Matthew So

• Coordinated biospecimen collection for participants with specific clinical phenotypes to support pathogenesis-oriented projects for the RECOVER clinical study, a NIH-funded project studying the cutting edge of long COVID research.
• Led the publication of a first-author manuscript for expression of SARS-COV-2 in the tears by organizing evidence-based medicine, coordinating data analysis, and assembling a paper with at least five members in three different teams. Co-authored two papers regarding autoimmunity signatures in long COVID and early biological determinants of Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID.
• Manage meeting reminders every single week to promote analyses of long COVID research with clinicians, which included understanding of biostatistics and study design.
• Interfaced with community engagement groups as a liaison between the UCSF research team and community engagement groups in San Francisco and San Matteo such as UMOJA. Selected to pilot a new recruitment effort in San Matteo to understand the efficacy of new survey questions eliciting the prevalence of SARS-COV-2 illness in San Matteo. Proposed articles to showcase on newly developed website with the communications team in San Francisco.
• Interacted with study investigators and sponsors to facilitate daily trial activities, comply with research protocols, and propose protocol changes to effectively serve nearly 500 participants in 10 months.
• Advocated for patient compliance in research studies, volunteered to answer patient questions on-call, and communicated patient needs to group.
• Learned about long COVID, engaged in discussion with study investigators about it, and educated patients about the pathophysiology of disease to effectively promote validation amongst patients.

• Interviewed patients for enrollment into rapid diagnostic studies for COVID-19, funded by the National Institutes of Health.
• Coordinated with community partners such as Howard Brown to increase recruitment for the RAD-x study. Counseled patients about
  the validity of rapid diagnostic tests remotely and in-person.
• Performed data entry using REDCAP for national research studies.

• Awarded a prestigious $2.8 million scholarship for a year of research as one of 68 medical and veterinary students in the United States
  from thirty-seven different schools.
• Investigated the phenotype of different genetic mutations when crossed with acr-2, a cholinergic receptor, in the epilepsy model
  Caenorhabditis elegans.
• Learned worm genotyping, genetic cross set-ups, fluorescence microscopy, and behavioral phenotyping with WormTracker.

• Performed the same research duties as a Year-Long Research Fellow.
• Accepted as one candidate out of 40 students nationwide to conduct research for the Howard Hughes Foundation.
• Awarded $5,000 for a 10-week Fellowship at the UCSD School of Medicine.

· Investigated the function of a cardiac kinase gene Hipk3 in cardiac development using mice as the model system; Facilitated delicate research techniques include in-situ hybridization(ISH), immunohistochemistry, and genotyping.

• Interviewed stroke patients and notified on-call neurologists of imminent strokes in UCLA Emergency Room under directorship of Dr. Sidney Starkman.
• Shadowed UCLA Stroke Team residents and fellows during neurology rounds and presented case studies.
• Elected by peers for the most prestigious award, MVP, given to one person on the team of 15 for exquisite reliability and workmanship.
• Volunteered most number of hours in one quarter (80 hours in 8 weeks). Strengthened interest in clinical and translational research to develop novel therapeutic approaches.