About Me

I’m a science and medicine nerd with a passion for bringing basic discovery to the service of patients and sharing the joy of the process with students along the way.

Education

Research Experience

• Identified immunotherapy targets in Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma and led first preclinical programs for CAR T cell use in the disease
• Defined neuronal circuitry providing synaptic input to oligodendrocyte precursor cells, and investigated their role in myelin plasticity
• Implemented single cell RNA sequencing to study transcriptional heterogeneity in normal neural precursors and pediatric brain tumors

• Developed triblock copolymer micellar drug delivery system for enhancing delivery characteristics of near-infrared imaging dye and chemotherapeutics.

Core research competencies

• Chimeric antigen receptors and use in adoptive immunotherapy
• Human tumor and normal brain specimen handling and cell culture derivation
• In vivo tumor models and stereotaxic surgery
• Single-cell RNA sequencing
• Flow cytometry and cell sorting, including from brain preparations
• Immunofluorescence staining and histology
• Confocal microscopy
• Molecular cloning including Cas9-mediated manipulations
• Optogenetics, including design and implementation of closed-loop behavioral assessment systems
• MATLAB, R, Arduino

Awards

Stanford SPARK Excellence Award, 2018

NRSA 2016

Stanford MSTP trainee, 2011

Goldwater Scholar, 2010

Phi Beta Kappa, 2010

Amgen Scholar, 2009

Washington Scholar, 2007

National Merit Scholar, 2007

Teaching

Teaching assistant, Stanford medical student pathology 2013-2016

Teaching assistant, Stanford medical student histology 2012-2013

Mentorship

Kennedy C-K, research assistant, 2018-present: currently applying to medical school

Shree S., research assistant, 2015-2017: MD student

Evan A., undergraduate researcher, 2014-2017: MD student

Ingrid I., research assistant, 2012-2013: PhD student