Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences, June 2018
I was born in China and moved to the states in 2014 for college at the University of California-Irvine. Beginning sophomore year, I started working in Dr. Tallie Z. Baram’s lab of Pediatrics & Anatomy-Neurobiology. I was inspired by Dr. Baram to also become a physician-scientist. During my three years as an undergraduate and two years as a full-time Junior Specialist, I actively participated in multiple projects on early-life adversity and epilepsy. In 2020, I relocated to Boston and worked as a research assistant in Dr. Gary Brenner’s lab under the Department of Anesthesia at Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital. I was investigating bacterial therapy for neurofibromatosis type II. In my spare time, I enjoy Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, skateboarding, acrylic painting, and making vlogs!
Robert Ernst Prize for Excellence in Research in the Biological Science, 2017
Excellence in Research in the School of Biological Sciences, 2017
Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program Awardee, 2017
Mentor of the Month in the International Student Excellence Programs, 2016
Dean’s Honor List in the School of Biological Sciences, 2015 - 2018
Ahmed, S. G., Oliva, G., Shao, M., Wang, X., Mekalanos, J. J., Brenner, G. J. (2022). Intratumoral injection of schwannoma with attenuated Salmonella typhimurium induces antitumor immunity and controls tumor growth. The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Jun 14;119(24): e2202719119. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2202719119.
Bolton, J. L., Short, A. K.#, Othy, S.#, Kooiker, C. L.#, Shao, M., Gunn, B. G., Beck, J, Bai, X., Law, S. M., Savage, J. C., Lambert, J. J., Belelli, D., Tremblay, M., Cahalan, M. D., Baram, T. Z. (2022). Early stress-induced impaired microglial pruning of excitatory synapses on immature CRH-expressing neurons provokes aberrant adult stress responses. #These authors contributed equally. *Corresponding Authors. Cell Reports, March 29, 2022, 38 (13). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.07.21.453252.
Bolton, J. L., Schulmann, A., Curran, M. M., Regev, L., Chen, Y., Kamei, N., Shao, M., Singh-Taylor, A., Jiang, S., Noam, Y., Molet, J., Mortazavi, A., & Baram, T. Z. (2020). Unexpected Transcriptional Programs Contribute to Hippocampal Memory Deficits and Neuronal Stunting after Early-Life Adversity. *Co-first authorship. Cell Reports, December 15, 2020, 33 (11). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2020.108511.
Garcia-Curran, M., Hall, A., Patterson, K., Shao, M., Eltom, N., Chen, K., Dubé, C., and Baram, T. Z. (2019). Dexamethasone Attenuates Hyperexcitability Provoked by Experimental Febrile Status Epilepticus. eNeuro 4 November 2019, 6 (6) ENEURO.0430-19.2019. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1523/ENEURO.0430-19.2019.
Shao, M. (2017). The Effect of Early-Life Stress on Synapses in Males and Females. Journal of Undergraduate Research in the Biological Science, 2016-2017, Univeristy of California-Irvine Ayala School of Biological Science.