What she's doing now
After traveling in China the summer after graduation, Shuang joined Dr. Sabine Ehrt’s lab at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City. They study the metabolic environment that Mycobacterium Tuberculosis’s (Mtb) faces within its host, and characterize Mtb genes to better understand the molecular basis for its ability to resist host defense mechanisms using biosafety level 3 organisms and mouse models. After work and on the weekends, she volunteers with New York Hospitals Queens and with Musicians On Call, a volunteer organization that brings together musicians to perform for hospital patients. She is also preparing for the MCAT and applying to medical schools.
High School: Freeport High School, Maine
Connecticut College Major: Biochemistry, Cellular and Molecular Biology, 2012
Research Papers
"On the origin of fluorescence in bacteriophytochrome infrared fluorescent proteins." A. A. Samma, C. K. Johnson, S. Song, S. Alvarez, M. Zimmer J. Phys. Chem. B 2010, 114, 15362-15369.
Research Posters
"Photophysics and Dihedral Freedom of the Chromophore in Red Fluorescent Proteins" presented at the American Chemical Society Northeast Regional Meeting, Hartford, Conn., October, 2009.
Conferences Attended
American Chemical Society Northeast Regional Meeting, Hartford, Conn., October, 2009
Internships
Summer 2011 - Dr. Charles Lee, Brigham and Woman's Hospital, Boston, Mass.
Summer 2010 - (one month), research on the origin of fluorescence in bacteriophytochrome infrared fluorescent proteins in Professor Zimmer's computational chemistry lab
Summer 2010 (two months) - Project A.H.E.A.D., Charles B. Wang Community Health Center, New York, NY
Summer 2009 - research on photophysics and dihedral freedom of the chromophore in red fluorescent proteins in Professor Zimmer's computational chemistry lab
Academic Year Research
Three semesters in Professor Zimmer's computational chemistry lab
One year in Professor Eastman's genetics lab
Study Away
Fall 2010 - SIT Community Health and Social Policies, South Africa. This study abroad experience included a month-long independent study project, "Exploring the Collaboration of HIV and TB Services in a Rural Hospital in the Province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa," in which she volunteered in the hospital and interviewed the doctors.
Other Accomplishments
Foreign Language Fellow, Connecticut College
Mitchell Scholar, named for Senator George J. Mitchell from the State of Maine
CRC Press Award in General Chemistry
American Chemistry Society Polyed Undergraduate Award in Organic Chemistry
First rating (piano) soloist, Jazz Festival of Maine Music Educators Association, 2008