Department: Chemistry Faculty Adviser: Ralph Kleiner Year of Study: G5 Undergraduate School: Northwestern University Undergraduate Major: Molecular Biology
My first experience in research was making explosives, colors and scents in my garage during high school. I then transitioned to studying and researching organic chemistry at Northwestern University. Now I am a fourth year graduate student studying RNA modifications in the chemistry department. For fun I enjoy cooking, watching movies with friends, and reading.
I took 5 gap years between undergrad and grad school. I taught at a high school and then worked at a chemical startup (NuMat) in the Chicago area.
All living cells depend on translation, the process of turning genetic code into proteins. But here s a puzzle: although evolution has had billions of years to optimize this process, we still don t fully know how the details like codons, tRNAs, and tRNA modifications combine to make translation fast and efficient. Why do some codons slow things down while others speed it up? To explore this mystery, I built a system that measures translation speed over just a few codons at a time. The signal is visual: cells literally glow green with GFP when translation is slow. In this project, you ll get to swap in different codons and tRNAs, almost like changing pieces in a genetic puzzle, to see how the system responds. From these experiments, we can begin to uncover the hidden rules that cells use to keep protein production efficient.
Interested in participating in Summer 2027 ReMatch+ program.
