- Lead patient update projects involving patients with Merkel Cell Carcinoma (MCC), a rare and often deadly skin cancer- Request/analyze records from clinicians and outside facilities to produce a database of 1000+ MCC patients- Extensive communication with patients to recruit them for participation in research or provide updates of their healthto the database and extended clinical team at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance/Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center- Draft novel protocols and documents to ensure medical records can be obtained easier in the future- Wrote and presented manuscripts of main or co-authorship at lab meetings, symposiums, and international conferences- Travel grant award for oral symposium session at 2022 Society for Investigative Dermatology Annual Meeting- Published work under Advances in Radiation Oncology journal in July 2020- Manage arrangement of tissue culture rooms, patient records, clinical handouts, and creation of Microsoft Teams which transformed team-wide communications over the COVID-19 pandemic- Coordinate specimens for experiments, including collaboration with a lab studying B-cell development for cancer vaccines- Shadow in-person and virtual telehealth clinical visits to improve patient relations and understanding of physician day-to-day

I work as a research assistant for the Nghiem Lab located at the UW School of Medicine South Lake Union Campus under Dr. Paul Nghiem, M.D., Ph. D. Our dermatology research focuses on the rare skin cancer, Merkel cell carcinoma. I oversee the tissue culture room and directly interact with and contact Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) patients in efforts to study the lethal disease. My summer is spent contacting patients to compile a database of over 500 active patients across hundreds of data-fields related to the management and outcomes of MCC in order to create the most detailed MCC database in the world. I also commute to the UWMC and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center for specimen pickups as a part of my work while shadowing Dr. Nghiem in clinic at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. Every year, our team holds annual dinner event promoting new treatments and updates to fighting Merkel cell carcinoma - I create slides for Dr. Nghiem to present on and tour our guests through the laboratory and database. I am currently collaborating on multiple projects and papers with doctors at UW Medicine and Moffit Cancer Center. My profile and more information about our laboratory research can be found in the link below and on merkelcell.org.In addition to my work in the Nghiem Lab, I have performed biochemistry research under Dr. Liangcai Gu and the Institute for Protein Design at the University of Washington School of Medicine (main campus). This opportunity has given me experience with wet lab work through gel electrophoresis, E. coli growth, and ELISA tests. I attempted to engineer chemically induced dimerization systems for drug-controlled cellular processes, which result in phage display.

I direct and manage social media accounts, talk to restaurant managers, and converse with school and library administrators to collect crayons, which are sanitized and sent to children-in-need. These children range from the local Burien, WA area to countries such as Uganda and Tanzania, and they receive our crayon packages, which include house-made coloring books along with the crayons. I have also played major roles in accomplishing partnerships with restaurants such as Olive Gardens across the western United States as well as various organizations such as Songea's Kids and Eastside Baby Corner. I have organized events partnering with Microsoft employees to help clean and organize crayons, and hope that our influence in other events can bring us even more success.

I have worked with various students throughout the Sammamish area to help them improve in not only schoolwork but their quality of life. I have experience caregiving for a fellow high-schooler on the autism scale, and have tutored for middle school students (grade 6) in math competitions such as the Washington State Math Championships. I teach the skills I used to succeed in these competitions, and have seen my students place highly in competitions as a result.My college advising has been largely successful as many high school students who have received testing or essay help from me have gained entrance into schools such as Princeton, Carnegie Mellon, and Cornell University. If you are interested in my services in the local Sammamish area during the summer, I am happy to meet with you to discuss my rates.

I provided musical services (piano and soprano saxophone) to elderly memory home residents to help them experience and enjoy music at an old age.

I interned and shadowed for Mark Yu Mao, DDS during dental procedures (check-ups, fillings, wisdom teeth extraction, etc.) while handling equipment duties under supervision. Furthermore, I helped to create and format a temporary website as they transitioned from an older location to a newer renovated one. I offered hospitality to arriving patients before their dental procedures. I have over 200+ hours of experience in dental interning at this location.

I taught children from ages 3 to around 12 in reading and math, graded their worksheets, tested them in drills, and tutored them when they needed help. I organized worksheets for the children and cleaned the facility along with these duties.

Shadowed Dr. Allen Chen, MSD, and observed procedures such as root canals and dental implants. Worked to provide hospitality and interacted with staff to learn about the dental industry.

Learned biomedical research techniques such as micropipetting to conduct research on agar, BRCA1 genes, and cat food at Shoreline Community College.