Published May 9, 2022
Dr. Larry Rodriguez, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Scripps Research Institute, of San Diego, Calif., received his Associate of Science in Biological Sciences, from Dodge City Community College (DC3) in 2012.
Born in Los Angeles, Calif., Rodriguez and his family moved to Dodge City in 1994. And he began his educational journey in USD 443’s Headstart program, in Dodge City, when he was 4 years old.
While still at Dodge City High School (DCHS), Rodriguez began his higher education journey by taking College Algebra and Psychology classes through DC3. After graduating from DCHS in 2010, he officially enrolled at DC3 on a President’s scholarship.
During his time at DC3, Rodriguez was a Bridges to the Future student.
Following his DC3 graduation, he transferred to Kansas State University (K-State), where he became part of the Developing Scholars Program. As an undergrad, he double majored in Chemistry and Biochemistry and joined Sigma Lambda Beta International Fraternity Inc.
Also while at K-State, he earned an Ecological Genomics fellowship from the National Science Foundation in 2013 and a fellowship from the American Chemical Society’s Scholars program in 2014. And in 2015, he graduated from K-State with a Bachelor’s of Science in Biochemistry and Chemistry.
In 2015, he started graduate school at the University of Southern California (USC) School of Pharmacy. During that time, he earned three predoctoral fellowships from the American Foundation for Pharmaceutical Education (AFPE): one in 2017, one in 2018, and one in 2019. And he was also an associate member of the Society for Neuroscience’s Neuroscience Scholars Program and a recipient of the Inspire Award from the USC School of Pharmacy.
In the summer of 2020, Rodriguez earned his doctorate in Pharmacology and a Master’s of Regulatory Science in the Management of Drug Development, with multiple honors. Since completing his doctoral degree in 2020, he has done postdoctoral research at the Scripps Research Institute in San Diego, Calif., in the Molecular Medicine and Neuroscience departments, working to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying alcohol use disorder.
An on-campus welcome reception is planned for Rodriguez from 2-4 p.m., on Friday, May 13, in the DC3 Library, and the public is invited to attend. Also at 6 p.m. on Friday, he will speak at the DC3 Honors Banquet, which will be at the Boot Hill Casino and Resort Conference Center. The following day, Saturday, May 14, he will serve as the keynote speaker at the DC3 Commencement Ceremony, which will be at 3 p.m., in the DC3 Student Activity Center.
By Lance ZieschDC3 Assistant Director of Marketing and Community Relations