Ribbeck Lab, Biological Engineering

I worked in the immunology and TB groups in Dr. Dan Barouch's lab in the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at BIDMC to help develop vaccines for COVID-19, HIV, and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Our COVID-19 vaccine was developed in collaboration with Johnson and Johnson, which became the third vaccine approved for use under Emergency Use Authorization to slow the spread of the pandemic.In the immunology group, I assisted in the lab's numerous studies with NHP models for COVID-19 and HIV, working under stringent Good Clinical Laboratory Practice (GCLP) guidelines. Some of these tasks included processing human and NHP samples; running immunological assays such as lymphocyte staining, ELISPOT, and pseudovirus neutralization assay; and training newer members of the team. Furthermore, I helped to manage 10,000s of NHP and clinical trial samples, which included keeping detailed inventories and maps of sample locations, distributing samples to other lab members who need them, and shipping and receiving samples. In the TB group, I worked with and developed mouse models in a BL3 facility to study the immunogenicity and protective capabilities of TB vaccine candidates.

I worked on developing a semi-synthetic regulon platform, rather than simple constitutive expression, to enable yeast (S. cerevisiae) to grow on a variety of non-native sugars. In this system, heterologous metabolism genes were coupled with growth signaling to improve growth beyond that of independent, constitutive expression of those metabolic genes. A second project I was involved in was assembling and transforming various inducible plasmids into E. coli to optimize control over the expression of a gene of interest. Through my work in the lab, I gained experience with key molecular biology techniques such as plasmid assembly, DNA isolation and cloning, PCR, gel electrophoresis, and cell culture.

I tutored undergraduate students in general chemistry courses, either in a 1-on-1 or group setting. Tutoring required a deep understanding of the material, thorough preparation, and an ability to tailor my teaching to all different learning styles.

I shadowed a post doc and a senior undergraduate at Tufts University where I gained experience in a lab setting, including learning various lab techniques such as cell culture, cell fixing, immunostaining, sterile techniques, and media and sample preparation. The focus of the lab was to build a functional model of the blood-brain barrier, using silk as a biomaterial, to study the mechanisms of certain diseases.

At Alnylam, my summer project was to develop and optimize a novel MSD assay to accurately detect and quantify the concentration of a particular protein of interest in tissue samples for use in pre-clinical studies. Ultimately, I identified an optimal reagent regimen from an initial landscape of 1,125 possible reagent combinations. This project provided me with extensive experience in designing my own experiments and use of GraphPad Prism and Microsoft Excel for data analysis. At the end of the summer, I presented my research in a company-wide poster session as well as at a department meeting as a podium presentation. Throughout the summer, I also shadowed coworkers so that I could gain experience in additional bioanalytical techniques such as RT-qPCR and other ligand binding assays (e.g. ELISA, Quanterix).

The focus of the team I worked with was to develop and apply our microfluidic droplet platform for high throughput testing of therapeutic compounds and microbial communities. I worked on two projects throughout my year at the Broad. One project involved studying the growth of E. coli on various combinations of carbon sources, while the other project was to improve the efficiency of our platform in its wide range of potential applications. Many of the materials used in the lab were made in-house, so I helped to fabricate devices using AutoCAD software, photolithography, soft lithography, and laser cutting.

Certified soccer referee since 2011, having refereed youth players ages 8-18

I worked part time with the Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation research team, transferring and uploading data regarding patients' responses to transplant to our database. I also helped to organize patient information and performed various other tasks for members of the team.

I worked full time with a Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation research team. I facilitated communication between the patients' Dana-Farber doctors and their primary care doctors by requesting and receiving patient medical records via fax. I also helped to organize patient information and performed other various tasks for members of the team.

Summer camp counselor for kids ages 5-9. I had to plan and run activities on my own and with my other counselors, assist in programs run by specialist counselors, and keep the campers on track throughout the day.

I worked part time with a Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation research team. I facilitated communication between the patients' Dana-Farber doctors and their primary care doctors by faxing out and receiving patient visit documents. I also organized patient information and went on various errands with members of the team where I would learn about their specific roles in the group to gain a more holistic view of the clinical research process.

Worked at the cash register and assisted customers on the floor, answering any questions they had about location or quality of our products.