Harrison Undergraduate Research Award

Bachelor of Science in Chemistry with Specialization in Biochemistry
Professor Mete Civelek

Biography

I am Zhiwen Xu, currently a rising second-year planning on majoring in biochemistry and studio art major on a pre-med track. 

I have loved science as a child starting with my first science fair project, "Temperature and Bee" in fifth grade. I continued to do science projects throughout high school, where I began to develop an interest in gene interaction within human bodies and was fascinated to find solutions to lower the occurrence of inflammatory disease. In one of the projects, I discovered that dandelion extracts could suppress colonies of E.coli, in which the project was selected to participate in the International Science and Engineering Fair in 2017. At UVA, I continued my pursuit of science. I joined Professor Mete Civelek's lab in the biomedical engineering department, starting my first year of fall semester 2019.

Along with my mentors, my current research focuses on investigating how KLF14 functions differently in female and male adipocyte cells by comparing the KLF14 gene expression between the knockout and wild-type mice within the different sexes. As the prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) increases rapidly worldwide, with 642 million cases projected to occur by 2040. However, among the increasing population that has T2D, the susceptibility of disease differs between females and males, partly due to the different patterns of body composition and fat distribution. Thus, it is crucial in understanding the sex-specific influences on metabolism that involves the genetic regulation of gene expression in adipose tissues, which could lead to the development of new customizable therapies for individuals to treat T2D more effectively. I am deeply thankful for my mentors, Dr. Mete Civelek, Dr. Qianyi Yang, James Hinkle, and the rest of the lab members.

Outside the lab, I love to draw and design using mixed media. Some of my works were published in magazines recently, such as Scratch Zine and Gilerzine. I am also interested in fashion, so I was part of the Fashion for A Cause fashion show fall of 2019 as a stylist, where many of the donations go toward the community. I also have founded a design/product business called MoonPrint that started a few years ago, right now, I am planning to continue and grow MoonPrint this summer. Moreover, I am currently part of the MindBody at UVA executive team as the marketing and design officer. I am always curious about the world and love to try and explore new things. In my free time, I love hanging out with friends, dancing, singing or playing music, going to various outdoor activities, and ice skating.