by Victoria Pang ‘25
About Tara
Growing up in Sammamish, WA, Tara initially wanted to pursue computer science or physics. She found the biology classes in her school unintuitive, prioritizing the memorization of facts instead of conceptual understanding. However, it all came together in her first year of high school when her interest in biology piqued thanks to her chemistry classes. Through chemistry, biology became a more exact science, and everything clicked. Learning chemistry deepened Tara’s interest in biology. Along with firsthand experiences with cancer and illnesses, it sparked an interest in her to learn why diseases occur, ultimately bringing her to the field of biochemistry as a UW student.
Research under Prof. Monica Guo
In Tara’s senior year of high school, she saw a job posting from Dr. Monica Guo, a new professor of microbiology building her lab at the time. Tara reached out to her, asking for an opportunity to work with her. Ever since then, Tara has been conducting research at Prof. Guo’s lab. As one of the first few members of Prof. Guo’s lab, Tara learned many of the basic laboratory skills she still uses today from Prof. Guo herself. Coming into the lab without much experience, Tara found many of the concepts difficult to understand fresh out of high school. However, Tara was motivated to understand the science behind what her mentor studied: she read many scientific papers and asked questions to Prof. Guo, which eventually lead to defining her own research problem that she continues to pursue today.
Tara’s research focuses on a kind of protein related to the DNA replication process known as topoisomerase. These proteins are important to the process of DNA replication as they help remove supercoiling, the twisting of a DNA strand inherent to the DNA replication process. Topoisomerases are enzymes that work like scissors, cutting knotted DNA, relaxing it, and gluing the DNA back together. As a key participant in such an important part of replication, topoisomerases are common drug targets in treatments such as antibiotics and chemotherapy. Specifically, Tara studies a particular protein called GapR, which binds to overtwisted DNA. By binding to this supercoiled DNA, GapR may help signal to topoisomerases where they are needed, allowing for the smooth alleviation of tension in genetic material.
To study GapR, Tara does a lot of what she describes as “wet lab biochemistry”. She first creates copies of the protein through manipulating the genetics of her bacterial model organism, allowing her to get many copies of the same protein, and harvest the proteins from bacterial cells growing in flasks. The GapR proteins can be isolated using purification tags, where amino acids engineered into the protein bind to specific materials to remove them from the mixture of cell components. “You’re essentially trying to find a needle in the haystack,” describes Tara. After that, she takes DNA and the protein made from the bacteria, mixing them together and running them on a gel to ascertain the interaction between her protein and the DNA segment.
Tara has also gotten the chance to work on several side projects related to her primary research question. One of these includes researching the role of GapR in bacteriophages. Bacteriophages are viruses that infect bacterial cells, and are typically not harmful to humans. Since the goal of a bacteriophage is to hijack the bacterial cell to make copies of itself, one might expect the GapR gene in bacteriophages to hinder the proper duplication of bacterial DNA to take over their live host. However, GapR surprisingly stimulates bacteriophage replication instead of hindering the bacteria’s ability to multiply. “Things don’t go the way they’re expected to, and that’s normal,” says Tara. “If we understood how everything worked, then it wouldn’t really be research or science since it would already have been published somewhere. I think it’s one of the biggest lessons in research for me.” She is currently working on a publication related to this project.
For Tara, part of the joy of working in research is seeing a research project progress. Over one summer, Tara aimed to create a new protein interaction assay, which she designed and iterated upon several times throughout the quarter. By the end, she was able to see an interaction pattern she aimed to observe through the assay she designed, a conclusion to this side project in which she describes as satisfying and exciting.
As a current senior, Tara has been with Prof. Guo’s lab throughout her undergraduate studies, marking around four years with the group. “It has been amazing seeing the lab grow and evolve through the years,” says Tara. Being introduced to people by name by Prof. Guo herself and being invited to participate has greatly bolstered not only her confidence in asking questions and learning, but also as an integral part of the laboratory community.
Tara’s Aspirations and Advice
Through experimenting with her interests throughout her time at the UW, Tara has solidified her passion in both medicine and research. She aims to pursue an M.D.-Ph.D. degree to become a physician scientist. Interested in being involved with the process of clinical development, she hopes to bridge the gap between “wet lab” science and patient care through the role of a clinician and as a researcher, picking up the pieces that fall through the cracks between the hospital and the laboratory.
Tara is also extremely passionate about introducing other undergraduate students to research. As an undergraduate research leader for over two years, she has worked with undergraduates to help them narrow down their interests. She understands that getting into research is a very intimidating thing, and hopes that fellow undergraduates interested in research know about the plethora of resources available to them, both within the university and other external resources. Additionally, Tara is a president of Free Radicals, the undergraduate chemistry club. Through the club, she has led outreach activities in the club and is passionate about involving undergraduate and high-school students in science research. Her passion for mentorship has also extended to other roles, such as hosting workshops on writing abstracts and presenting at conferences, as well as serving on the review committee for the yearly undergraduate research symposium. She described a student who was originally interested in undergraduate research at the beginning of the year, who then subsequently presented in the same section as Tara at the undergraduate research symposium at the end of that same year. “It’s very meaningful to me to see the evolution of students get into research to actually being able to present something at the end of the year,” says Tara.
For undergraduates looking to start research, Tara stresses that it’s not too important to come in with a plethora of background knowledge. While it is critical to check requirements before joining a lab, especially for undergraduates more interested fields that require more computational knowledge, the key thing is to be able to identify research interests, and to keep an open mind when searching. She highly recommends students to contact the biochemistry and chemistry advisers, who have made her experience in undergraduate research wonderful. She also recommends consulting the Office of Undergraduate Research, which provides advising for students interested in research, as well as events for students to further explore opportunities as both a UW student and as an undergraduate researcher. Tara also highly encourages students to consult the UW Office of Merit Scholarships, Fellowship & Awards. While applying for scholarships can be intimidating, with practice and support, the process becomes less convoluted. “You only have four years,” says Tara, “a lot of people don’t know about [these resources]. There are people being paid to help you succeed, and all of this is accounted for by your tuition. You might as well take advantage of it.”
To learn more about conducting undergraduate research at the University of Washington, explore the Department of Chemistry’s Undergraduate Research page, meet with an undergraduate adviser, visit the UW Office of Undergraduate Research, or reach out to Free Radicals, the undergraduate student club for chemistry and biochemistry majors.