Kimy Hernandez Delacruz – A Scientist in the Making
As an undergraduate student at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Kimy Hernandez Delacruz always had an interest in science but never fully envisioned how their life as a scientist might look. That changed when they came to Sanford Research. Kimy’s appreciation for biology began in middle school and developed more in high school, where they became amazed by the complexity of genes and proteins in the human body. In the summer of 2024, Kimy joined the SPUR program and worked in Dr. Michael Kareta’s lab, which studies the mechanisms driving cancer stem cell development. Kimy’s interests in cancer biology and working to identify new potential therapies were a perfect fit for the lab. In 2025, Kimy returned to the program and the Kareta lab for another summer of research, a decision largely based on the mentorship and support received in 2024. They felt empowered by Sanford Research’s efforts to show an interest in what students want to learn and the skills they want to develop, and they always felt welcome and comfortable. “There was literally no downside,” Kimy said, “I gotta go back.”
Reflecting on the Sanford Research training environment, Kimy felt that the SPUR program was not only teaching students how to do experiments at the bench, but it was also providing a foundation for students to develop their careers as scientists. “It’s really such a good place to be,” Kimy noted, “because you’re surrounded by PIs, and you’re surrounded by grad students, and you have a mentor.” An aspiring graduate student, Kimy valued the opportunities to learn from faculty about what graduate programs are looking for, as well as learning from graduate students about how to apply to graduate school, how to figure out what to look for in a program, and how to navigate lab rotations upon starting a graduate program. “I learned so many skills that helped me 1) professionally develop, and 2) develop as a scientist.”
In the lab, Kimy felt that they were truly learning how to do research. “You have to work at something, you have to tweak protocols, you have to validate previous results, and it taught me a lot about the research process,” Kimy explained. They also valued the opportunity to utilize the equipment and resources at Sanford Research, something they felt was not always available at other institutions. “There are incredible resources here,” Kimy said of Sanford Research.
At the conclusion of their time at Sanford Research, Kimy felt far more prepared for graduate school and their future career. “If you have a really quality research experience where you really walked away from it being like, ‘Wow, I learned a lot, I was trained in all these different techniques that are going to help me in the career and the field that I want to go into,’ then you can use that to your advantage and be like, ‘Hey, I’ve done cancer research before, I know this is what I want to do, I want to continue pursuing this,’ and that’s going to make you a more competitive candidate.”