I was adopted from China and have had a passion for adoptee activism, science, and research. As an undergraduate, I have participated in research at Regis University, the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical School, and the University of Utah. As a sophomore in college, I founded a bicultural organization at Regis University that supports Asian Americans who feel they do not fully align with either their Asian or American culture. During this time, I also founded a non-profit organization called Adoptees Unite, which ensures adoptees have a safe, welcoming, and connected community online by talking about topics pertaining to adoption such as identity, belonging, and mental health. Throughout my years as an undergraduate, I have completed 3 years of research. Two of those years were spent on biology research on C. elegans at Regis University. My research focused on heavy metal neurotoxicity due to Manganese ingestion and its neurodegenerative/neurodevelopment effects. I have also taken a biochemistry class at Regis University and found neurochemistry and biochemistry to be interesting, especially protein structure and function. I also researched with Dr. Elan Eisenmesser at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical School for a year in Colorado studying the SR region of SARS-CoV-2 N-protein. I practiced sonication, protein purification, nickel affinity chromatography, PCR, and many other such laboratory techniques. In the summer of 2021, I have had the great opportunity to work as an Undergraduate Research Assistant with Dr. Peter Shen at the University of Utah Medical School Biochemistry Department. I am studying proteostasis complexes with Dr. Shen. After having learned the methods of purifying protein complexes, it is my job to improve procedural methods to generate higher yields of protein in a time-efficient manner by optimizing the procedures and evaluating multiple conditions, including buffer components (pH, salt concentration), washing steps, and elution steps. Another project I'm doing is micro-IP optimization using bioengineering methods. My study aims to improve how biochemical purifications are performed. One of the Shen lab’s major areas of focus is determining the structures of proteostasis complexes and how their misregulation causes neurodegenerative and neurodevelopment disorders. I am specifically interested in studying schizophrenia and how the ubiquitin-proteasome system can be a biomarker for such a disorder.