HeRNAndez is a first generation PhD student from El Paso, Texas studying RNA processing at the University of Chicago. He loves RNA biology, reverse engineering lab reagents and equipment, and mentoring budding scientists. His inspirations in science are Dr. Joan Steitz, Dr. Jennifer DouDNA, Dr. Tracy Johnson, and Dr. Tyrone Hayes. He has served as president of Texas State’s American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) chapter, co-president of the UChicago Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) chapter, co-founder of the Graduate Recruitment Initiative Team (GRIT), and co-founder of the Transforming Academic Ecosystems (TAE) Consortium. During his time as co-president for SACNAS, he and his team launched the first ever Mid-West regional SACNAS conference which led to over 200 graduate students, undergrads, and faculty attending. As co-director of GRIT, he and his team boosted URM apps to UChicago by over 20%, recruited over 80% of URM matriculants, wrote an open-letter to faculty that led to removal of the GRE from UChicago graduate admissions in the biological sciences, and established various retention and sustainability initiatives for graduate students. Hernandez and fellow co-founder Mat Perez have since expanded the GRIT model across the country and hope to continue doing so.