What I’m Currently Doing

I have wrapped up my first year of medical school, and I am spending my summer doing research rotations for my PhD. I’ll work first in Dr. Gavin Ha’s lab and then Dr. Alison Feder’s lab, both focused on computational cancer evolution!

Research Projects

Ongoing projects

Modeling SBS mutations in cancer
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON GENOME SCIENCES, FEDER LAB
Use modeled cancer data of different growth patterns to understand changes in SBS1 (proportional to number of cell division) and SBS5 (proportional to clock time) mutation proportions.

Early COVID-19 Pandemic in the Caribbean
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES, GHEDIN LAB, SYSTEMS GENOMICS SECTION
Characterize the early COVID-19 Pandemic in Haiti and the Dominican Republic using SARS-CoV-2 sequencing and epidemiological data. We are particularly focused on the variants present in the Caribbean and how/when they were introduced in and out of the Caribbean.

The Bayesian Inference Of HIV Drug Selection Rate In Different Drug Environments UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO, DWYER LAB
Develop a novel method to quantify the change in select pressure on a pathogen within a host after a change in environment using non-synonymous to synonymous mutation rate ratio and coalescent theory. We then apply this method to study HIV selection after a change in drug therapy.

Previous projects

Metastatic Seeding in Bladder & Prostate Cancer
FRED HUTCHINSON CANCER CENTER, HA LAB
For my 5 week rotation project in the Ha lab, I will be trying to apply a metastatic seeding software, MACHINA, to better understand the migratory history of bladder and prostate cancer clones across primary tumors and metastatic sites.

COVID-19 Evolution and surveillance sequencing
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES, GHEDIN LAB, SYSTEMS GENOMICS SECTION
Sequence SARS-CoV-2 samples for various projects to better understand evolution and transmission of SARS-CoV-2. Publications: Epling et al (2022), Saharia et al (2022), Roder et al (2023)

Predicting COVID-19 Disease Severity Using SARS-CoV-2 Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES, GHEDIN LAB, SYSTEMS GENOMICS SECTION
Build logistic regression models of COVID-19 disease severity using patient demographics and underlying conditions with viral clade and single nucleotide polymorphism data. View Poster Here

Regulation Of MCL1 & TSC1 By Epstein Barr Virus Latent Membrane Protein 1
COLORADO COLLEGE, HATTON LAB
Study how Epstein Barr Virus modulates oncogenic human protein that are implicated in tumorigenesis and may contributed to the formation of Epstein Barr Virus related B cell lymphomas. View my honors thesis here

Regulation Of The Hallmarks Of Cancer By Epstein Barr Virus In EBV+ B Cell Lymphomas
COLORADO COLLEGE, HATTON LAB
Write a review article using the framework of the hallmarks of cancer to research how Epstein Barr Virus can promote B cell lymphoma formation. View Poster Here

Dissection-Enabled Scaffold Assisted Resection: A Novel Technique For Resection Of GI Neoplasia
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO, WAXMAN GROUP
Shadow surgery and compile patient information for a publication of a novel technique for resecting non-lifting or residual GI neoplasia
Publication: Stier et al (2018)