Gabriel was born and raised in Puerto Rico, where he completed his undergraduate studies before moving to the mainland USA to pursue a Ph.D. in Medical and Molecular Genetics. Currently, he is a Ph.D. Candidate under the mentorship of Dr. Micheala A. Aldred.
In Dr. Aldred's laboratory, Gabriel's research training focuses on studying the role of TBX4 in lung development and the pathogenesis of pulmonary hypertension. His research work is financially supported by a Diversity Supplement awarded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. In addition, as a member of her lab, he has had the opportunity to participate as a biocurator in the pulmonary hypertension variant curation expert panel of the Clinical Genome Resource.
Gabriel considers this experience incredibly educational and informative, as he has learned firsthand from experts in the field about the intellectual and decision-making processes underlying the curation of evidence and assessment of the clinical significance of variants. These experiences have inspired him to pursue a career in the medical genomics field upon completion of his Ph.D. training.
Lastly, he is involved in the Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) group in the pulmonary division. Being a part of DEI groups has been essential in his understanding of the importance of promoting DEI in institutions and the critical role of DEI committees in that process.
