The Graduate Education Committee is composed primarily of faculty, along with 3 student liaisons, that seeks to make improvements to the graduate school wherever needed. This consists of monthly meetings in which members of the committee present on the projects they have focused on.When I joined the committee, I recognized an area needing to be improved was raising the awareness of the graduate schools to other areas of the country that were typically underrepresented in applicants. I also sought to improve the school's recruiting pitch in order to garner more applications, and attract the highest quality applicants as possible. I took three major steps in improving these areas. They are as follows:1) I restructured the recruiting slide deck that is presented to potential applicants by faculty when they visit outside universities. These changes centered around emphasizing the most appealing aspects of the graduate school, namely that students get the opportunity to do science that has the capacity to produce real clinical results. The unique atmosphere and resource pool of the Texas Medical Center serves as a draw for students from around the country.2) I engaged current graduate students by using social media platforms, primarily Facebook, to pose interesting questions regarding their passion for science. This garnered many likes, shares, and responses, both from current students, as well as people outside the institution.3) I initiated a Facebook ad campaign that increased awareness of the graduate school outside our normal sphere of influence, and drove over 3,000 new people to our website. This campaign was a huge success, outperforming the benchmark by 10-fold.Engagement of current and prospective students via social media is something that had not been fully utilized until I joined the Graduate Education Committee. Now that the efficacy of this platform has been demonstrated, my successor will continue to build on the foundation I have laid.

My first three years of graduate school focused on DNA methylation, and how the specific location of this epigenetic modification impacts gene expression. Through collaboration with a team of bioinformaticians, we conducted a pan-cancer analysis that spans 10 tumor types in order to reveal genome-wide patterns in DNA methylation, and whether certain groups of genes display novel mechanisms of regulation. I then built upon these findings by investigating the role of DNA methylation in regulating antisense expression, and how changes in these processes influence cancer pathogenesis. By honing in on specific antisense RNAs that are dysregulated in cancer, I am working on selecting new targets for therapeutic intervention.I have also been investigating the capacity of cancer to spread its mutations to nearby cells, which allows it to establish an environment that is conducive to tumor growth and metastasis. By determining which mutations are most important in this process, I seek to promote a more hostile environment for tumor progression.In addition to my own projects, I have also collaborated with fellow lab members on a variety of endeavors. Listed below is a publication that enhanced the efficacy of small interfering RNA therapy, which is an increasingly popular therapeutic approach for treating cancer, among many other diseases.I have also served as the director of projects conducted by two visiting MD/PhDs from Japan. This involved biweekly meetings and providing ongoing advice about data analysis, experimental next steps, and manuscript preparation. Through these projects, we discovered a means of sensitizing mucinous ovarian cancer to chemotherapy, opening up new modes of therapy that were otherwise ineffective in this deadly disease. We also uncovered a cancer-specific molecule that promotes blood vessel formation, revealing a new target for specifically inhibit tumor blood supply.

My responsibilities as VP of External Relations include connecting with consultants to set up events for club members in which they can hear from and speak directly with consultants. I am also responsible for marketing the event to potential and current members of the club. I have used this capacity to increase our member pool by reaching out to trainees at Rice University, as well as Houston Methodist. I am spearheading the Greater Houston Case Competition, an event that consists of competitors drawn from 4 different organizations: The Consulting Club at the Texas Medical Center, Jones Business School at Rice, The University of Texas McCombs MBA at Houston, and Bauer Business school at The University of Houston. Consultants from firms in Houston such as BCG, McKinsey, and Ernst & Young volunteer to serve as judges. As the organizer of this event, I have expanded our collaborators to include Bauer Business School. I have also conducted fundraising with institutions such as MD Anderson, Rice, and consulting firms. My mission is to continue the growth of the Consulting Club to encompass the entire Texas Medical Center, as well as form greater connections and bonds between the club and Houston consulting firms.

During my time as AVP of Finance & Operations, I directed the acquisition of non-profit status for the Consulting Club by completing and submitting the 501(c)3 application. This required coordinating monthly meetings between members of the Consulting Club executive team, in order to address the various requests needed for completing the application.As AVP, I also managed the Consulting Club website, which included posting events, and posting any slide decks or videos from each event. I also dealt with general website maintenance, as well as making any necessary changes to the website. In addition to this, I sent emails to the 430 member Club email server, and corresponded with anyone that emailed the club email account.

As the elected representative to Student Intercouncil, my responsibilities are to represent the students of the graduate school to the administration of UT Health, as well as respond to any issues or requests brought to me by the student body. As the co-chair of the Student Activities Committee, I initiated and organized a multi-school event with the purpose of facilitating cross-school interactions and providing students of UT Health with a fun and engaging event. Dubbed "SIC Sports Day", this event drew over 140 people, and consisted of a variety of sports tournaments, including soccer, volleyball, and ping pong. Because this event was so successful, it will be continued as an annual event.I am also responsible for managing the "SIC Crawfish Boil", which is a multi-school event that serves crawfish and drinks to students, and has a DJ as well as a raffle. Last year drew over 600 students, and we hope to increase the attendance this year through a more streamlined advertising campaign. I am also the chair of the Shuttle Committee, in which we are evaluating feedback from students about the shuttle service, and restructuring the shuttle routes in order to increase efficiency.

Fannin Innovation Studio is a novel alternative to venture capital financing of biotechnology and pharmaceutical startups. By co-founding companies in these industries, Fannin Innovation works in partnership with the companies to secure non-dilutive grant funding. Examples of these types of grants include R21 and SBIR grants aimed at stimulating innovative new technologies.During my internship, I worked with ACF pharmaceuticals, which develops drug compounds for targeting the PGE2 pathway, particularly in the context of cancer. I took a different angle at strengthening and growing this company by investigating alternate approaches for blocking this pathway that had not yet been explored by other pharmaceutical companies interested in this pathway. While my internship has ended, I still work closely with Fannin Innovation and ACF pharmaceuticals to bring my discoveries to fruition.