomedical research, and international affairs.

Luz is passionate about advocacy, science communication, and community outreach. She is an experienced global public speaker on topics ranging from science communication, science policy, science diplomacy, and diversity and inclusion. Her efforts to inform the public, especially Spanish speakers, about COVID-19 throughout the pandemic led to her being awarded the “Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) 2020 Science Defender Award”. Luz is an advocate for increasing diversity in science, alerting the public and scientific community about federal and local policies that are relevant to science and Puerto Rico as a member of the Puerto Rico Science Policy Action Network (PR-SPAN), and promoting science diplomacy in Latin America and the Caribbean as a founding member of the Science Diplomacy Network in Latin America and the Caribbean (DiploCientifica).

Luz is a proud Puerto Rican! She earned her Ph.D. in Immunology from Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in Rochester, MN. She has taught and conducted research in China, Brazil, Germany with the Nobel Laureate Harald zur Hausen, and Spain at the Institute of Parasitology and Biomedicine Lopez Neyra, where she obtained her Master’s Degree in 2013. Luz graduated in 2012 from Universidad Metropolitana in San Juan, PR with a Bachelor’s Degree in Cellular and Molecular Biology.