Hi, I’m Melanie! I was born and raised in San Jose, CA. I am a UCLA undergraduate (class of ‘29). In the Goins Lab, I study the importance of Axin, E Cadherin, and Armadillo in determining cell fate of core progenitors during Drosophila hematopoiesis.
I joined the Goins Lab during the summer of my junior year in high school–where I was first introduced to the Drosophila lymph gland as a model system for hematopoiesis, the Fly-FUCCI cell cycle indicator system, and Imaris cell counting analysis on laser spectromicroscopy.
As a high schooler, I was president of the Andrew Hill High School branch of Stanford’s Future Advancers in Science and Technology (FAST) club where I led my own experiments (under graduate student mentors) investigating the Effects of Antibiotics on E. coli, Vitamin C on H2O2-Induced Oxidative Stress in C. elegans, Caffeine on Zebrafish, and Deciphering the Role of Wnt and Notch in Hydra vulgaris Head and Foot Regeneration. My project on Hydra won 2nd place in the Biological Division at the Synopsys Silicon Valley Science & Engineering Fair, qualifying me to compete at the 2025 California Science & Engineering Fair (CSEF).
In my free time, I enjoy cooking, trying various cuisines, Tae Kwon Do, skiing, and more recently–scuba diving!