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Jack F

- Research Program Mentor

PhD candidate at University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)

Expertise

Cancer biology, molecular biology, biophysics, pharmacology, microscopy.

Bio

I am currently a Ph.D. candidate in Pharmacology at the University of California, Los Angeles. My research is broadly centered around using in-vitro (e.g., human cell lines) and in-vivo (e.g., mouse) models combined w/ bioinformatics (e.g., machine learning. RNA seq, WGS) to model and investigate an aggressive and lethal form of prostate cancer, neuroendocrine prostate cancer. After graduation, I intend to continue my career in R&D in the pharmaceutical industry. I received my undergraduate education at the University of Arkansas, where I earned honors degrees in Physics and Chemistry. During my undergrad, I performed 4 years of biophysics research at the UofA developing biosensors and building super-resolution microscopes. I also had visiting researcher positions at the NIH and KAUST where I worked on breast cancer and stem cells, respectively. Outside of science, I am interested in mentoring, running, surfing, traveling, and cooking! I am also originally from Scotland so I enjoy traveling back to Europe to see my family whenever I can.

Project ideas

Project ideas are meant to help inspire student thinking about their own project. Students are in the driver seat of their research and are free to use any or none of the ideas shared by their mentors.

Time and Cancer

Time, the one thing in life no one can control, seems to have a major influence over the type and severity of cancer. Some cancer types are prevalent in children, while others are almost exclusively found in older patients. Within specific cancer types, treatment and therapy options can vary immensely depending on when the cancer is found. Why do we see any of these trends?

Coding skills

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Teaching experience

I previously tutored undergraduates in physics, chemistry, biology, and math for 4 years. In my research laboratories, I have mentored 3 undergraduate researchers and two high schoolers. I have been with Polygence since the summer of 2021 and have mentored 5 students.

Credentials

Work experience

National Institutes of Health (NIH) (2019 - Current)
Visiting Researcher
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) (2018 - Current)
Visiting Researcher

Education

University of Arkansas
BS Bachelor of Science (2020)
Physics and Chemistry
University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)
PhD Doctor of Philosophy candidate
Pharmacology

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