Michelle Chan Email and Phone Number

Advisor: Dr. Mark HuisingMy doctoral research is focused on uncovering the kinetics of beta cell responses to incretin mimetics (e.g. Wegovy, Mounjaro, Victoza) to explain differences in therapeutic efficacy in diabetic patients • Performed confocal microscopy to correlate signaling responses to differences in ex vivo insulin secretion of beta cells from primary human donor and mouse islets• Optimized and conducted GLP-1 receptor internalization and trafficking assays in primary beta cells•Led in vivo studies to assess effects of GLP-1 therapies on glucose and insulin tolerance in mouse cohorts.•Trained and managed 6 undergraduate students to conduct research projects for their senior thesis.Awards:2024 - present Predoctoral Fellow, NIH NIDDK NRSA F31 2022 - 2024 Predoctoral Trainee, NIH T32 Training Program in Basic and Translational Cardiovascular Science2023 Honorable Mention, Ford Foundation Predoctoral FellowshipOral and Poster Presentations:• Western Region Islet Study Group Conference 2024. Asilomar, CA.• UCSF Metabolism, Obesity & Diabetes Scientific Retreat 2024. Santa Cruz, CA. • Stanford Bay Area Metabolism Meeting 2023. Stanford, CA.• Keystone Symposia Type 2 Diabetes: Understanding its Early Drivers and the Road to Therapeutics Conference 2023. Palm Springs, CA.• UCSF Metabolism, Obesity & Diabetes Scientific Retreat 2023. Santa Cruz, CA. • UC Davis CVRI Retreat and Heart Day 2022. Sacramento, CA. • Western Region Islet Study Group Conference 2022. Pasadena, CA.• City of Hope Biomedical Research Graduate Student Symposium 2022. Online.• Western Region Islet Study Group Conference 2021. Stevenson, WA.

Finkbeiner LabSame responsibilities as a Research Associate IAdditional experiences:• Prepared mouse primary neurons on gold grids for cyro-electron tomography• Wrote custom R and Python scripts to analyze data generated from high throughput screens

Finkbeiner Lab• Identified targets that control stress granule dynamics and rescue ALS associated toxicity• Developed assay to identify targets that regulate tau clearance in primary mouse neurons and human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs)• Performed high-throughput screening (HTS) of small molecule compounds that improved neuronal survival of in vitro models of neurodegeneration• Optimized calcium death indicators and generated data sets to train convolutional neural networks (CNN)• Utilized confocal microscopy and immunocytochemistry to characterize neurons• Extracted and harvested primary mouse cortical neurons • Maintained hiPSCs and differentiated into various neuron types • Regularly presented research results at lab meetings, conferences, and scientific retreats

Li Lab (UCSD Faculty Mentor Program/Senior Thesis)• Investigated interactions in JAK/STAT pathway that stabilize heterochromatin in A549 cells• Optimized transfection protocol and performed biochemical assays to study protein interactions• Wrote research proposals and presented research at the annual FMP symposium

Saez Lab• Explored the mechanism of bitter taste receptor signaling on metabolism and insulin sensitivity • Assisted with protein purification, gateway cloning, and designing plasmid constructs• Verified genotype of mouse colonies by DNA extraction, PCR, and gel electrophoresis

Law Lab• Investigated the connections between chromatin and DNA damage repair pathways in Arabidopsis• Studied changes in gene expression and transcriptional responses to DNA damage• Verified genotype of seedlings and transformed Arabidopsis with agrobacterium