Major: Chemistry
Minor: Art
What activities were you involved in during your time at Cal Lutheran?
Research was my biggest activity. Anyone who wants to get into research or PhD school in the future, PLEASE do undergraduate research. It is so hard (basically impossible) to get any job/into any PhD without undergraduate research experience.
Can you describe some of the resources and support systems that helped you achieve success at Cal Lutheran?
The greatest resources at Cal Lutheran were definitely my professors and the research opportunities. Unlike other universities, we are able to work directly with our professors, and mine also ended up being great mentors. Dr. Jesus Cordova-Guerrero was my greatest resource; he was able to get me into full-time summer research which led to a year-long research project. I fully attribute him/the research experience to my successes, I would not be working full time in a lab now if he did not help me so much! Dr. Haco Hoang was also a great resource for me– she challenged me outside of my field of interest in her global dtudies class and has helped me so much with getting into my current job.
What have you been doing since you graduated and what are your professional goals?
Since I have graduated, I moved to Washington D.C. and started a post-baccalaureate research fellowship at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) under the National Institutes of Health (NIH). I work in a clinical pharmacology lab where I help develop bioanalytical assays and model pharmacokinetics for novel anti-cancer drugs. I am currently working on a manuscript that will be published in early 2024! This experience is amazing and so unique because my lab is located in the NIH clinical center where I get to work directly with researchers and doctors. This leads to my career goals– obtaining an MD, PhD. I love clinical research and my goal is to be a research oncologist where I can do both clinical and research work (which is why my current position is perfect for this). I am currently applying to PhD school. A highlight of mine is that my boss is a board member of the FDA and was just on CNN talking about voting a certain drug off the market.
How did Cal Lutheran prepare you for success in this type of work?
Cal Lutheran prepared me for success through my STEM classes which focused on not only concepts–but also research applications. And like I said before, the research opportunities at Cal Lutheran are amazing and accessible. It is so easy to get hands-on research if you want it, and the professors are so willing and flexible to work with your schedule to include you.