Dr. Monique Cola is a native New Orleanian, and is a graduate of Joseph S. Clark High School in New Orleans. She attended Pitzer College (a member of the Claremont Colleges in Claremont, CA)
where she double majored and received her B.A. in Biology and Chemistry. Dr. Cola received her M.S. degree in Pathology (sub-specializing in neuropathology) from Louisiana State University
Graduate School in 1995. In 2004, she received her Ph.D. degree in Neuroscience from Tulane University. In 2005, Dr. Cola was awarded a prestigious Neuroscience Fellowship by the American
Psychological Association. In January 2008, she was selected as a scholar by the African-American
Mental Health Research Scientist Consortium.
Dr. Cola has authored several scientific abstracts in addition to publishing seven scientific articles in major neuroscience/medical journals. In 2008, as an Assistant Professor of Neurology,
she became the first African-American faculty member of the Tulane University Neuroscience Program where she taught the Neuroanatomy Laboratory for the Neuroscience Graduate Program and the
Brain & Behavior course. While at Tulane, Dr. Cola maintained an active research program using MRI to study cognitive dysfunction in stroke patients and in patients with Alzheimer’s
Disease. She remains the only African –American woman neuroscientist in the state of Louisiana.
Dr. Cola’s personal endeavor is to expose underrepresented minority students to careers in the sciences. She states, "My goal there is to eliminate the illusion that only the best and
brightest can do science. I want to demonstrate that scientists can be normal, warm-blooded people, from backgrounds and circumstances similar to theirs."
In 2012 Dr. Cola moved into a more administrative position at Xavier University of Louisiana as the Director of the Biology Resource Center. In 2014, she transitioned to Delgado Community
College, where she served as the Assistant to Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs/Executive Dean. In April 2018, Dr. Cola was selected as the Head of School for the New Orleans Charter Science
and Math High School, where she can carry out her commitment to the youth of New Orleans, and to the STEM field.
Dr. Cola has served her community as a former member of the Board of Directors of First Line Schools Charter Network and the New Orleans Career Center (NOCC), as well as maintaining an active
membership in Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. She is also a faithful member of her church where she serves as Superintendent of Sunday School and as a Sunday School teacher.
School Governance
