Carinna Tran

Background

About Carinna Tran

I am an honors graduate from the University of California Santa Barbara with a B.S. in Cell and Developmental Biology. During my undergraduate education, I had the opportunity to be a research intern in the Denise Montell Lab, which takes a cell biology focus to investigating novel cell behaviors. My project focused on the mechanical and/or molecular role of the nucleus and nuclear components in confined cell migration, during which I learned many technical skills such as confocal microscopy, image analysis and processing, and molecular cloning. I also was able to establish many fundamental pieces of knowledge and research skills including data collection and analysis, detailed notebook keeping, oral communication of experimental results, and experimental planning. I am currently a Research Associate in the Marson Lab at Gladstone Institutes, which works on developing and applying CRISPR technology to investigate T cell function in cancer and autoimmune diseases. I work collaboratively on a project using CRISPRa to explore the genes that help to regulate effector T cells and their interactions in the tumor microenvironment. I have gained hands-on skills in mouse in vivo work, flow cytometry, RNA extraction, cell culture, and qPCR.