-To determine the temporal regulation of Nodal signaling that activates neuroectoderm-specific convergence and extension morphogenesis during gastrulation in zebrafish. - Translation: To understand when signals in cells turn on and off to coordinate cell movement for the formation of the spine as a baby grows during the first month of pregnancy-Trained two undergraduate students to develop their own project. Resulted in providing letters of recommendations for acceptances into NYU's masters program and a potential MD/PhD program. Responsible for maintaining fish lines, writing NIH fellowship applications, preparing presentations, developing my project and carrying it to completion.- Co-lead and coordinated community outreach by introducing a STEM charter school (3rd-12th grade) to developmental biology.- Lead to 2nd Place Best poster award at Southwest Society of Developmental Biology regional conference and 2nd place best Poster award and invited speaker at local Keck Annual research conference,- Resulted in three monetary awards, including a T32 appointment (T32ES027801), a Bert W. O’Malley, M.D. Student Scholar Award in Medical Research Award scholarship, and an NRSA F31 award (F31GM149166). Also resulted in three first author papers, a reveiw, a methods paper/video, and a research article.

- Collaborated with course professors to review and teach course content for a newly developed course, “Molecular and Cellular Biology”, for postbaccalaureate students. Course was designed to teach students about basic molecular biology concepts (replication, translation etc.). - Conducted class review/study sessions prior to the final and midterm for eighty students annually. - Resulted in a higher course evaluation score from year 1 to year 2 students.

- Primary lead intern on an internal project within Aptamer Therapeutics Creative Group (ATCG) to discover novel drug targets to treat Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis. - Conducted market research for competitors in the antibody-drug conjugate field to present to potential investors. - Participated in weekly status updates for each company within the startup incubator to further my knowledge on investor networking, project timeline, and industry project funding. - Resulted in a new and novel drug target identified for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and a detailed experimental plan to move the project forward

- Collaborated with course professors to review and teach course content for a newly developed course, “Molecular and Cellular Biology”, for postbaccalaureate students. Course was designed to teach students about basic molecular biology concepts (replication, translation etc.). - Conducted class review/study sessions prior to the final and midterm for eighty students annually. - Resulted in a higher course evaluation score from year 1 to year 2 students.

- Introduced into the lab as a research intern through Baylor's Summer Science Research Program for incoming undergraduates- Performed biological verification of lab designed immune-suppressant compounds with modular linkers on TLR4/7 HEK cell lines to identify timing of release and efficiency of the compounds.- Responsible for building cell culture protocols, training fellow undergraduate and graduate students in cell culture, and designing and presenting results.- Resulted in a co-authored research article and an established biological protocol in an organic synthesis lab. Received 2nd place at Baylor's 2nd annual American Chemical Society symposium as a freshman.

• Analyzed the role of the most common genetic mutations (ESR1 Y537S and D538G) that lead to increased rates of metastasis in estrogen receptor positive breast cancer patients.• Trained one lab technician, one graduate student, and a post-bachelor student how to perform protein work for western blots and cell culture techniques. • Contributed to a peer reviewed research publication and resulted in gaining biological research experience and mentorship training.

• Introduced into the laboratory by earning a position in the NSF REU Rice Bionetworks Program.• The primary goal of this project was to analyze how extracellular signaling works between the bacteria, Rhizobium leguminosarum, and plant roots in order to create nitrogen-fixing root nodules. I engineered biosensors to depict extracellular signaling within different types of soil. These results would be used to analyze different soils and optimize them for the desired crops of interest.• Obtained skills in bacteria culture work such as PCR, running agarose gels, DNA extraction, DNA purification, plating bacteria cultures, developing plasmids, preparing samples for DNA sequencing and analyzing the results, gas chromatography, and statistical analysis of results.• Resulted in a final poster presentation and experience in the biogeochemistry field.