Maya Rhee-Pizano is an undergraduate sophomore at UCLA studying Physiological Sciences and minoring in Global Health. Maya is currently on the pre-medicine path and is interested in regenerative medicine and stem cells. She currently works in Dr. Coller’s lab at UCLA which focuses on understanding the molecular basis of quiescence and its role in the cell cycle and cancer. The current project Maya is working on examines the role of dysregulated autophagy in chronic wounds and chronic wound healing. Chronic wounds pose a formidable challenge in public health specifically among diabetic patients whose impaired wound healing constitutes substantial morbidity and mortality risks. In diabetic patients with chronic wounds, the sequential wound repair process is disrupted and characterized by a heightened inflammatory stage marked by an abundance of M1 macrophages, pro-inflammatory cytokines, and reduced M2 macrophages. Maya investigates the immune cell profile of various tissues important to the wound healing process using flow cytometry. She examines the difference in the number of macrophages, their activation status, and differences in the immune cell reactions of chronic wounds. The Coller lab hopes that understanding the molecular intricacies of impaired autophagy in chronic wounds will offer promising avenues for therapeutic interventions aimed at ameliorating wound healing outcomes in diabetic patients. Maya would like to thank the entire Coller Lab, especially Dr. Coller, Dr. Jelinek, and Dr. Ambrus for their continued guidance, mentorship, and support. She would also like to thank the CARE Fellows Program at UCLA for this invaluable opportunity and guidance.