UCSF Profile: HA Ingraham
Email: [email protected]
NIH_BioSketch_2024: Ingraham.pdf
Neuron Q&A Essay: Link
I was born in Ukiah, California, where my father worked for the Masonite Lumber Co., and my mother worked as a social worker for Mendocino County. Before landing in the East Bay, I briefly experienced the Deep South in Laurel, Mississippi, where images of a segregated society, severe poverty for some, and the turmoil associated with federally mandated desegregation stood out.
Those who devote their lives to creative pursuits are often inspired by a single person or event. Mine came from an outstanding 10th-grade biology teacher, Mr. Jones, who introduced me to DNA at Ygnacio Valley, a public high school. An 1890 Bausch & Lomb microscope also came into my possession when I was ten years old after being shipped west from Worcester, Massachusetts, from my great-grandfather. I picked it up and began exploring the biological world of Northern California, never to stop.
However, sporadic events are not enough to support a lifetime of curiosity and discovery. That support would come via the State of California through an amazing and accessible public education system beginning at UCSD and through the National Institutes of Health, which has supported curiosity-based discovery research as an engine for improving our health and well-being. Unwavering personal support also comes from my husband, family, and mentors, who provide the personal strength and resiliency needed to overcome moments of disappointment, insecurity, and self-doubt. I thoroughly enjoy my life as a scientist and continue to be addicted to the rare experimental successes sprinkled among the many failures inherent in the scientific process. See my Q&A session in Neuron, November 2023, for more insight into how I view the world.
In partnership with San Francisco State University, I also direct the UCSF IRACDA Scholars Program with Dr. Ray Esquerra (SFSU and Ms. Anne Sufka (Coordinator) to broaden opportunities for those seeking to enter the nation's biomedical enterprise. Our efforts, along with generous funding from NIGMS and the UCSF School of Medicine, provide career development programming for a cohort of postdoctoral fellows.