Explorers Virtual Internship Program

Program Pathway: Pathways Research Explorers

Aaliyah Brown is a high school student who was born in Seattle but mostly grew up in Los Angeles, CA. She is currently a senior at Stadium High School in Tacoma. Aaliyah participated in the EVI program after completing the Pathways Research Explorers summer program at Fred Hutch Cancer Center.

Hobbies: In her free time, Aaliyah likes playing piano, working out at the gym, or trying snacks from different parts of the world.

Current Playlist: Country musician Morgan Wallen.

EVI Research Project: Aaliyah’s research mentor is Dr. Holly Janes, a Professor in the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division and Public Health Sciences Division at Fred Hutch Cancer Center. Dr. Janes is also Associate Head of the Biostatistics, Bioinformatics, and Epidemiology Program. Aaliyah’s research project involved “creating statistical models using R-Studio [a programming tool] to perform HIV and STD analysis in clinical trials prevalent within South Africa and beyond.” As part of her project, Aaliyah received a deep dive into how mathematics and biostatistics are used in biomedical research. She shared, “I gained valuable knowledge of biostatistics in order to generate percentages, numbers, Kaplan Meier Curves, and much more.”

Impact of the EVI Program: Aaliyah’s favorite part of the EVI experience was getting to know the other interns in the cohort. She noted that she especially enjoyed the weekly meetings when each intern took turns presenting about themselves. Aaliyah also greatly values how the EVI program exposed her to research and data analysis. She explained: “I discovered a knack for coding, something I never imagined I could do. Thanks to this program, I’ve honed my ability to generate statistics using my own code. I’m confident that this skill will prove invaluable in my future pursuits.”

Future Academic Plans: Next up is college! Aaliyah will be attending Vanderbilt University (Nashville, TN) beginning Fall 2024. She plans to major in biochemistry on the pre-med track with the ultimate goal of becoming a plastic surgeon.

Advice for students considering the EVI program: Aaliyah wants other students to know that “the EVI program offers endless possibilities.” For example, “our weekly group meetings covered various topics like informational interviews, publishing op-eds, and learning more about physicians and scientists at Fred Hutch.” She summarized, “it truly is the full package!”

Program Pathway: Pathways Research Explorers

Leya Dereje is a college student from Edmonds, WA. As of Spring 2024, she attends the University of Washington in Seattle. Leya participated in the EVI program after completing the Pathways Research Explorers summer program at Fred Hutch Cancer Center.

Hobbies: You can find Leya reading, baking, or tumbling. 

Current Playlist: Taylor Swift, especially the Red album.

EVI Research Project: Leya’s EVI research mentor is Dr. Sarah Vick, a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in the Lund Lab within the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division at Fred Hutch. The Lund Lab focuses on understanding the basic mechanisms of immunity within virus infection, with a focus on influenza, West Nile virus, and Herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2), which causes genital herpes. Leya explained that during the first year of her research project, she focused on “data analysis regarding the correlation between IL-6 concentration and the immune response in individuals with HSV-2.” The next year, she “explored the connection between IL-6 levels and CD25+ count using flow cytometry.” Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a cytokine that holds many functions in the cell, including helping to clear infection, while CD25 is a protein expressed by cells that plays an important role in the body’s immune response.

Impact of the EVI Program: Leya’s favorite part of the EVI experience was “having the opportunity to gain research experience in the Lund Lab, including the support and mentorship I received throughout the process.” She reflected that the experience “validated my aspirations in medicine, and helped me gain the confidence to continue my pursuit towards a medical degree.”

Future Academic Plans: As a University of Washington student, Leya intends to major in Public Health-Global Health with a minor in Chemistry. Her career goals include attending medical school and then becoming a physician. Leya plans to continue to be involved in research “to reduce health disparities impacting underserved communities within the greater Seattle area.” 

Advice for students considering the EVI program: Leya wants other students to know that “the EVI program is an incredibly valuable experience.” She notes that “you do not need previous research experience in order to participate,” so go ahead and apply!

Program Pathway: Pathways Research Explorers

Benjamin Pham is a high school student who grew up in Vancouver, WA before moving to Bellevue for middle school. As of Spring 2024, he is a student at Newport Senior High School, a public school in Bellevue, WA. Benjamin participated in the EVI program after completing the Pathways Research Explorers summer program at Fred Hutch Cancer Center.

Hobbies: You can find Benjamin reading, cooking, or playing quiz bowl with his friends.

Current Playlist: When he does listen to music, Benjamin prefers classical. Recently, he has been especially enjoying “Aquarium” from Camille Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals Suite.

EVI Research Project: Benjamin’s research mentor is Dr. Holly Janes, a Professor in the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division and Public Health Sciences Division at Fred Hutch Cancer Center. Dr. Janes is also Associate Head of the Biostatistics, Bioinformatics, and Epidemiology Program. Benjamin’s research project focused on analyzing data “from various HIV vaccine trials to determine the efficacy of monoclonal antibodies used to prevent HIV.” As part of this project, he has learned more complex statistical methods to improve his analysis of the data.

Impact of the EVI Program: Benjamin’s favorite part of the EVI experience was virtually presenting his work to other EVI research mentors and Fred Hutch staff. He shared, “I was super nervous at first, but soon it became a lot more natural and fun to talk about my work.” Benjamin feels that the EVI program has helped prepare him for college, sharing that “the knowledge from doing this program is really useful both for college classes and in the likely case I do end up doing some computational research again.” He also benefited from the career information that he gained from doing informational interviews as part of the program. Moreover, the EVI experience has changed his future goals and career path. Benjamin shared, “to think that all of my current interests coming from Fred Hutch SciEd programs that I decided to randomly apply for is kind of crazy to me.”

