Daysha Ferrer-Torres, Ph.D. 

• B.S. - University of Puerto Rico, 2011

• Ph.D. - University of Michigan, 2017

• Postdoctoral - University of Michigan, 2017-present

Daysha received her bachelor’s in science degree at the University of Puerto Rico in Mayagüez and several distinguished awards, including the Sloan undergraduate minority research award. While working at the University of Michigan, under the guidance of David G Beer, she focused on the molecular characterization of esophageal adenocarcinomas with efforts to understand the racial disparities in this cancer’s incidence. During her Ph.D., she received a Rackham Merit Fellowship and the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Predoctoral Fellowship from the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Ferrer-Torres joined the Spence Lab in 2017, focusing on using single-cell RNA sequencing technologies to characterize human in-vitro models that resemble the heterogeneity of cell types found in the esophagus. She was awarded a MICHR Postdoctoral Translational Scholars Program (PTSP) fellowship and was later appointed to the Center of Organogenesis Training fellowship.

Most recently, Dr. Ferrer-Torres has been a consultant for the Cancer Center at the University of Puerto Rico Medical Campus, building a patient-derived organoid bank. Dr. Ferrer-Torres is recognized with the Early Investigator award at the 2021 Society of In Vitro Biology World Conference. Dr. Ferrer-Torres is an award-winning public speaker with a successful scientific communication career encompassing different communication methods, including written, verbal, and visual. Lastly, Dr. Ferrer-Torres has been awarded a K99-R00 award by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease (NIDDK) for work that focuses on understanding cancer progression and applications of human-derived organoids to understand racial disparities in human disease.

Check out Daysha's CV here

Fun Fact: Off the lab, Dr. Ferrer-Torres enjoys time with her kid, husband, and three dogs (Apollo, Athena, and Daphne). In addition, she loves playing competitive volleyball and hiking. Fun fact: even after ten years living in Michigan, this Caribbean woman does not get used to the cold/snow, so you may find her wearing a parka by October time.