Hi everyone! 
My name is Ana Jimena Hernández Medrano, and I’m a medical doctor from the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Unidad Xochimilco (Mexico City). I started working in clinical research in 2020 at the Clinical Laboratory of Neurodegenerative Diseases at the National Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery Manuel Velasco Suárez, where I’ve been focused on Parkinson’s Disease research ever since.
Currently, I serve as the Research Coordinator at our lab and am pursuing my Master’s in Data Science at UMBC, fully funded by GP2, with graduation expected in May 2025. For my master’s capstone project, I’m developing a multi-modal predictive model for cognitive decline trajectories in Parkinson’s Disease across diverse ancestry populations, combining clinical variables and polygenic risk scores.
After completing the master’s, I plan to continue with a PhD at UNAM (Mexico City), also supported by GP2 (fingers crossed! 
). For my PhD capstone project, I aim to work on integrating Indigenous communities in PD genetic research, focusing on admixture mapping, local ancestry, and polygenic risk scores.
My main research interests include:
- Patient-centered research on nonmotor symptoms, disease progression, and genotype-phenotype correlations
- The influence of gender and socioeconomic factors in Parkinson’s evolution
- Bridging gaps in health equity through public health, biostatistics, machine learning, and AI
I’m deeply passionate about social justice in science (besides environmental consciousness and my two chihuahuas), and committed to building more inclusive and representative research in Parkinson’s Disease.
Looking forward to connecting with you all! 
