Steven Palomares, Global Disease Biology, Senior, 2021

Undergraduate Faculty Mentor:  Dr. Gregory Lanzaro, Principal Investigator of Vector Genetics Lab, Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology
Three words to describe me: Curious, resilient, compassionate

What are your future plans and/or goals? Do you plan to continue your research?

Yes, I plan to continue my current research project after graduation until late August 2021. After August 2021, I plan to take a gap period working as a junior specialist in academia or in the biotech industry, doing research in genetics and/or immunology. After my gap period, I plan to do a Master's program in Public Health and a PhD program in immunogenetics. In the long term, I aspire to be an immunogenetics researcher studying RNA viruses (e.g., SARS-CoV-2, West Nile virus, Zika virus).

In what ways has engaging in undergraduate research impacted your future goals and plans?

Engaging in undergraduate research has stimulated my scientific curiosity and has strengthened my passion for research beyond the classroom.

What contribution(s) will your research make to your field of study?

I hope that the contributions of my project will improve our understanding of molecular evolution (think about Charles Darwin and the Galapagos Islands Finches but with mosquitoes), particularly how island biogeography (e.g., geographic isolation, island size) might lead to differences in the genome between populations of the same and/or sister species.

Also, although it is not the focus of my project, my project contributes to my lab's ongoing genetically engineered mosquito (GEM) trials as islands are being considered for initial field trials for GEMs to assess their risk and effectiveness in the environment.

What preparation and research experience did you have before applying to your research program?

Prior to joining NSF CAMP, I worked as an undergraduate lab assistant in the Akif Eskalen Lab in the Department of Plant Pathology at UC Davis from January 2019 to March 2020 (1 year and 3 months). I assisted with their UC Cooperative Extension (UCCE) program to identify plant disease symptoms and their causative pathogen(s) in a wet lab setting. In addition to working in a wet lab, I also helped conduct field research where I helped with the lab's fungicide trials and the collection of plant tissue samples for DNA extractions and PCR analysis from field experiments.

For the summer of 2020, I did a remote internship at Genentech's South San Francisco campus. I did a data analysis project where I conducted a pharmacokinetic assessment to help support platform changes in portfolio molecules. I used pharmacological data analysis tools such as Phoenix WinNonLin and GraphPad Prism for my summer project.

These research experiences narrowed my research interests from disease biology to mosquito-borne diseases and prepared me well for my current role and project at the Vector Genetics Lab.

Personal achievements/accomplishments or other news and information:

With the support of my scholarship, Students Rising Above, I did a local news interview with CBS/KPIX 5 back in mid-September this year.

What advice do you have for other undergraduate students seeking research experiences?

Be persistent and have a willingness to learn new things and from mistakes. You'd be surprised what you can learn when you explore new fields and areas. You might develop new interests and/or solidify your current interests. Research experiments don't always go as planned and know that you will mess up and make mistakes - it's normal. At the end of the day, scientific research is a process and having a growth mindset is essential to honing not only your research skills but also your quality of life.

What else would you like us to know about you?

Most of my hobbies involve exploration. My hobbies include: hiking, running, trying new types of food, and cooking homemade recipes as homage to my Laotian and Mexican roots. I have three different recipes for pho (chicken, beef, and vegetarian) that I'd be happy to share, feel free to reach out any time!