Magana-Marquez, Leticia
Leticia Magana-Marquez
Dr. Leticia Márquez-Magaña is a biochemist dedicated to increasing diversity in the scientific and environmental fields. She is a Professor of Biology at San Francisco State University (SFSU). Dr. Márquez-Magaña is the Director of the Health Equity Research Lab and the Lead Principal Investigator of the SF BUILD Project. She is the first Latina to be tenured and promoted to a full professor in the College of Science and Engineering at SFSU. Her role as a Latina in academia has inspired her to mentor other students of color.
Mendez, R., Velazquez, E., Gimenez, A., Michaud, M., Mendez, J., Wong, M., Quesada, J., Magana-Marquez, L. M. & Samayoa, C. 2023. The Impact of Insider Research Trainees in Recruiting and Retaining Latinx in an Outdoor Health Promotion Research Study. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. Doi: 10.1007/s40615-023-01642-1
Harris, M., Rosser, S., Goldman, M. A., Magana-Marquez, L. M. & Rohlfs, R. V. 2023. Improving biology faculty diversity through a co-hiring policy and faculty agents of change. PLoS ONE, 18(5). Doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0285602
Samayoa, C., Santana-Ufret, V., Santoyo-Olsson, J., Strassle, P., Steward, A. L., Bonilla, J., Escalera, C., Margarita-Mendez, R., Magana-Marquez, L. M., Ortiz, C., Ceballos, R. M. & Napoles, A. M. 2022. Cortisol levels in rural Latina breast cancer survivors participating in a peer delivered cognitive-behavioral stress management intervention: The Nuevo Amanecer-II RCT. Comprehensive Psychoneuroendocrinology, 11(1). Doi: 10.1016/j.cpnec.2022.100153
Leticia Márquez-Magaña is the eldest of four and was born on August 15, 1962, in Sacramento, California. Her mother, Lupe Márquez, was a factory worker and housekeeper, and her father, Jesus Márquez, was a construction worker. Growing up in Sacramento, Dr. Márquez-Magaña strongly sensed that Mexican citizens were considered second-class. She is dedicated to changing that mentality.
Dr. Márquez-Magaña attended Stanford University, receiving her Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Biological Sciences. She completed her master’s degree in 1986 and immediately started a doctoral program in biochemistry at the University of California – Berkeley. She graduated with her Ph.D. in 1991. Her interest in the environmental field began during graduate school at UC Berkeley when she worked in Dr. Michael Chamberlin’s laboratory studying the genetics of Bacillus subtillis, a soil bacterium.
After completing her Ph.D., Dr. Márquez-Magaña started a post-doctoral fellowship in molecular pharmacology at Stanford University School of Medicine. In 1994, she finished her post-doc and started as a Professor of Biology Professor at San Francisco State University (SFUS). As a trained microbial geneticist, she studies the genes responsible for particular behaviors in several bacteria that reside in soil.
Dr. Márquez-Magaña is the first Latina to be tenured and promoted to a full professor in the university’s College of Science and Engineering. She said, “It’s a real achievement… I craft my position in such a way that it meets my commitment to my community and to my science” (2005). Dr. Márquez-Magaña is committed to empowering minority students to pursue research careers. Her commitment to students of color was recognized in 2001 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), which gave her the Mentor Award for her outreach efforts during graduate school.
Dr. Márquez-Magaña’s most significant achievement is her work on the role of Sigma-D controlling motility functions in Bacillus subtillis, a soil bacteria.
In 2007, Dr. Márquez-Magaña became the Health Equity Institute Professor of Biology at SFSU. In 2012, she became the Director of the Health Equity Research Laboratory. She oversees research projects and students in this lab and conducts research herself. She also directs the National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded SF BUILD, also called Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity. SF Build focuses on increasing diversity in the biomedical research workforce. The Health Equity Research Lab seeks to understand the lived experiences of marginalized communities and how they impact biological mechanisms in the body.
Dr. Márquez-Magaña is a committed mother, scientist, professor, and mentor; these roles have served to make her a great source of inspiration as well.
Despite her success, Dr. Márquez-Magaña has never had a typical mentor. She believes that the best type of mentoring happens when a team of individuals work together to promote an individual’s work. In fact, several individuals have provided her with moral and professional support, including Michael Chamberlin, a professor of Biochemistry at UC Berkeley, who taught her to be precise in her scientific thinking and communication. Additionally, Rhoda Cales, owner of Weekend in Espanol, a Spanish immersion program for adults, taught Dr. Márquez-Magaña teaching techniques that go beyond sitting in class and giving presentations to engaging students. She further developed her teaching skills by attending workshops focused on teacher training.
One of Dr. Márquez-Magaña’s most significant obstacles was the lack of professors who looked or sounded like her. While earning her degrees, she did not feel she could communicate with them. Dr. Márquez-Magaña did not have a mentor who was both a Latina scientist and dedicated to her job and family so she became that person herself. When she became a professor, Dr. Márquez-Magaña knew it would allow her to be a person with whom students of color could connect.
Her lack of a typical mentor makes her aware of the importance of being mentored. Through her work, Dr. Márquez-Magaña ensures others receive the mentoring she did not as a young professional. As a graduate student of color, she started Scientists of Color, a graduate student organization aimed at creating minority social support and a professional network on campus. Moreover, at Stanford, she was involved with the Stanford Multicultural Scientists and helped to develop a summer research program for underrepresented minorities. With the program, she served as a mentor for students and helped lead trainings.
Dr. Márquez-Magaña mentors undergraduate students from across the country and new and younger faculty at the university. She acknowledges that there is so much for mentees to learn and know in the beginning, which can be overwhelming at times. She assures them that she is there to help them.
Dr. Márquez-Magaña advises minorities considering a career in the environmental field to find mentors that can make them feel they belong in the scientific field. Mentors should promote mentees’ best interests and encourage networking, helping demystify the process and give students ideas for their next steps. Dr. Márquez-Magaña states that while many scientists recognize the need for diversity in nature, they are reluctant to promote racial diversity in scientific research, but suggests that such diversity brings creative thinking, new views, and solutions to problems.
Health Equity Research Lab. (n.d.). About. https://healthequityresearchblog.wordpress.com/ San Francisco State University. (n.d.).
Leticia Marquez-Magana. https://biology.sfsu.edu/faculty/marquez-magana San Francisco State University. (n.d.).
SF BUILD About Us. https://sfbuild.sfsu.edu/about
Taylor, Dorceta (Ed.). 2005. The Paths We Thread: Profiles of the Careers of Minority Environmental Professionals. Minority Environmental Leadership Development Initiative, University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and Environment.
Leticia Marquez-Magana [Photo]. San Francisco State University. (n.d.). Retrieved September 2023 from https://biology.sfsu.edu/faculty/marquez-magana