Sidharth Shankar

I am a senior at the University of Washington studying microbiology with a passion for medicine and the technologies that allow us to live longer, healthier lives. This project is important to me because the current methods of cell and tissue preservation are outdated and do not allow for the best understanding of cellular biology. This is important for not only laboratory samples that we want to save, but also for patient tumor samples that are being saved for future analysis. Developing a new, effective and inexpensive means of preserving patient samples signals to me the true mission of medicine; to replace uncertainty and doubt with definitive, fact based science. As a senior undergraduate researcher, my main aims are to develop the project from start to finish; this involves raising the funds to do the proposed experiments, developing and executing protocols, analyzing data, and finally writing a paper about my results. The experience so far has been invaluable in advancing my scientific knowledge and the project's completion will certainly aid me on my path to higher education.

August 2018