Summary
Yasmeen Quraishi is pursuing a Dual Honors Degree at the University of Nevada, Reno in Neuroscience (B.S.) and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (B.S.). Her dream is to become a Physician-Scientist who treats and studies neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental conditions. She currently works in the Kidd Laboratory, under Dr. Thomas Kidd and graduate student Sahara Harrington, focusing on the fat and immune cells of Drosophila melanogaster larvae. She has recently learned cell culture skills, such as basic cell care, transfections, and cell counting. She is currently creating several DNA constructs that are to be tested in cell culture for important metabolic and cellular implications. Yasmeen has also been trained in high-resolution fluorescence imaging, larval dissections, immunohistochemistry, bleeding and buoyancy assays, genetic crossing, and several molecular biology techniques. She still loves to attend scientific seminars and symposiums to learn about current research in and out of her field. Outside of research, she is the president of Phi Delta Epsilon, the University's pre-medical chapter of the renowned medical fraternity. She is also the vice president of the University's Gray for Glioblastoma (GFG), an organization with the mission of fundraising money for research of the aggressive and unforgiving astrocytic cancer, Glioblastoma Multiforme (due to nationwide funding cuts, GFG fundraising has become a significant portion of the funding towards brain cancer research).