Dr. Becky Mercer
Associate Dean for the STEM and Clinical Programs, Palm Beach State College
Dr. Becky A. Mercer is the Director of Biotechnology Programs and STEM Education at Palm Beach State College. Dr. Mercer earned her Ph.D. in Metabolic Sciences from the Department of Molecular Medicine at Columbia University in New York City. During her graduate studies, she investigated cellular and genetic mechanisms involved in pulmonary emphysema and lung cancer, using mice, rabbits and guinea pigs, cell-based assays, and human lung biopsies. Her work has been published extensively in peer-reviewed scientific journals and presented at international conferences.
Dr. Mercer began her science career as an undergraduate research assistant in Los Angeles at the University of Southern California’s Neurosciences Department and in the USC Dental School, investigating mechanisms of bone remodeling, osteoporosis, and cell development, publishing her first scientific manuscript in 1998. Dr. Mercer served as a Senior Research Associate at Telios Pharmaceutics in San Diego, CA and as an Editor at the Journal of Clinical Investigation. After grad school, Dr. Mercer came to Florida to pursue post-doctoral training in the Department of Cancer Biology at Scripps Florida, where she was a part of a research team that identified a novel protein involved in CAMP-activated gene transcription. After completing and publishing her postdoctoral work, Dr. Mercer was invited to join Scripps’ High Throughput Screening group as the Associate Scientific Project Manager where she assisted in securing projects to identify novel chemical probes as part of an $80 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Dr. Mercer holds a Certificate in Project Management from Florida Atlantic University and is a Director at Ocean Ridge Biosciences, a Palm Beach Gardens-based genomics company. Dr. Mercer is an active member of several Palm Beach County economic and education committees, non-profits, and school advisory boards, and has developed teacher professional development, high school internships, and community STEM programs.