Hello Everyone!! My name is Anna Francisco but I usually go by my nickname, Nikki. I graduated from the Global Disease Biology major in the Spring of 2018. I always had an interest in studying diseases since I was young and it was no surprise that I wanted to pursue a career out of it. As a transfer student, it was hard narrowing down majors that I could explore my interests in but when I found out about the Global Disease Biology major, I knew that the curriculum aligned perfectly with what I wanted to get out of my bachelor's. I loved the multidisciplinary curriculum as well as its flexibility which allowed me to tailor my program to a disease track I was mostly passionate about– Infectious Diseases! The classes I took through the GDB curriculum have helped me solidify my decision to pursue a career bridging both my interest in public health and infectious diseases. During my time at UC Davis, I worked at the California National Primate Research Center’s Primate Assay Lab as a student lab assistant (It’s also where I completed my capstone!). 

After my stint at CNPRC, I moved back to the Bay Area and worked at UCSF’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute as a Research Associate working with various oncology studies. I’m currently in my first year pursuing my Master’s of Public Health with a concentration in Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology at UC Berkeley. My goal is to become an Infectious Disease Epidemiologist in the future!  The GDB curriculum definitely prepared me well for my MPH program and I’m incredibly thankful to all of the amazing GDB professors who’ve inspired and led me to where I am today. Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions about my experience at UC Davis, my research experience or applying to an MPH program -- would love to chat! You can contact me through my email annadcfrancisco@gmail.com