Juan Manuel Rojas Cabrera

About Juan Manuel Rojas Cabrera

Juan Manuel Rojas Cabrera was born and raised in Vista Hermosa, a small village nestled between the mountainous terrain of central Mexico. Despite its rich culture and close-knit community, the limited job opportunities, poor agricultural seasons, and rise in crime made it increasingly difficult for his parents to provide for the family or even ensure their safety. When Juan was four, his family made the difficult decision to leave their home and loved ones behind in search of a brighter, safer future in the United States. In the spring of 2001, he and his family settled in St. Charles, a small farming community in southeast Minnesota.

Adjusting to life in a new country was challenging. Language barriers and adapting to a new culture made even basic tasks—like understanding lessons in class or connecting with peers—seem impossible, much less the thought of pursuing higher education. Despite these hurdles, Juan attributes his success during this time in his life to the compassion and unwavering support of his community. Among those who had the greatest impact were teachers like Mike Smith and the late Craig Walz, whose guidance was instrumental in supporting his dream of attending college and one day becoming a physician.

Once enrolled in college, however, Juan continued to face significant obstacles to pursuing medical school. As a result, he enrolled in the nursing program at Winona State University, aspiring to still make an impact in the healthcare field. Despite this, his dream of becoming a physician never wavered. After graduating with his bachelor’s in nursing, Juan began the process of applying to medical school by working as a post-baccalaureate researcher at the Mayo Clinic and taking pre-med courses at a community college while also balancing part-time work as a long-term care RN and farmhand on a dairy farm.

Juan, who became a naturalized United States citizen in 2024, is currently an MD/PhD student at the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine. Under the mentorship of Kendall Lee, his research focuses on leveraging deep brain stimulation to alleviate the debilitating symptoms of neuropsychiatric conditions such as substance use disorders and treatment resistant depression, while also leveraging this technology to investigate the underlying mechanisms of these diseases. In the future, Juan aspires to pursue neurosurgery residency training with the goal of becoming a surgeon-scientist running his own translational neuroscience lab.