Despite my present-day identification as a molecular cell biologist and biochemist, my initial impressions of Biology were somewhat lukewarm, having attended an inner city, public high school in the Midwest where biology involved the use of chipped and broken test tubes, dissection of reused fetal pigs, and a lot of rote memorization. However, in college I met an organic chemistry professor-turned-mentor who sparked in me an interest in “how things work” in living organisms. Then, midway through college, in looking for summer work to supplement my job as a dishwasher for Chemistry lab classes, I stumbled upon a paid summer research program for undergraduates in New York City. On a whim, I applied and was placed in a cancer biology lab studying the tumor suppressor p53. This experience opened my eyes for the first time to the exciting field of molecular biology, where chemistry and biology meet, and even more importantly, revealed to me that the study of biology isn’t just about memorization, but rather, active investigation of yet-unsolved mysteries in (cellular) life. 

After college, I worked as a research assistant at the Harvard Institutes of Medicine in a lab investigating transcriptional regulators in prostate and breast cancer. My identity as a scientist greatly benefited from a highly supportive research advisor and mentor who gave me the opportunity to pursue a research project of my own, which instilled in me confidence that I could actually be a real scientist. It was also during that time that I realized that as exciting as disease-focused research was, so much still remained unknown about how molecular processes govern life under non-diseased conditions. The Human Genome was newly sequenced, the structure of the nucleosome had just been solved, and the study of chromatin and epigenetics seemed to be taking off. I also came to see that to grow as a scientist, I couldn’t stay a research assistant forever and would need to go to graduate school. 

This led me to Berkeley, California where I began a PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology at a time when RNA interference was just starting to be recognized as a broadly conserved mechanism for gene regulation. My graduate work centered on the model organism Tetrahymena thermophila and the characterization of small non-protein coding RNAs; this work is now the basis of the research we are conducting in the Lee Lab. After graduation, I embarked on postdoctoral research that began in Boulder, CO and relocated to San Diego, CA where I focused on how RNAs are recognized and fated for degradation or stability; the perspectives I gained through this work continues to influence the research questions we ask today in the Lee Lab. 

Along the way, I became motivated to pursue a career path that would let me integrate my love for both research and mentoring of others, inspired by the incredible scientist-mentors I had been fortunate to meet and work with throughout my scientific journey. Now, as a college educator with a research lab powered by undergraduates, Masters students, and cherished collaborators, I am thrilled and honored to have the opportunity to support students in forging their own paths through college and into STEM careers. I also identify as a woman, mom, and first-generation Asian-American who is passionate about promoting equity and inclusion in STEM and enjoys hiking, rock climbing, and (having also considered a career in the theatre at one point) the performing arts.