MAY 23, 2023 — From clearing Rocky Mountain trails to attending medical research programs at Stanford and Yale, Joshua Lazaro ’23 recently has earned his bachelor’s degree in statistics and data science with a concentration in biology. His next stop will be the start of his Ph.D. program at Stanford University and a career at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this fall.
Searching for the American dream, Lazaro’s parents left their hometown of Huitzuco in Guerrero, Mexico at 18 in hopes of a better life. Despite his parents’ demanding jobs as a house cleaner and a construction worker, they provided Lazaro with endless support, helped him develop an affinity and passion for mathematics and instilled in him the persistence to pursue a degree in higher education.
Originally a cybersecurity major then an environmental science major, Lazaro did not have many academic inspirations or connections growing up as a first-generation student and Mexican American. It wasn’t until he became more involved at UTSA in different organizations, like the American Statistical Association (ASA), that he discovered his true academic passion.
After attending his first ASA meeting and hearing guest speaker Henry Miller, a computational biologist, speak about the usage of statistical modeling in biological systems to help identify where tumors are in the body, Lazaro’s career path shifted.
“I did not know that you could combine statistics with biology and computer science and get meaningful results for the future of cancer research. That is what really inspired me to pursue a passion in statistics and data science,” he said.
During his time at UTSA, Lazaro continued his involvement with ASA as well as the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), where he served as president of a minority student chapter in ACM.
While encouraging current students to get involved, Lazaro’s biggest takeaway from his student organization experience is to try everything you can, even if it does not correlate with your degree program.
“I believe students cannot be what they cannot see. If they see someone doing something unique, like how I was able to learn about bioinformatics from the guest speaker in the ASA meeting, then students will see what they can become and open their eyes to endless opportunities,” said Lazaro.
Knowing much about career exploration because of his own experiences, Lazaro’s first internship was with the Rocky Mountain Conservancy’s Conservation Corp in Colorado. Lazaro values the unique opportunity he had there to conserve nature trails and work outside while the world was shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The next year Lazaro accepted an internship at the Stanford School of Medicine, where he practiced bioinformatics and utilized machine learning algorithms. The following summer he conducted cancer research at the Yale School of Medicine under the Medical Research Scholars program.
Upon graduating from UTSA, Lazaro will be working at the Centers for Disease Control and will be attending the Stanford School of Medicine to obtain his Ph.D. in biomedical informatics.
Reflecting on his UTSA journey thus far, Lazaro admires the strong Hispanic culture that the university embraces. Growing up in the small town of Magnolia, Texas, he and his family were some of only a few Spanish-speaking residents. The embracement of the Hispanic culture, along with the accredited programs at the Carlos Alvarez College of Business, are what ultimately led him to choose UTSA for his undergraduate degree.
Lazaro acknowledges that there were integral faculty and staff members who made his journey a successful one. He credits Jerome Keating, professor of management science and statistics, as one of his favorite professors and mentors in the statistics department. He also was impacted by Margarita Gomez and Patricia Sanchez of the Bicultural-Bilingual Studies department for being imperative to his and other first-generation students’ success.
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The San Antonio Military Health and Universities Research Forum (SURF) attracts presenters from around the nation to showcase the work of students, trainees, faculty and staff. The mission of the SURF conference is to “advance research collaborations among academic, military, and industry partners to improve health outcomes and readiness.”
TBDThe NHERI Summer Institute is a free event for early-career faculty, NHERI Graduate Student Council, K-12 educators from the San Antonio area, engineers, and researchers to learn more about the Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure (NHERI) community.
La Villita Room (DBB 1.116,) Durango Building, Main CampusConnect with peer mentors and fellow first-gen and transfer students, and learn how you can join UTSA's First-Gen programs for the Fall 2023 semester.
Mentoring Hub (MS 2.02.02,) Multidisciplinary Studies Building, Main CampusBuilding the Dual Language Leader Symposium will provide a safe space for current and aspiring leaders to learn best practices, theories, policies, and systems that support a dual language bilingual education.
UTSA Southwest Campus, 300 Augusta St.Streaming of Spray the Word that will conclude with a discussion with San Antonio's Poet Laureate, Andrea "Vocab" Sanderson.
Aula Canaria (BVB 1.328,) Buena Vista Street Building, Downtown CampusCelebrate Hispanic Heritage Month at our very own street fair - Calle UTSA. We will have activities, performances, food, music, and pinatas to break open! All free to UTSA students, faculty, and staff.
Student Union Paseo, Main CampusThe University of Texas at San Antonio is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through research and discovery, teaching and learning, community engagement and public service. As an institution of access and excellence, UTSA embraces multicultural traditions and serves as a center for intellectual and creative resources as well as a catalyst for socioeconomic development and the commercialization of intellectual property - for Texas, the nation and the world.
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We encourage an environment of dialogue and discovery, where integrity, excellence, inclusiveness, respect, collaboration and innovation are fostered.
UTSA is a proud Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) as designated by the U.S. Department of Education.
The University of Texas at San Antonio, a Hispanic Serving Institution situated in a global city that has been a crossroads of peoples and cultures for centuries, values diversity and inclusion in all aspects of university life. As an institution expressly founded to advance the education of Mexican Americans and other underserved communities, our university is committed to ending generations of discrimination and inequity. UTSA, a premier public research university, fosters academic excellence through a community of dialogue, discovery and innovation that embraces the uniqueness of each voice.
