Alexandra Firek graduated summa cum laude from the University of Florida and is an MD student at Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine in Miami, FL. Bridging her third and fourth years, she was among 50 students in the nation selected for the prestigious Medical Research Scholars Program (MRSP) at the NIH. Under the mentorship of Dr. Heidi Kong and Dr. Leslie Castelo-Soccio, she works in the Cutaneous Microbiome and Inflammation Section at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. Her primary research uses advanced genomic sequencing techniques and bioinformatics tools to study the diversity and complexity of microbial communities in human skin, with a particular focus on hair disorders.