RESEARCH:
My first research project with connection to a university lab began in January of 2025, when I was a sophomore. After helping with different projects and from my personal experiences volunteering with kids with autism and elders in retirement homes, I realized that I wanted to focus in neuroscience research. In the future, I hope to pursue an MD and PhD in a neuroscience related field.
Curiosity, inquiry, and complexity, driving impact
University of California, San Diego
Institute of Engineering in Medicine, Biophotonics Lab
January 2025-Present
I began an internship at UCSD through a program called OPALs. After one session, I was promoted to being a mentor, and co-led an OPALs group alongside an undergraduate.
- 2025 International Conference on Biomedical Engineering and Biotechnology poster presentation
Detecting how stress during cell growth and replication affects specific proteins inside healthy cells.
- 2026 International Conference on Biomedical Engineering and Systems paper presentation (group leader)
Behavioral analysis on neurodegenerative mice, and developed a machine learning pipeline predicting subtle differences with wild type mice.
- Journal of Biomedical Engineering and Biosciences full paper
Additional gait analysis extension of the machine learning project, tracking the velocity and positioning of mice with neurodegeneration vs wild type mice.
MouseBox, one of its kind for the mice behavioral analysis study
The first one to be fully enclosed, leaving all external factors (like light, sound, etc) to be omitted. Previous studies left one side open, while the undergraduate I worked with and I built one that was fully enclosed.
University of California, San Diego
Department of Neuroscience
January 2026 - Present
I joined Dr. Chengbiao Wu (PhD)'s lab after the OPALs program in January. I began my individual 1-on-1 project analyzing the impact of artificial sweeteners on the mitochondria and its connection to neural behavior and neurodevelopmental disorders, such as Autism Spectrum Disorder.
The images show the preliminary findings and my experience at the 2026 Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) conference featuring a photo at BMES with my professor's co-PI Dr. Linda Shi, while the full paper is pending publication and submitted to Regeneron Science Talent Search.
Boston University Research in Science and Engineering (BU RISE)
June 2026 - October 2026 (project continued following program end)
BU RISE Poster Symposium
2026 IEEE MIT URTC Paper Presentation
BU RISE Symposium Poster
- Co-first author paper submitted to 2026 IEEE MIT URTC
Using computational mapping, we connected pain-related genetic shifts in rats and specific cell types in mouse spinal cords to see where pain impacts the nervous system in chronic pain for targeted pain relief
- Co-first author machine learning extension accepted to Society for Neuroscience annual conference
Running genetic findings through a massive database of drugs, we found specific inhibitor medications to show potential to target regions related to pain
Weill Cornell Medicine
March 2026 - September 2026
- Conducted 1-on-1 research with Dr. Moustafa Gabr (PhD)
- Developed computational framework to test potential drug compounds that can be used to target Alzheimer's JNK3 pathway (one of the many pathways of Alzheimer's)
- Published in the National High School Journal of Science (NHSJS)