Professor Arias joined the Long Beach City College Life Science Department in Fall of 2011 as a full-time Microbiology Professor, although she had been teaching Microbiology at LBCC since Fall of 2006 as a part-time instructor.  Dr. Arias became interested in the sciences as a high-school student and this motivated her to enroll at the University of California at San Diego and become a Biology Major. Additionally, Dr. Arias has an active interest in Ethnic Studies and partook in such classes while at U.C.S.D.  She then continued her studies in Biology by pursuing her Ph.D. at the University of Southern California in the Pathobiology Department under her mentor Dr. Epstein.  Her dissertation involved the study of regulatory T cells and their relationship to the regulation of tumor growth in mice. 

After graduating, she immediately began teaching at LBCC and various community colleges in the area.  What she enjoys most about teaching is making Microbiology accessible and relatable to her students.  Dr. Arias is also passionate about getting her students interested in the sciences and the diversity of careers they can pursue.  Dr. Arias enjoys the rich diversity that the LBCC campus offers, and wants her students to know that with some hard work they are capable of being successful!