Dr. Tori Tucker is an enthusiastic and passionate scientist with a Ph.D. degree in Cell and Developmental Biology from the University of California, Irvine (UCI). Being diagnosed at the age of 2 with diabetes and having a younger sister with diabetes, Dr. Tucker became passionate about tackling type one diabetes research. Dr. Tucker attended UCI as an undergraduate from 2013-2017 where she pursued a bachelor’s degree in Cell and Developmental Biology. This is where she learned to love research while working alongside prominent research teams in the field of type one diabetes. This passion for research led Dr. Tucker to pursue her doctoral degree at UCI from 2017-2023. While in graduate school, Dr. Tucker made some outstanding advancements in the field of diabetes research using zebrafish as an animal model. Dr. Tucker has successfully published over 10 research papers to date. Since graduating in June 2023 with a Ph.D., Dr. Tucker has joined Novoglia, a new stem cell-based startup company in Orange County aimed at treating patients with neurological conditions. As Dr. Tucker continues to progress in her career, she aims to one day become a director of a biotechnology company or start her own biotechnology company. 

Outside of research, Dr. Tucker is also extremely passionate about giving back to the community and teaching. While in graduate school, Dr. Tucker participated in an outreach program called SoCal BioEYES. SoCal BioEYES is a K-12 program that brings STEM into the classrooms of underserved communities in Orange County. This program is the first BioEYES program brought to the West Coast with the help of Dr. Tucker and her former grad school mentor. As part of this program, Dr. Tucker was able to take zebrafish into middle school classrooms and teach kids about science and scientific careers. During Dr. Tucker’s first 3 years in graduate school, she also taught Honors Genetics at UCI where she designed and executed her own teaching curriculum. While teaching, Dr. Tucker earned 2 teaching awards at UCI. Dr. Tucker is also an active participant and volunteer for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) where she participates in walks to raise money for type one diabetes and interacts with children who have been newly diagnosed with diabetes. 

Dr. Tucker has been participating in Rotary since 2022 and has since been an active volunteer for Rotary since she was introduced to the club. Now that she has finished graduate school, Dr. Tucker was very determined to find a place where she could make a difference and continue to strive towards becoming an effective leader in the community. When Dr. Tucker is not working as a mad research scientist or volunteering, you can find her engaged in her artwork, trying different crafts of coffee, or obsessing over her cats Sasha, Bentley, and Rosie. Dr. Tucker is hoping to use her creativity and artistic skills to help NEOC Rotary grow as a club.