Aimee Garcia stars as tough young helicopter pilot Marisa Benez in NBC's new ensemble medical drama series, "Trauma."

Best known for her role as Andy Garcia's daughter and George Lopez's niece, Veronica Palmero, on "The George Lopez Show," she is currently the only Latina in her generation to be on syndicated television. In 2007, she was nominated for both an Alma and Imagen Award for "Best Supporting Actress in a Television Series."

Garcia is an actress of Mexican and Puerto Rican descent, born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. She began at age seven as a professional dancer in Paul Mejia's "Cinderella" at the Auditorium Theater, and by age 12 was dancing 20 shows a month as Clara in "The Nutcracker" which led to her first commercial as a dancer. She then began taking acting lessons at the Piven Theater Workshop, whose alumni include John Cusack, Joan Cusack and Jeremy Piven.

In high school, she won the Chicago Tribune's Best Actress Award for her portrayal of Maria, in the immigrant saga "Journey of the Sparrows." She also starred in "Island of the Blue Dolphins," which was nominated for seven Joseph Jefferson Awards. Garcia's success in Chicago theater gave her the opportunity to land screen tests for roles in Baz Luhrmann's "Romeo and Juliet" and the biopic "Selena."

Garcia graduated as a triple major in economics, journalism and French from Northwestern University. There, she built her own summer theater curriculum, and combined her singing and dancing talents to nab the lead role of Diana Morales in "A Chorus Line" for Broadway choreographer Mitzi Hamilton.

After Northwestern, Garcia moved to Los Angeles, getting her first official Hollywood break as a series regular in the WB's "Greetings From Tucson." The short-lived series established her as a TV regular, and since then she's filmed various TV pilots and appeared in episodes of shows such as "Gary Unmarried," "Family Guy," "Bones" and "My Boys."

Other recent projects include "Private Valentine" opposite Jessica Simpson, "Spanglish," "Lies & Alibis" starring John Leguizamo, "Dirty" opposite Cuba Gooding Jr., and "Dragon Wars."

Garcia also makes time to give back to the community through various philanthropic and charity endeavors, including the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts and the National Kidney Foundation. What she enjoys most, however, is regularly visiting East L.A. schools to remind students about the importance of education.

Click here to read Aimee's blog!

Iraqi war vet. Street smart. Bad ass. Marisa doesn't take crap from anyone, least of all her partner, Rabbit. She's his new pilot and can match him in every way… except the medicine. But she'll never tell him that -- no way she's feeding his ego.

Where Rabbit is a fixer of flesh, Marisa can make anything mechanical hum. But beneath that hard exterior, Marisa is a woman of quiet, enduring faith. Whatever you do, don't mess with St. Joseph of Cupertino and do not touch the controls of her helicopter.