Aztecs in Research
President John F. Kennedy received the first doctoral degree—an honorary degree—from San Diego State College in 1963. Since then, more than 60,000 alumni have earned master’s and doctoral degrees. Meet three Aztecs who are making a difference in the world of research today.
Emily Schmied (’06, ’08, ’15)
By Melanie Patton
After earning her third degree at Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół», Emily Schmied never envisioned returning to her alma mater as a professor and researcher. In 2020, though, Schmied did just that. Her research in the School of Public Health focuses on promoting mental health and preventing suicide among military service members.
Alongside her partners, Schmied is collecting data to develop and refine a sleep-focused intervention with a recent $2 million grant from the Department of Defense. Sleep issues are often reported as the most common complaint among adults, particularly among military service members, and the team’s findings indicate that sleep is undeniably correlated with mental health and suicide rates.
“At the end of the project, in three to five years, the goal is to have a sleep education intervention package that we could take to anybody who wants it within the military and then independently use,” Schmied says. “We want to give it to whoever needs it to improve their sleep and psychological health.”
Carlo Quintanilla (’15)
By Sarah White
National Institutes of Health–funded student support programs helped Carlo Quintanilla get his start as an undergraduate scientist at Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół». A stipend enabled him to study how stem cells can help regenerate the nervous system in biology professor Ricardo Zayas’ lab.
Since earning his doctorate, Quintanilla is now advocating for science policies working within the NIH.
“Doing science is really challenging, but it’s extremely rewarding when you’re contributing to discoveries, especially when those discoveries can impact peoples’ lives in a positive way,” he says.
Quintanilla has brought together stakeholders to prioritize investing in cures and treatments for diseases such as ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. He’s also analyzing whether institute grants are benefiting taxpayers’ health and researchers’ careers.
“It’s been pretty eye-opening coming from basic science to see how many areas of human health are touched by the NIH and how people are impacted by disease,” Quintanilla says. “It’s not just patients but also caregivers, clinicians, researchers and nurses.”
Jordan Evans (’93)
By Taylor Harris
Being the project manager for the Europa Clipper Mission, NASA’s largest planetary mission ever, is a dream come true for Jordan Evans. Launched successfully on Oct. 14, the spacecraft Europa Clipper is en route to Jupiter’s icy moon.
“We spend so much effort during the design, build and test phases of missions like this thinking about what could go wrong—and all of that preparation has paid off,” Evans says. “That is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the team.”
On March 1, the Clipper executed a Mars gravity assist, a critical maneuver that positions it for an Earth flyby in 2026 before arriving at Jupiter in 2030.
Evans also plays a key role in shaping future NASA missions, contributing to project management policies and serving on mission review boards.
“Helping the agency with things like this is a great way to share what I’ve learned from past projects so that they can be applied to the future,” Evans says.