Pearl Quijada

Pearl Quijada is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Life Sciences. She earned her BS in Biology from UC Riverside (2006), MS in Cell and Molecular Biology from San Diego State University (SDSU) (2010), and a joint PhD from SDSU and UC San Diego (2015). Her research focuses on epicardium-directed coronary vasculature formation and angiogenesis in cardiac development and repair.

• BS: UC Riverside (2006)
• MS: San Diego State University (2010)
• PhD: SDSU & UCSD (2015)

Dr. Quijada's lab investigates cellular and molecular mechanisms of epicardial signaling in embryonic angiogenesis using transgenic mouse models and single-cell transcriptomic sequencing. Current efforts aim to translate developmental insights into therapeutic strategies for adult cardiac ischemic injury, focusing on paracrine signaling programs that stimulate myocardial repair. Her work bridges basic developmental biology with clinical regenerative medicine.

Selected scientific contributions include:

• 2020 - Circulation Research: Epicardial role in heart development/repair
• 2019 - J Molecular and Cellular Cardiology: Epicardial fibroblasts in cardiac fibrosis
• 2015 - Journal of Biological Chemistry: Nuclear calcium signaling in cardiac progenitor cells
• 2012 - Circulation Research: Pim-1 engineered bone marrow cells for myocardial preservation

She received the Outstanding Postdoctoral Mentor Award during her fellowship at the University of Rochester (2015-2020), where she studied coronary vascular development under Dr. Eric Small. Her earlier work at SDSU with Dr. Mark Sussman involved cardiac pathophysiology and cellular therapies.