Graduate Students

I chose MCP for both the research and the culture. The research interests and scientific approach of the labs in this department are geared towards solving problems that span across the molecular, cellular and tissue levels for a deeper understanding of how life works.  More Meanwhile, the small size and collaborative environment of MCP means we all know one another and I don’t feel like just another cog in the wheel. I’ve gained more insight into how I learn and work as an individual and how groups of researchers work together as teams as a result of being a part of the MCP research community. I feel like the mentors around me in MCP truly care about me and the other MCP students and are willing to work closely with me to help me succeed. 

             I am the MCP Home Program representative in the Stanford Biosciences Student Association (SBSA), and a few of us MCP students just started as FAST mentors for high school students in San Jose. I went to UT Austin for my undergraduate degree and majored in Neuroscience. AT UT, I worked for 3 years in the Aldrich lab as a volunteer and then as a full-time research assistant for a 4thyear after graduation before coming to Stanford. Outside of science, I’m an avid concert/festival-goer & nature-lover. Once a competitive soccer-player, I now keep my hospital bill down by sticking to yoga, jogging and hiking. I also like to cook, paint with watercolors, road-trip and go camping.

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I’m broadly interested in how cells receive and respond to extracellular signals, which is a prominent theme within MCP and how I came to choose this program. I study the Wnt/Beta-catenin signaling pathway from a biochemical perspective in the Weis lab.  More As an undergraduate at Duke University, I studied chemistry and computational biology and researched olfactory receptors in Dr. Hiro Matsunami’s lab. Outside of science I play ultimate frisbee, go backpacking, and browse Petfinder.

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I chose MCP because the faculty all study topics that interested me, and upon meeting the people at my interview, I discovered a warm group of people who wanted to help me on my journey through graduate school.  More The MCP environment is very supportive and the small size of the program allows for me to personally know all the students and faculty in the department. I discovered my love for cell biology during my undergrad at the University of Colorado at Boulder, where I worked in the Voeltz lab for 2 years as an undergraduate, and stayed for 2 years to work as a technician. In my free time I like to take my dog LouLou to the dog park, catch up with my friends, and enjoy the great restaurants in the area. Less 

I attended the University of Michigan-Dearborn and graduated with a major in Microbiology and a minor in Hispanic Studies. In undergrad, I worked in a chemistry lab on a project to generate metal-silica, core-shell nanostructures. At Stanford,  More I joined Lynette Cegelski’s lab, which uses biophysical techniques to study complex biological systems.  My thesis focuses on the extracellular matrix of Escherichia coli biofilms, more specifically investigating the structure and function of phosphoethanolamine modified cellulose, the first discovered naturally chemically modified cellulose! My hobbies include watching movies and playing intramural basketball, softball, volleyball, and soccer.

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 I completed my undergraduate degree at the University of Maryland, traveled to the University of Cambridge to attain my MPhil, and am now pursuing a joint PhD in MCP and a MS in the BMI as a Knight-Hennessy Scholar. Outside of research, I enjoy basketball, exercising, and tennis.  More My interests in science have certainly changed over time but I am currently interested in understanding the basic, macromolecular principles that govern basic processes such as protein-protein or RNA-protein interactions. I believe that this can uncovered through a mixture of bioinformatics and informed biophysical measurements. I hope to engage and learn as much as I can while I am at Stanford, so please feel free to reach out whenever!

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I graduated from Reed College in Portland, Oregon in 2020 and have called the Pacific Northwest home ever since. During my undergraduate thesis in Dr. Shivani Ahuja’s lab, I became interested in the structural changes that accompany receptor transmission of extracellular signals to intracellular actions. After graduation, I worked as a research assistant in the Mansoor lab at Oregon Health and Sciences University, structurally and functionally characterizing the response of ion channel P2X7 to competitive and noncompetitive agonists and antagonists by electrophysiology and cryoEM. Broadly, my research interests include structural biology, cell biology, and microbiology. I chose MCP because this program offers both the intellectual freedom to pursue my evolving research interests and exceptional support along the way. In my free time, you can find me at a local coffee shop, trying new restaurants, or scouring vintage shops for a new outfit!

Born in South San Jose, I would often visit Stanford for events and tennis matches and I fell in love with the atmosphere. I was fortunate to attend UCSD, close to home but not too close, and graduated with a molecular biology degree. I was offered a scientist position at a Silicon Valley bio startup and through this opportunity I continually met outstanding scientists from Stanford University. Given a keen interest in understanding cellular mechanisms and the orchestration cells play in tissue function in creating a viable organism, I knew MCP would be a great fit where collaborations are encouraged, and leading experts are in every lab.