Khoa Vu Email & Phone Number

United States

I work one-on-one with students to customize their test prep experience, covering all sections of the MCAT and targeting weak areas for desired improvement (content and strategies).

Promoted from junior specialist to this role. Currently, I am leading a project in examining the immunogenic profiles of 20 SARS-CoV-2 anti-nucleocapsid antibodies, plus two antibodies with eliminated Fc receptor binding, and assisting with synthesis tasks in a concurrent project examining the antibody-mediated phagocytosis and neutralization of a pseudo-virus generated from combining different components of HIV and SARS-CoV-2.

Irvine, California, United States

Previously, I contributed to the HIV-1 and SIV single genome amplification project in Dr. Forthal's lab by carrying out experiments that tested modifications to procedural parameters (e.g., PCR duration, different DNA polymerases). For the lab's current aim to study SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis in addition to HIV, I have conducted preparatory procedures and functional and qualitative assays to demonstrate evidence of cytokine upregulation in the presence of SARS-CoV-2 and HIV-1-derived immune complexes in an in-vitro setting as a potential explanation for the varying disease severity observed in these two viral diseases. Wherever applicable, I perform and optimize techniques and methods of transfection, transformation, mutagenesis, ELISA, plasmid cloning, SDS-PAGE, Western blot, agarose gel electrophoresis, and purification.

Santa Ana, California, United States

Manage a combined team of 20+ scribes in Endocrinology and Rheumatology. I am responsible for coordinating training, scheduling, and logistics troubleshooting, and serve as liaison to upper management, medical providers, and other department leads to ensure timely integration of changes to clinical operations, while continually making modifications independently to improve communication and procedural efficiency. Additionally, I spearheaded a project to pilot the utilization of scribes in Oncology over a 6-month period.

Santa Ana, California, United States

Expanded clinical support, both outpatient and inpatient, to Neurology, Rheumatology, Cardiology, and Infectious Diseases in addition to Endocrinology.

Santa Ana, California, United States

Assisted CHOC physicians in the Endocrinology and Emergency departments with chart preparation and documentation to enhance clinical care and patient experience.

Fountain Valley, California, United States

Started as a summer intern and volunteered with the organization throughout the year until assuming the role of health navigator. Responsibilities and projects have included: gathering published data on screening and outcome of leading cancer and cancer-related infectious diseases in underserved communities of color, with an emphasis on the Vietnamese population, to identify continued disparities and needs for grant funding, inclusion in presentations and educational materials, and general reporting as part of the Early Detection and Prevention Team; facilitating health fairs, food distribution events, community vaccine clinics, and screening seminars, as well as managing community food pantry for distribution of edible and non-edible goods to low-income individuals and cancer patients; promoting VACF's programs, services, and events through outreach, including door-to-door flyer distribution; and transcribing and translating interviews conducted with Vietnamese American breast cancer patients and survivors for analysis in UCI's CANVAS project.

Irvine, California, United States

Provided after-hour assistance to students seeking extra help with understanding course concepts and assignments in standard lower-division physics, chemistry, and biology courses.

Irvine, California, United States

Developed lesson plans and worksheets to facilitate weekly sessions for topics covered in Genetics, Molecular Biology, and Biochemistry on a quarterly rotation. Facilitated interactive discussion among students to promote independent and collaborative learning.

Irvine, California, United States

Assisted Ph.D. candidate in Dr. Forthal's lab with conducting experiments and sequence and phylogenetic analysis to identify polymorphic variations of HIV-1 founder strains favorably or unfavorably selected by various humoral and cellular factors for transmission of infection to potentially inform the development of more potent vaccines. Regularly performed reverse transcription, PCR amplification, DNA and RNA isolation and purification, and gel electrophoresis. My undergraduate experience concluded with an independent project to study the selection of transmitted HIV-1 founder strains by dendritic cells in the presence of complements as part of UCI's Excellence in Research program, leading to a published undergradate paper and poster in the Journal of Undergraduate Research in the Biological Sciences in 2020.

Westminster, California, United States

Garden Grove, California, United States