I gained independent research experience as an undergraduate research assistant at the Jovanovic Lab, where I also completed the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF). My projects focused on method development and optimization. Recognizing the importance of technological enhancement and fine-tuning, I am eager to apply these tools to better understand both pathological and non-pathological biological systems.

lab

I am currently working as a Research Associate in the Proteomics Team at the Broad Institute with a focus on data generation for the Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium (CPTAC).

🧪 protein-protein interactions (PPIs):

In cells, proteins almost always act in coordination with other proteins to function and bring about particular biological/chemical effects. Therefore, efforts in identifying protein-protein interactions (PPIs) help reveal more information about the function and effects of such networks not only within the context of diseases but also in non-pathological functions including cell signaling and differentiation

  • CITY-seq: was involved in developing and optimizing a novel high-throughput method that detects protein-protein interactions by integrating DNA-conjugated antibodies, combinatorial barcoding, and NextGen Sequencing (see SURF poster below)
surf
  • Single IP-MS Experiments with Varying Antibody Concentrations: performed a series of single IP-MS experiments, utilizing a selection of 10 distinct antibodies at varying concentrations to test if adding correlation analysis to the classic enrichment over control analysis improves interactor identification in IP-MS experiments

🧪 RNA-binding proteins (RBPs):

RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) are integral to the many aspects of RNA dynamics and functionality, such as transcription, processing, transport, and stability. Discrepancies in the functionality of RBPs or their interactions with RNA have been associated with human diseases, from neurological disorders to cancer.

  • SPIDR: performed titration experiments with nanobodies and streptavidin-coated magnetic Dynabeads for their potential integration into the SPIDR protocol (Wolin et al, 2023)

🧪 lab techniques:

  1. DNA Hyperconjugation with Click Chemistry
  2. SDS PAGE (followed by coomassie blue or silver staining)
  3. Bacterial culture and plasmid extraction
  4. Restriction digest test
  5. DNA gel electrophoresis
  6. Mammalian cell culture
  7. Transfection
  8. BCA Assay
  9. Western Blot
  10. Dot Blot
  11. qPCR
  12. Immunoprecipation (IP)