Alexandra Lish

College of Science

Biology

Alexandra “Alex” Lish is a senior majoring in Biochemistry and Cellular/Molecular Biology.

Her foothold into undergraduate research came at the end of her freshman year, when she joined Biology Professor Frank Messina’s laboratory. She focused on understanding pest resistance in cowpeas, a major source of dietary protein in Africa and South America. Alex’s contributions to multiple projects resulted in two publications, two additional papers in preparation, and a presentation at the Fall 2018 Biology Undergraduate Research Symposium.

During her junior year, Alex joined the laboratory of Chemistry/Biochemistry faculty member Yi Rao, where she synthesized organic-inorganic hybrid perovskite materials for solar cells. She presented this work at the Spring 2019 Undergraduate Research Symposium. Alex participated in an NSF-REU internship at Scripps Research during the summer of 2019, where she focused on understanding how the molecular architecture of the brain convenes into neuronal circuits underlying cognition and behavior. She was awarded an NSF Travel Grant to present her findings at the 2020 Society for Neuroscience Conference and will be a contributing author on a manuscript resulting from this project.

After graduation, Alex plans to pursue a PhD in Biomedical Science/Neuroscience to investigate the molecular mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases and identify potential therapies.