Aarush De

B.S. in Biochemistry, GPA 4.00

• Optimizing Nectin4 antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) and CAR-T therapy formulations for treatment in bladder cancer models.
• Characterizing FOXA1 mutations and impact on androgen receptor signaling/sensitivity for prostate cancer therapy.

• Formulating, optimizing, and testing novel Trop2 antibody-drug conjugates to improve tumor selectivity for epithelial cancers.
• Evaluating in vivo ADC targeting and metastatic efficacy via murine biodistribution studies and immunohistochemical analysis.
• Engineering CRISPR-Cas9 delivery system via Trop2 lipid nanoparticles to selectively inhibit c-Myc oncogene in prostate cancer.

• Isolating P. putida plastic-degrading strains from mealworm gut microbiomes and accelerated polystyrene biodegradation pathways via genetic engineering to overexpress PETase enzymes; evaluating degradation capacity via weight-loss analysis.
• Building a probe-integrated bioreactor system with automated feedback loops to sustain self-sufficient bacterial cultures.

• Identified 5 novel inhibitors targeting BRAF V600E in melanoma via machine-learning guided structure-based drug design.
• Characterizing melanoma-specific cryptic neoantigens from ncORFs as recurrent peptide candidates for immunotherapies.
• Working with Moores Cancer Center to utilize circRNA as a diagnostic biomarker of melanoma metastasis from clinical datasets.

• Created novel 3-layered wastewater filtration device to combat phosphate pollution with duckweed, phosphate-binding proteins, and biochar; presented to UC Berkeley faculty, Dublin San Ramon Water Services Board, and industry professionals.
• Partnered with Stanford Impact Labs to integrate VR in biotech class education; secured $7500+ in lab grants and equipment.

• Investigated duckweed as a potential wastewater bioremediation agent via bioinformatic sequencing/analysis of a cDNA library.
• Isolated and characterized a novel protein-coding mRNA region in duckweed for Leucine Aminopeptidase 2.

• Engineered library of 22 ionizable cationic lipid nanoparticles for cellular delivery of therapeutic cargoes (FITC-labeled mRNA).
• Enhanced efficacy and selectivity of mycophenolic acid as an immunosuppressive agent by synthesizing novel ester prodrugs for carboxylesterase-selective release; optimized synthesis via one-flask silylation for >15% yield improvement.

• Operated semiautomated biochemical analyzers to collect biomarker readings; processed patient blood and serum samples; utilized health lab database to input data and support patient diagnostics.
• Improved lab clinical procedures by optimizing creatinine testing via refined LC-MS sample preparation protocols.

• Shadowed Dr. Uma during fine-needle aspirations and biopsies; scribed and documented observations to patient EMR.
• Prepared and imaged blood slides; maintained sample logs and ensured accurate labeling to uphold lab quality standards.