Originally from near San Jose, CA, I’m a senior undergraduate student studying Bioengineering. In past research projects, I’ve studied the impacts of the gut-brain axis on neurodegeneration in fruit flies, as well as identified cellular pathways involved in the “fusion” mechanism of the varicella zoster virus.
My current work in Iain Clark’s group at UC Berkeley focuses on developing tools to study the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), particularly its ability to evade treatment by integrating itself into a person’s DNA. The novel method I’m developing aims to rapidly find the single HIV site in an entire human genome and sequence it, bettering our understanding of how HIV persists in patients over long periods of time. I also do community service work through the student club I founded, UpInnovate at Berkeley, which builds connections between under-resourced high schools and academic labs and researchers.
After my undergraduate, I plan to pursue a PhD in the bioengineering field.