Experience

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  Glyphic Biotechnologies

  • Berkeley, California, United States

  • Senior Scientist

    • Mar 2022 - Present
    • Berkeley, California, United States

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  Illumina

  • United States
  • Biotechnology Research
  • 700 & Above Employee

  • Scientist 2

    • Jul 2021 - Mar 2022

  • Scientist 1

    • Sep 2019 - Jul 2021

  • Postdoctoral Researcher

    • Oct 2018 - Sep 2019

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  Stanford University

  • Stanford, CA

  • Biophysics PhD Student

    • Jun 2012 - Sep 2018
    • Stanford, CA

    My thesis work involved two projects relating to the biophysics of mammalian tissues.For the first project, we used functionalized hydrogel substrates to study how human pluripotent stem cells respond to mechanical cues. We studied how these external mechanical cues affected growth geometry (as a monolayer vs a 3D embryoid body) and cellular signaling (YAP/Hippo). We characterized cell and substrate mechanics with AFM and rheometry, and evaluated pluripotent cell state with immunofluorescence microscopy and RT-PCR.In the second project, we engineered fluorescent (FRET) tension reporters to see how forces are distributed between living cells. To study how external forces are propagated in tissue monolayers, we used a micropipette to apply mechanical force to cell monolayers while imaging with high resolution. We wrote MATLAB software for automated segmentation and maximum-likelihood based determination of fluorescence lifetime, allowing us to determine molecular forces with sub-micrometer spatial resolution and piconewton sensitivity.

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  Caltech

  • Pasadena, CA

  • Undergraduate Research Assistant

    • Jun 2010 - Aug 2010
    • Pasadena, CA

    This summer undergraduate research project involved designing and generating 3D microenvironments to study the mechanics of epithelial tissue morphogenesis with live cell, timelapse microscopy. After designing patterns in AutoCad, we used photolithography and PDMS molds to make patterned collagen and gelatin hydrogels. We cultured human epithelial cells in these patterned microwells, varying well geometry and the overlayed hydrogel composition, to study how these parameters affect branching behavior.

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  Caltech/JPL

  • Pasadena, CA

  • Undergraduate Research Assistant

    • May 2009 - Aug 2009
    • Pasadena, CA

    This spring and summer undergraduate research project was helping the development of a Python-based image analysis and photometry program ("PyGFIT: Automated High-Precision Photometry Using GALFIT-Measured Parameters") in order to combine imaging data from telescopes with different spatial resolutions, wavelengths, and sensitivities to extract accurate photometric and morphometric information.