Making Strides at UNC

Mariana Lucena, PharmD ’15, reflects on how her journey from UNC track athlete to pharmacy leader was shaped by her relentless tenacity.

Story by Sarah Clark | Published January 28, 2025

Mariana Lucena, PharmD ’15, has been a runner for about two decades now. In fact, it’s what brought her to UNC and what ultimately led her to pharmacy.

Mariana ran track and field in high school when she was recruited by several schools, including UNC. She was passionate about biology and chemistry, but didn’t quite know where it would take her. But when she visited UNC from Florida, where she lived at the time, she fell in love with UNC’s culture, the track and field team, and the feeling of being a Tar Heel. Not to mention the University’s academic opportunities. It was the whole package!

As a freshman at UNC, Mariana ran distance events with the track and field team. To her, it felt like a family and provided her with support and camaraderie that extended beyond the sport. They particularly enjoyed traveling together to compete. “Because we trained so hard, races and competitions felt like a celebration of our hard work,” says Mariana. “I remember in the middle of the races, I would see another Carolina blue colored uniform, and I knew I had somebody there to lean on.”

Balancing her life as an NCAA athlete and student, Mariana continued to pursue her interests in biology and chemistry and how the two subjects intersected, but was unsure what career field to pursue. However, that changed at the end of her freshman year when a teammate introduced Mariana to Jo-Ellen Rodgers, PharmD ’96. Mariana shadowed Dr. Rodgers at UNC, where she learned how the role of a pharmacist combines her passion for biology and chemistry with helping patients. Inspired and motivated by her time with Dr. Rodgers, Mariana applied to the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy.

Now Mariana’s schedule was busier than ever as she worked to balance athletics with the rigorous curriculum of one of the top pharmacy schools in the nation. She is grateful to her family, coaches, and professors for providing flexibility and helping to support her in both endeavors. “I very much appreciated the opportunity to explore beyond the edges of what may have seemed impossible at the time,” she reflects. Aided by her relentless tenacity, Mariana took on yet another challenge: breaking a barrier to health care access.

Born in Colombia, Mariana is a native Spanish-speaker who knew practically no English when she moved to the United States. She learned first-hand the impact language barriers have on access to health care for non-native English speakers. This experience led her to co-found and co-lead Spanish Rx with fellow pharmacy students.

Spanish Rx is a student-led organization hosted under Carolina Association of Pharmacy Student (CAPS) that focuses on teaching pharmacy students key Spanish vocabulary so that they may comfortably and confidently interact with Spanish-speaking patients and provide them with better care. “The purpose of the group was to help pharmacy students really gain an understanding of basic Spanish in health-care practice to reduce the language barrier in any pharmacy-related information exchange,” says Mariana.

Mariana also volunteered at the Student Health Action Coalition (SHAC) in Carrboro, where she was able to translate for many of patients that came to the clinic. At SHAC, Mariana made it a priority to connect with patients and make them feel comfortable in unfamiliar territory, which encourages patients to advocate for themselves and to receive the best care they can get.

“I learned about SHAC as a pharmacy student and it was really kind of a calling to be able to volunteer my time there to not only practice some of the things I was learning in pharmacy school, but to help Spanish-speaking patients,” says Mariana. Now with Spanish Rx, other pharmacy students will be able to do the same.

Since her time as a Tar Heel, running has remained a part of Mariana’s life. While she does still sometimes compete in races, she focuses mostly on recreational running, which has allowed her to find new friends and build a community. For Mariana, it’s not about the medals, but rather the lessons that running teaches her. It showed her time and again how she can push both her mind and body, and where her tenacity will take her.

Mariana has also continued developing her career in pharmacy and now works at Incyte as the Medical Science Liaison. When looking back on her experience at the School, Mariana reminds current students to embrace new opportunities as they come and cherish the time they have at UNC – no need to sprint to the finish line!