Alex Cha

• President of Students Interest in Neurology Group (SIGN)
• President of Advanced Human Anatomy Club (AHAC)
• National Liaison for American College of Osteopathic Surgeons (ACOS-MSS school chapter)
• CHSU Student Ambassador
• CHSU Peer Tutor
• Sigma Sigma Phi Member(Osteopathic Medicine Honors Fraternity)
• Clinical Courses Lab TA

• Currently in the beginning stages of conducting research with Omni Health through my school's Physician's Role in Health System's course. The goal of this project is to find a way to optimize medication treatment for post discharge patients diagnosed with depression over a 6 month follow up period.

• Currently conducting a Literature Review on the impact of Neuroplasticity on depression and treatment
• Currently conducting a Literature Review on current and prospective treatment methods for Parkinson's Disease.
• Currently working on two case reports

-A Rare Case of Ewing Sarcoma Metastasis to the Brain.

-Incidence of a contiguous epidermoid cyst through the supratentorial and infratentorial region.

• Built and strengthened positive relationships with students, parents and teaching staff.
• Established and enforced rules for behavior and procedures to maintain order among students.
• Engaged students and boosted understanding of material using focused instructional strategies and hands-on activities.
• Assisted fellow teachers with assignment development, special projects, tests, administrative updates and grading.
• Enforced discipline on campus and during off-campus school trips following code of conduct and student handbook.
• Enforced institutional rules, regulations and laws regarding student conduct to maintain safe campus.
• Participated in emergency, evacuation and shelter drills to prepare for health or safety emergencies.

I worked as a research assistant in the Gomes lab, whose primary focus is analyzing the effects of aspiring on the cardiovascular system. My role was running primaries and secondaries, along with conducting western blots. Secondaries consisted of obtaining a protein sample and washing with 3 % milk + TPST solution, then placing on a stir bar for an hour. Prepared the primary solution by washing the secondary with TPST solution, subsequently rinsed it with 1% milk, and introduced an antibody protein of interest. This would then be incubated overnight.

• Adhered to laboratory requirements and enforced compliance with regulations.
• Isolated, identified, and prepared specimens for examination.
• Restocked and organized laboratories for maximum efficiency.
• Monitored and observed experiments to assess progress, compile data, and record findings.
• Monitored and observed experiments, recording data for research personnel evaluation.

Was responsible for distributing masks during the pandemic to the Union Rescue Mission in partnership with the Linens and Love organization. My role was to collect masks, whether that was directly collecting them or buying masks with the monetary donations people gave me, and creating social media campaigns to reach out to my community of friends and family to spread the word about this event. The supplies were distributed through the Linens and Love organization.

I rotated around the addiction medicine, pediatric, infectious disease, and family medicine department during the 9 months I worked there. Over the span of 9 months, I worked around 350 hours. My role was to transcribe every patient visit that the provider I was assigned to that day would see. I would have to not only write the hpi, but also put in referrals/orders, and labs, along with completing the assessment and plan for every note with the guidance of my physician.

• Input details about patient histories, physical examinations, medications and other information into physical or electronic charts.
• Followed clinicians throughout shift in high-volume, busy environments.
• Evaluated charts, documents and orders, and made timely corrections.
• Maintained understanding of all active patients in order to facilitate workflow.
• Used EPIC medical record software every day and developed advanced skills.
• Documented and initiated tests, scan and other orders.

• Prepared and conducted experiment trials using psychopy
• Performed in-depth research to answer complex questions.
• Shared research findings through publications, presentations and conferences.
• Screened potential subjects to determine suitability for studies.
• Automaticity research

The Keiflin lab was focused on studying the neural mechanisms that guide associative learning and decision making and its ultimate application to addiction and schizophrenia. The first part of the study was to analyze the effects of “blocking” on prediction based value errors. An initial cue would be paired with a reward(sucrose pellet), then towards the later sessions, the target cue would be presented without a following reward. Optogenetic techniques were used to measure dopamine firing levels based on this value-based prediction-error signaling. I was personally responsible for running these experiments through multiple rodent cohorts each day. The rats would be fed and weighed after each cohort, and the sucrose chamber would have to be refilled.

• Cleaned and sanitized equipment and workstation in compliance with health and safety regulations
• Kept organized records, maintained inventory equipment and materials.
• Conducted lab and field work to collect and prepare samples.
• Assisted in research and development of new equipment, products and processes.
• Kept equipment cleaned and maintained to optimize performance.
• Managed laboratory personnel and monitored team performance and work quality.

Help Physical and/or Occupational Therapy staff with a variety of tasks including observation, games, patient transport, equipment retrieval, wheelchair assist during ambulation training and assisting the rehabilitation aide at Cottage Rehabilitation Hospital in Santa Barbara.