Doris Migliaccio

When and how did you realize that you wanted to study Genetics & Genomics?

I got interesting in studying Genetics & Genomics in my highschool freshman biology class where we watched the movie Gattaca, a movie about a dystopian future where genetics predetermine your life. Obviously, that is not my future goal for the world!! However, it made me interested in learning more about genetics and all the good I could do, and that’s when I decided to get my bachelor’s degree in genetics as well. I enjoyed it so much that I decided to pursue it for my PhD and learn more!

Why did you choose the Genetics & Genomics Ph.D. program at A&M?

I chose to attend the Genetics & Genomics program at A&M because I had many friends and colleagues rave about the quality of the program and opportunities available. I loved my tour and how much all the existing grad students loved being at Texas A&M, and it felt like an amazing opportunity with a nice location.

If you were free to choose anything, what research question/topic would you like to address for your graduate studies?

If I could choose absolutely anything at all to research, I would choose to research Denisovan genetics! I’ve been learning about Denisovans for quite some time in my evolutionary biology and genetics courses, and I’ve always been fascinated with historical populations and their genes, as well as tracking the shared genes between Denisovans and current human populations.

Fun Facts:

What would be your dream job after graduation from the program?

My dream job would be to teach genetics at a university, of course with a compelling research project to investigate while I teach.

Do you have any pets? If so, please tell us about them.

I have a 1 ½ year old orange cat named Juliette! She is super cute, and very brave about meeting new people and going new places but is very loud and opinionated. I am currently on a mission to teach her English with Fluent Pet buttons, and we’ve mastered five words/concepts so far!

Favorite place you have travelled to.

My favorite place I travelled to was Japan! I lived there for about three months while I did bioengineering research and it was an incredible experience, where I got to see and do new things every day. My favorite part of it was how nice and welcoming everyone was, especially my lab mates and professor, with pretty much everyone wanting to bring me different places and show me all their favorite things!