DYnamic NAnoMEDicines Lab

Managed the order, delivery, and serving of 8 meals for over 300 volunteers at a student-organized free medical clinic targeted at vulnerable populations in the Columbus community. Prepared lodging at hotels for volunteers and medical professionals traveling to Columbus from other locations. Successfully raised over $32,000 in donations through grants and partnerships with local organizations. Provided $161,185 worth of free medical, dental, and vision care to 380 patients between 9/22/2023 and 9/24/2023. Currently planning the logistics behind the upcoming November 2024 clinic for a projected 1000+ patients.

Coordinated transcriptomic research using patients' RNA expression data to identify biomarkers related to Multiple Sclerosis, Lupus Nephritis, and Alzheimer's Disease. Led wet lab by instructing pipetting, gel electrophoresis, and PCR techniques. Taught students how to navigate various computational tools to identify gene pathways associated with disease, perform data analysis, and successfully present research. Trained students to write commands, jobs, and shell scripts to analyze their raw whole exome sequence using IGV, ClinVar, and Linux bioinformatic software through the Great Lakes Slurm HPC Cluster.

CORE volunteer for the Equipment Lead position.

Accumulated over 300 clinical service hours by volunteering at pop-up clinics targeted at uninsured populations across rural Appalachia offering free medical, vision, and dental care. Engaged with patients during registration and as a guide, crafted custom lenses for patients in the vision lab based on their prescriptions, and aided healthcare professionals as a dental assistant during tooth extractions.

Castro-Lowenstein Lab

Reallocating excess, unused medical supplies, that would otherwise be discarded, from local health systems to regions in need. Redistributed approximately $100,000 worth of supplies to Central America, Ukraine, and Columbus health centers. Assembled homeless care kits with personal care items for the local homeless community. Created a guide including every free or low-cost mental health resource in Franklin County and comprehensive information on Columbus hotlines, clinics, FQHCs, shelters, and support groups. Wrote grants for funds to sustain club activities and shipment and storage unit fees.

Responsible for authorizing the nonprofit members' volunteer hours by supplying reports and letters of verification. Helped eligible students apply for the Presidential Volunteer Service Award.

Analyzed NCBI Gene Expression Omnibus datasets to identify correlations between gene expression and disease using software like R programming, GEO, STRING-db, UCSC Genome Browser, Gene Ontology, KEGG Pathways, OMIM, GeneCards, and PharmGKB. Presented winning posters at conferences and wrote abstracts on computational precision medicine research. Attended computational biology, biotechnology sequencing, and R programming research summer camps. Advocated in a national initiative against vaccine hesitancy during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Led Fundraising Committee to raise $20,000 for University of Michigan research microgrants.

Dr. Schwendeman's research lab synthesizes high-density lipoprotein (sHDL) nanomedicines for the treatment of various diseases. Responsible for preparing sHDL nanoparticles and measuring them using chromatography. Proficient with basic lab skills like weighing, pipetting, preparing solutions, and aseptic handling while growing cells and performing cell culture experiments.