Rebecca Alexander earned her PhD in Biological Chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania and joined Wake Forest in August 2000 after postdoctoral research at MIT and The Scripps Research Institute. She teaches biochemistry to undergraduate and graduate students. Her research uses experimental and computational tools to study protein-RNA interactions in protein biosynthesis pathways. She led the development of Wake Downtown, home to undergraduate STEM programs in downtown Winston-Salem’s Innovation Quarter. As Senior Associate Dean for Research and Community Engagement, she works to promote faculty mentorship of undergraduates across the college and facilitate community-based research projects.