Meet Alyssa Chiang

Tell us a bit about your background:

I am from Los Angeles, California, and I graduated from UC San Diego's Bioengineering program for my undergrad studies. I chose to attend grad school, because of my experiences working in a lab. I realized I loved the problem-solving and critical thinking aspects of research - it's both challenging and rewarding. During grad school, I've had the wonderful opportunity to meet a lot of very smart and interesting people, both through the program or through conferences.

What are you studying/researching?

I work in synthetic biology in Dr. Jeff Hasty's lab. Specifically, I have been working on developing bacterial biosensors for high salinity conditions and building a synthetic microbial consortium using quorum sensing for cell-to-cell communication.

Tell me a little bit about your campus involvement at UC San Diego. 

I served as the Outreach Coordinator for Gender Minorities in Bioengineering (formerly Women in Bioengineering), where I worked to establish partnerships with community members, including Girl Scouts of San Diego, the Fleet Science Center, and Montgomery Middle School. With these partners, I put together bioengineering-related workshops, including a strawberry DNA extraction activity, a coding bootcamp, and a model prosthetic arm activity. Through GMBE, I have also stayed active in the mentorship program and have taken on two undegrad mentees. I have also been engaged in elementary school outreach at Lafayette Elementary School for the last few years, teaching the 3rd and 4th grades weekly science lessons. In my first year of grad school, during the pandemic, I hosted faculty talks on Zoom for the bioengineering student body so that students could get to know some of the faculty members in the department. Lastly, I also am heavily involved in the UCSD Asian Pacific Islander Alumni Council. Outside of these, I also have taken some rec classes, including dance, aerial silks, and surfing. These are activities I enjoy generally on my own time as well; I also love to read, cook, garden, and explore the city. I live on-campus in graduate housing, and my favorite thing to do on-campus is going to the Old Student Center; I love seeing what gems I can find in the G Spot or grabbing vegan food at the Co-Op. My favorite thing to do in the San Diego area is to find a new area to explore - there are a lot of gems throughout the city with food, art, coffee, drinks, shops, etc. I also love going to the beach and soaking in the sun!

Why UC San Diego?

I chose UC San Diego for its beautiful location and its renowned bioengineering program!

Have you been awarded any fellowships or grants during graduate school? If so, which ones?

I was awarded the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and the AAPI Student Scholarship.

What has been your favorite part about your graduate student experience at UC San Diego?

My favorite part about my grad student experience has been working alongside my labmates. We have an supportive and collaborative work culture, and my labmates have become like family to me. We celebrate our successes and our failures together!