She has a BS degree in chemical engineering from Princeton University and a PhD in chemical and biomolecular engineering from Cornell University. She is a prolific scientist who has published in a number of journals and she has won a number of awards including an NSF CAREER award and an Airforce Young Investigator Award in 2012 as well as a Defense Threat Reduction Agency Young Investigator Award in 2011. Dr. Contreras’ research combines biomolecular engineering, genetic studies, and computational modeling to understand molecular features of RNAs and proteins, with the goal of developing new applications that derive from her experimental work to make beneficial impacts in the area of human health. Dr. Frank Guridy, Director of the Warfield Center interviewed about her reasons for becoming an engineer and her current research.