Los Angeles, California, United States
I'm a PhD candidate in the Department of Translational Genomics at USC, where my research uses multi-omic approaches to understand colorectal cancer and why it behaves differently across patient populations. Before returning to graduate study, I spent over five years in the biotech industry R&D, developing and optimizing genomics assays and analysis pipelines across clinical and platform-development settings. I hold an MS in Biotechnology from Brown University, where I worked on polymer-based drug delivery with Professor Edith Mathiowitz.
Working on the Cancer Moonshot initiative at USC, focused on colorectal cancer in underrepresented communities. I’m interested in harnessing computational biology techniques for liquid biopsy development and minimal residual disease monitoring. I’ve been a teaching assistant for a PhD level course - Bioinformatic Methods: Transcriptome and Chromatin Analysis since 2025. I'm also a proud member of our union, UAW 872, and have served on the executive board (former Trustee, current Financial Secretary) since 2024.
Under the supervision and mentorship of Prof. John Carpten, PhD. Focused on the Cancer Moonshot initiative, investigating early onset colorectal cancer in underrepresented groups.
Assay Development team - Development, optimization, and clinical implementation of the following molecular diagnostic assays: target enrichment (DNA/RNA), whole transcriptome, microarray, and methylation detection - Core Team Lead for the development of microarray, target enrichment, and methylation assays - Collaborated with project management, clinical staff, department directors, and other stakeholders from early development to final stages of launching each new assay - Prepared product requirements and development planning documentation necessary for regulatory oversight - Maintained detailed eNotebooks for each project - Experienced with Illumina's NGS and bioinformatic analysis platform (BaseSpace) and the command line interface (CLI) - Gained extensive experience with methylation assays, using various conversion methods and subsequent quantification of methylated residues with droplet digital PCR (ddPCR)
- Optimized reaction conditions for isothermal DNA amplification - Worked with protein engineers and molecular biologists to understand the enzyme kinetics of thermostable phi29 mutants and optimized the reaction conditions for eRCA - Developed library preparation methods to generate single-stranded, circular DNA templates for eRCA cluster generation prior to downstream NGS applications - Collaborated across functional teams: surface chemistry, molecular biology, biochemistry, systems integration - Gained in-depth experience in flow cell fabrication, functionalization, and subsequent on-surface cluster generation and sequencing-by-synthesis on novel platform - Organized NGS runs and maintained documentation for sequencing experiments - Key Skills: isothermal amplification (eRCA, bridge), library construction of novel starting material, R programming for analysis of qPCR amplification, ImageJ qualitative analysis, confocal microscopy
Created curriculum, lesson plans, educational activities, exams, tests, and assignments for Upper School students. Delivered informative lesson plans to educate students. Administered tests and exams. Graded and reported on student work and progress. Led parent-teacher conferences. Key Accomplishments: ● Specialized in chemistry, physics, calculus, and the philosophy of science. ● Promoted character development among students. ● Advised a small group of students through the academic year. ● Implemented a variety of instructional techniques to address multiple learning styles.