Degree: Bachelor of Science in Chemistry with Specialization in Biochemistry 
Research Professor: Research with Professor Robin Felder

Biography

Tina Chai is from Falls Church, Virginia and graduated from McLean High School. She is graduating from U.Va. with a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry with a specialization in Biochemistry and a Bachelor of Arts in English.

Tina has been a member of Dr. Robin Felder’s lab in the Department of Pathology since January 2018. Her independent project investigates the relationship between breast cancer and hypertension by determining an overlapping protein signaling pathway specifically related to three proteins: CAV1, D1R, and GRK4. She has also previously conducted breast cancer research at the MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Outside of lab, Tina enjoys writing poetry and busking at the Downtown Mall. She served as the editor for the Health and Science section of The Cavalier Daily and a teaching assistant for CHEM 4410, CHEM 1410/20, and CHEM 1411/21. She also enjoys furthering interdisciplinary thought and dialogue between science and literature through The Bird-Feeder Project, Whistle Words writing workshops, and a class she created and teaches, INST 1550 - Poetry and Healing: Understanding Illness. After graduation, Tina will be attending a writing program at Johns Hopkins University and plans to apply to medical school.