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Vivian J

- Research Program Mentor

Industry expert at Johns Hopkins University

Expertise

Regenerative and developmental biology, cell biology, biochemistry, genetics

Bio

I am a current second-year graduate student in Harvard's Molecules, Cells, and Organisms PhD program. I am currently working in Dr. Jessica Lehoczky's lab at Brigham and Women's hospital studying how limb regeneration occurs in mammals, using the mouse as our model organism. I went to Johns Hopkins University for undergrad, where my research project was determining the dynamics of chromatin remodeler proteins in live yeast cells. Outside of science, I enjoy cooking, playing video games, and have just recently started getting into digital artwork. I also have an adorable cat named Stickers that I most definitely bother too much.

Project ideas

Project ideas are meant to help inspire student thinking about their own project. Students are in the driver seat of their research and are free to use any or none of the ideas shared by their mentors.

Regenerating human limbs?

Humans can't grow arms or legs back at all, but why is it that other animals like salamanders and starfish can? This project will investigate why this ability is so limited in mammals and current methods and ideas to promote regeneration in humans.

Coding skills

Python, Java, R

Languages I know

Chinese, Taiwanese

Teaching experience

In undergrad, I mentored middle school students weekly in various scientific topics, such as meteorology and epidemiology. I also mentored freshmen and sophomore year undergraduates in macro and microeconomics through a student-led peer mentoring program. I also participated in a high school mentoring program at Harvard called HPREP, in which I mentored a high school student for a few months to prepare her for college, with a focus on a career in health and medicine.

Credentials

Work experience

Johns Hopkins University (2016 - 2019)
Research Assistant
Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (2017 - 2017)
Summer Research Intern

Education

Johns Hopkins University
BS Bachelor of Science (2018)
Molecular and Cellular Biology

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