Electron Microscope Lab, UC Berkeley (EML)
We all know that electron microscopes are cool, and imagine my excitement when I got an opportunity to experience that first hand at the EML. It all started when I needed to image my curcumin samples (see my Research page) in 8th grade and I contacted the EML whose director kindly agreed to image my samples. After that successful project, I was lucky to get an opportunity to intern at EML over two summers. I got great mentorship at EML, where I learned how to prepare samples for imaging, and operate electron microscopes. A cool project was to prepare and image Pyrgulopsis, a small snail. It required delicate skill to remove the tissues from the hard shell. I developed a novel protocol to preserve the snail’s tissues and organs so they could be imaged under a Scanning Electron Microscope. Another interesting project was the development of a tutorial and guide for image processing of high resolution cryo-tomography datasets for which I worked alongside a post-doc. I am eager to go back to the lab again to work on more exciting projects and learn more!
Clinical Experience
I got opportunities to shadow physicians and surgeons over three summers of my high school. I observed surgeries in gynecology, oncology, the gastrointestinal tract, head and neck, and urology. I saw first hand how dedicated physicians are to helping their patients, saving their lives, and how they prioritize their patients’ health and life. They need to remain calm during complications and treat their patients and families with kindness. As I accompanied them from the beginning to the end of each day, I saw first hand how hard and long they work, how meticulously they follow protocols, and how much support is required from all the other attending staff.
Program in Algorithmic and Combinatorial Thinking (PACT)
I was accepted into the PACT 2022 summer program through a competitive application process. We met as a group of 170 curious students from all over the world to learn combinatorics, probability, theorem proving techniques, etc. The instructor made the class very engaging and entertaining. It required doing a gazillion homework problems each day but I learned a great deal.
Aspiring Scholars Directed Research Program (ASDRP)
After I worked on my personal science fair project on curcumin, I learned about ASDRP. ASDRP was interesting to me because they were also working on improving bioavailability of naturally occuring molecules to treat cancer. I worked in two research groups to find ways to create novel synthetic analogs of naturally occurring molecules such as EGCG (Epigallocatechin) and Andrographolide, to improve their bioavailability and treat colon cancer. I learned a ton of wet lab techniques such as column chromatography, using NMR machines, sonicators, cellular assays, etc., and a great deal of organic chemistry which later helped me with AP Bio and AP Chem. I also presented at ASDRP organized symposia.