Dr. Aleida Perez is the Manager, University Relations and WDTS and DOE Programs for Brookhaven National Laboratory’s (BNL) Office of Workforce Development and Science Education.  Before joining BNL, Dr. Perez was a research scientist in the biopharmaceutical industry and an educator in higher education.  Dr. Perez has a B.S. in Biology from the University of Puerto Rico and Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Michigan.  She has a strong background in virology and molecular biology research.  As a researcher, Dr. Perez worked in the field of oncolytic viruses and gene therapy. 

 Dr. Perez is actively developing authentic educational research programs for students and educators, enabling their access to BNL user facilities and scientific staff and supporting the integration of classroom curriculum and real-life applications. She also collaborates with Cold Spring Harbor DNA Learning Center in the Barcode Long Island Project. Dr. Perez was a Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientist (WDTS) program participant herself, as an undergraduate at both Oak Ridge and Argonne National Laboratories.