Maria J. Merino

Maria J. Merino (born 1950) is a Spanish pathologist and physician-scientist. She researches tumor suppressor genes and breast cancer. Merino is chief of the translational surgical pathology section at the National Cancer Institute.

Early life and education Born in Valladolid, Spain, in 1950, Maria Merino's parents moved to Venezuela when she was still a young child. She finished high school at the Merici Academy in Caracas in 1966 and received a doctor of medicine degree from Central University of Venezuela in 1974. In 1974, she moved to the United States to complete a residency in pathology at Yale New Haven Hospital in New Haven, Connecticut, where she was also chief resident in pathology from 1977 to 1978. She completed her fellowship in surgical pathology at Yale New Haven Hospital in 1979, the same year that she married physician-scientist Ronald D. Neumann. Darryl D. Carter was Merino's mentor at Yale New Haven Hospital. Merino is interested in studying precancerous conditions that may lead to the development of invasive cancers.