Cecilia Recabarren is a clinical research coordinator at the Perinatal Research Division at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. She’s also a group fitness instructor at Total Fitness in Galveston and NOX Fitness Studio in La Marque.

Recabarren and family arrived in the United States from their native Chile in 1991 and moved to Galveston from Maryland in 2004.

Photo by Irene Amiet

What is your guilty pleasure? Vanilla ice cream after working out.

In an alternative universe, what would you be? I would be a war correspondent trying to record the cruelty and insanity of war in the hope that humanity will improve once confronted with our worst sides.

If your family members were animals, what species would everyone be? Leoncio, my husband, is a golden retriever, loyal and always there for the family, funny and goofy sometimes. He is a scientist. Cecilia, our oldest daughter, is a tiger. She’s an Army veteran who has served in Iraq and now works in business administration, while pursuing her MBA. She tends to act without warning. Fernanda, our middle daughter, is an owl, she is thoughtful, analytical and smart. She will graduate in computer engineering in December. Camila, our youngest daughter, is a dolphin. She has boundless energy and an appetite for learning. She will be a nurse.

What is your dream holiday? Skiing in the middle of the summer in La Parva in Chile, next to my hometown Santiago.

To what research discovery at UTMB would you love to contribute? I had the honor to collaborate in one particularly interesting study, collecting amnion from placentas postpartum to develop techniques to better cover wounded areas in burn victims. I would love to help this line of research develop further.