Mercedes Alba was born and raised in the Philippines. She attended an all-girls convent school for most of her young life and was quite certain that she was going to be a nun someday. When she immigrated to TX with her family at the age of 16, she met American boys and all her dreams of convent life quickly melted away. Ms. Alba has always loved the life sciences and earned her bachelor’s degree in Biology from Our Lady of the Lake University. She earned her master’s degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from SUNY Upstate Medical University, characterizing protein-protein interactions in yeast V-ATPases. Ms. Alba had worked in biomedical research in the past but enjoys teaching others to love the life sciences much more. Ms. Alba has been teaching Anatomy and Physiology at SAC since 2009 and is passionate about sharing her love of physiology with her students.

Education

Master of Science:

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, State University of New York (SUNY) Upstate Medical University

Degree Granted: August 2008

Thesis Title: Identification and Characterization of Yeast Vacuolar H+-ATPase Subunit-a Interactions

Bachelor of Arts, cum laude:

Our Lady of the Lake University

Major: Biology

Minor: Chemistry

Degree Granted: December 2001

Experience

Instructor, Natural Sciences Department

San Antonio College, January 2009-Present

Tutor, Level V

San Antonio College, August 2007-May 2009

Senior Research Assistant

University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, August 2006 –February 2007

Graduate Research Assistant

SUNY Upstate Medical University, August 2002 – August 2006

Publications

M. Sambade, M. Alba, A. Smardon, R. West, and P.M. Kane. 2005. A Genomic Screen for Yeast Vacuolar Membrane ATPase Mutants. Genetics 170 (4):1539-51.

Lee SA, Jones J, Khalique Z, Kot J, Alba M, Bernardo S, Seghal A, Wong B. 2007. A functional analysis of the Candida albicans homolog of Saccharomyces cerevisiae VPS4. FEMS Yeast Research 7(6):973-85.