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Stephen W

- Research Program Mentor

MS at San Jose State University (SJSU)

Expertise

Immunology, Molecular Biology, Biology

Bio

Growing up I maintained an avid curiosity and that only continued to grow. By the time I completed my undergraduate education at the University of California, Santa Cruz in Molecular Biology I had explored several other STEM areas. It was during my Master's at San Jose State University that I found my interests leading me towards neuroscience. Since then I have done research in the fields of neuroimmunology, and neurodevelopment. I currently have a passion for all areas of neuroscience, be it early neural development, immune impact on the brain, to areas of brain-computer interface technology. My PhD research centers on exploring the relationship between the immune system and the brain.

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.

Research Planning:

Utilize current literature to design an experimental outline, including a hypothesis, for application to a field of interest.

Education Materials:

Create education materials to convert the information learned to a product that can be shared with others to pass on the knowledge.

Create Your Own Adventure:

Design a project that speaks to your interests. While my objective is to help teach you more about an area you are interested in, I am equally willing to learn with you and facilitate a project that you come up with.

Teaching experience

1. YMCA after school tutor for students K-8, for 6 years. 2. Undergraduate laboratory course instructor for general biology and microbiology. 3. Specialist in flow cytometry, training undergraduates, graduate students, post-docs, and research scientists how to operate a flow cytometer, to design experiments with the instrumentation, and to analyze data.

Credentials

Work experience

Stanford University (2016 - 2019)
Life Science Research Professional II
CHi (2015 - 2016)
California Institute for Regenerative Medicine Scholar

Education

University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC)
BS Bachelor of Science (2012)
Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology
San Jose State University (SJSU)
MS Master of Science (2017)
Molecular and Microbiology

Reviews

"I really enjoyed working with my mentor. He was very flexible while at the same time very good at breaking down complex topics. He was also very helpful in teaching me how to write a review paper as I've never done that before."

R.B.

"Under the guidance and mentorship of Stephen, Polygence has been a great experience for me! Going into the program with limited knowledge in the field of neuroscience, I was able to expand my understanding of different aspects of neuroscience that fascinated me. Over the course of the program, my mentor made sure that the topic of my paper was something I was personally interested in and wanted to pursue. Under Stephen’s guidance, I was able to produce a project that I am proud of. Overall, Polygence has been a wonderful experience, and I would definitely recommend it!"

Tiffany

Tiffany profile

"Stephen was extremely helpful throughout the 10 sessions and consistently provided really good feedback. He organized our sessions and had very useful powerpoints related to my topic as well as mini-lectures. Stephen edited my paper frequently in between sessions and gave really great ideas. Overall, this was a really great experience."

Isha

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