Future Academic Plans: Next up is college! Benjamin will be attending the University of Washington beginning Fall 2024 where he plans to study bioengineering. Afterwards, he plans to attend medical school with an ultimate goal of specializing in emergency medicine.

Advice for students considering the EVI program: Benjamin wants other students who apply to the EVI program to know that “even if you don’t get your first choice research project, you are still able to explore the area of science that you’re interested in.”

Program Pathway: Coding for Cancer

Chloe Sow is a high school student from Seattle, WA. As of Spring 2024, she attends The Downtown School, an independent high school located in downtown Seattle. Chloe participated in the EVI program after completing the Coding for Cancer summer program at Fred Hutch Cancer Center.

Hobbies: Chloe’s hobbies include making music (karaoke, violin, and piano pop songs), snowboarding, and crocheting amigurumis (cute, stuffed toys or figures made with yarn). She also loves to try new boba and ice cream places all around Seattle.

Current Playlist: Seventeen (Kpop boy band) and Jay Chou (Mandopop Taiwanese singer).

EVI Research Project: Chloe’s EVI research mentor is Dr. Qian (Vicky) Wu, an Associate Professor in the Clinical Research Division and the Public Health Sciences Division at Fred Hutch. Dr. Wu is a biostatistician that develops statistical models and computational tools that help other researchers design clinical trials for new immunotherapies. Chloe’s research project focused on developing SimMixChip, an RShiny web application for simulating and analyzing complex peak structures using nonparametric methods in ChIP-seq data. ChIP-sequencing is a method that uses chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) techniques along with DNA sequencing tools to analyze how proteins interact with DNA. As part of this project, Chloe is currently incorporating advanced features (e.g., visualization of ChIP-seq data for aligned reads and easier comprehension). Chloe is also working with Dr. Wu on understanding how to apply statistical methodology utilizing the ChIPtest to standardize collected foam bubble data to allow for better statistical comparison.

Impact of the EVI Program: Chloe’s favorite part of the EVI experience has been “Definitely working with the people!” She explained, “I’m so grateful to have met Dr. Vicky (my mentor), Andy (lab partner), and the rest of the EVI folks.” Chloe also shared that her EVI experience has helped shape her college and career goals “in terms of becoming more familiar with research as well as knowing that I want to incorporate some type of biology, computer science, and statistics into my studies.” She explained that the EVI experience “has given me a lot of skills, and I’m really glad to be going into college with the knowledge I’ve gained as well as the mentorship I’ve had.”

Future Academic Plans: Chloe will be attending Harvard University where she plans to pursue a mix of studies that include biology, computer science, and applied math/statistics. After her EVI experience, Chloe is also sure that her future career will involve research. 

Advice for students considering the EVI program: Chloe advises students participating in mentored internships like EVI to “take your time, and don’t be afraid to make mistakes!” She advises: “The EVI program is a place where you are able to really learn and delve into areas that you’re really interested in – take advantage of that, learning from your mentors and peers as much as you can, and definitely ask as many questions as you can!”

Program Pathway: Coding for Cancer

Etasha Thareja is a high school student from Renton, WA. As of Spring 2024, she attends Hazen High School, a public school in Renton. Etasha participated in the EVI program after completing the Coding for Cancer summer program at Fred Hutch Cancer Center.

Hobbies: Etasha’s creative hobbies include playing piano, crocheting, and doing calligraphy.

Current Playlist: Taylor Swift, all the way. She’s a HUGE Swiftie!

EVI Research Project: Etasha’s EVI research mentor is Dr. Elena Giorgi, a Senior Staff Scientist in the Bioinformatics and Epidemiology Program within the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division at Fred Hutch. Dr. Giorgi is a biostatistician that develops mathematical and statistical models to study viral evolution, immune correlates in infectious diseases like HIV and SARS-CoV-2, and vaccine design. Etasha’s research project studied SARS-CoV-2 sequences (the virus that causes COVID-19). For the initial year of the project, they used R-Studio to study the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 sequences using phylogenetic trees. For the second year of the project, they used logoplots to examine the frequency of amino acids in certain positions and to analyze how they affect different phenotypes (e.g., transmissibility). Etasha is learning how to use the programming tool R-Studio to analyze these data. The project has helped Etasha learn about microbiology and cancer biology concepts as well as gain experience with computational biology tools and research methods.

Impact of the EVI Program: Etasha’s favorite part of the EVI experience has been the opportunities provided by the program, as she explained, “whether it’s working on research myself or being able to go on field trips and volunteer to learn more about different aspects of biology and healthcare.” She also noted the impact of having guest speakers talk about their experiences in healthcare and related fields, which “opened more pathways to me and showed me what else I can accomplish.” In particular, the Coding for Cancer and EVI programs exposed her to the field of computational biology. Etasha also shared the benefit of being in a cohort with other EVI students: “I love when I get to work with my cohort and be in an internship with people who have similar goals as myself.”

Future Academic Plans: After graduation, Etasha plans to attend University of California San Diego, majoring in Biology with a Specialization in Bioinformatics.  She credits her EVI experience at Fred Hutch with her goal of pursuing a career in computational biology. Etasha now knows that she wants to incorporate research into her future career. 

Advice for students considering the EVI program: Etasha advises students considering the EVI program to just “go for it!” She advises that “it’s fulfilling and educational to work on research with the help of an amazing mentor, especially if that’s what you want to do when you’re older.” Etasha shared that “it can be a lot of work at times, but it’s all worth it because it’s super fun getting experience in a future career.” Her EVI research experience provided her with “a glimpse into what work looks like in real life.”