Summer Undergraduate Research Program - Fred Hutchinson ...

am tested ten different breast cancer cell lines against different metabolic inhibitors to identify possible
differences in bioenergetic metabolism between breast cancer subtypes. I have gained new insight into
mammalian cell culture as a result of this project and trained use novel instruments like the Extracellular
Flux Analyzer. Also, weekly lectures in different areas of cancer research helped me gain a better
understanding about research fields other than that of breast cancer. I believe the training and
experience gained through this internship program will prepared me well for future research projects.
Currently, I am working as a Research Associate in XXX, startup biotech company in XXX. Since
XXX provides research and diagnostic tools for drug discovery and therapeutic development for
treatment of Parkinson’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases, this position gives me
enormous experience on drug discovery research. My work is involve with mammalian tissue culture,
western blots, Florescence Microscopy work, and testing novel target cell signaling molecules involved
in apoptotic cell death. Since, this company is associate with XXX; I have opportunity to use research
facilities in Department of Biomedical Sciences at XXX too. As an undergraduate student, I am glad that I
work with them because I can learn lot of new research techniques from my work and I also certain that
these experience will be helpful for me as a graduate student in near future.
In addition to my research experiences at XXX, XXX and the XXX, I have taken part in various
extracurricular activities at XXX. I was President of the XXX Students Association at XXX (20 XX) and
during my presidency, I was able to organize a number of cultural events through which we were able to
share our rich XXX culture with the rest of the XXX community. I also served as a Peer Mentor for the
“Secret of Life” learning community for genetics undergraduates at XXX, where I shared my educational
and personal experiences with freshmen students to help them succeed in their studies. Together with
the other peer mentors; we formed a weekly “help room” session to offer assistance with math,
chemistry and biology.
I believe that my experiences gained both inside and outside the classroom, have prepared me
to advance academically and professionally. My goal is obtain a Ph.D. in cancer biology and conduct
further studies in the field of breast cancer research. I am certain that the Molecular and Cell Biology
(MCB) Ph.D. program offered at XXX will provide the education and experience I wish to acquire. I also
believe that the diversity of the coursework, world‐class research opportunities, and rich social and
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