I am a TRELS Spring 2020 Scholar in Earl Warren College, majoring in Biology with a minor in Healthcare and Social Issues. My pronouns are he/him/his.
I work in the Neal Lab. We work to better understand protein quality control pathways, with a particular emphasis on pathways that detect and destroy toxic misfolded proteins.
I got my first exposure to biological sciences research in high school when I took part in a week long internship at CSU Channel Islands. That internship sparked my interest in wet lab work and convinced me to pursue biological sciences research at a university level. The Neal Lab and UR have provided me a platform to pursue that goal.
Surprising to some, I started doing research at UCSD even before the fall quarter of my freshman year. During the summer of 2018, I took part in a program called Summer Bridge hosted by UCSD-OASIS (Office of Academic Support and Instructional Services). During that program, I attended a biological sciences seminar where I met Dr. Neal. I was fascinated by her research and reached out to express my interest. She invited me for a lab tour and offered me to join the lab. I accepted that offer without thinking twice and have been researching since then.
Due to remote learning, I cannot perform laboratory experiments but I am using this time to analyze scholarly work in the field. I am participating in weekly zoom meetings with my lab members where we discuss research papers in the field. Doing so helps me appreciate the wide range of research projects in the field and also helps me better my experimental designs.
Hard work by thousands of essential workers around the country is keeping me hopeful that soon we will see light at the end of the tunnel.
I plan to continue researching for my remaining undergraduate years. After graduating, I hope to join a Ph.D. or an MD/Ph.D. program that can pave my way to develop a career in biological sciences research.
Are you interested in undergraduate research and/or scholarship opportunities like this one? Contact UR to learn more.