Alexa Strauss Email & Phone Number

•Lead a collaborative research project incorporating scientists across multiple institutions to characterize drug-evoked conformational rearrangements in synaptic membrane proteins in the lab of Joshua Levitz at Weill Cornell •Develop and optimize the first protein purification and single particle analysis protocols for the Levitz Lab and mentor other lab members in these techniques•Coordinate time across multiple projects to drive impact while adhering to established timelines and priorities •Synthesize current advances in my field to understand the research landscape and make informed decisions on the next steps of my project

•Design a one-on-one mentorship program matching over 80 PhD applicants from historically underrepresented communities with current graduate students to provide mentorship on the application process•Establish a mentorship workshop featuring two experts in the field to guide mentors on providing effective support and feedback•Collaboratively plan three workshops and panels to provide additional insight into the graduate school process •Create, analyze, and interpret surveys to gain feedback and implement appropriate changes to the initiative •Provide constructive feedback on participants’ written personal statements

•Developed an individualized research plan and age-appropriate instruction for a NYC high school student •Provided daily training to my high school student mentee in the necessary laboratory techniques and taught him the scientific concepts needed to successfully complete his research project •Instructed my mentee in effective weekly goal setting and time management •Guided my mentee in developing an informative poster presentation to describe his summer research to a general audience

Middletown, Ct

• Investigated the bacterial Secretory (Sec) pathway with a focus on biochemical, single molecule, and fluorescent spectroscopy techniques to elucidate protein-protein interactions • Presented project updates and relevant research papers during weekly lab meetings, departmental seminars, and conferences • Wrote and was awarded High Honors for a Senior Honors Thesis on the investigation of the relative activity of monomer and dimer SecYEG translocons, a key membrane protein complex in the bacterial secretory pathway

Middletown, Ct

• Guided students through challenging concepts from lecture classes and taught strategies to successfully answer homework and exam problems• Held weekly office hours to explain difficult concepts to students to increase their confidence and success in the courses• Led weekly TA sessions and guided students through the process of solving multistep problems to increase their understanding of lecture material• Graded exams and problem sets and provided clear feedback to explain what was needed to achieve the correct answer

Greater New York City Area

• Applied fundamental structural DNA nanotechnology techniques in order to set the groundwork for a new project on the formation of DNA crystals based off of two turn triangles with one or two nucleotide sticky ends • Selected to train five high school interns on gel electrophoresis and UV-Vis absorbance spectroscopy and prepared a comprehensive protocol document for them to reference

Doctor Of Philosophy - Phd, Chemical Biology

Bachelor Of Arts (Ba), Double Major: Chemistry; Molecular Biology & Biochemistry, 3.92/4.0