Paul Doan
Undergraduate Student (2020 -)
Harvard College '22

Background: I was born and raised in Saigon, Vietnam and California, USA. I am currently an undergraduate student at Harvard College as part of the Class of 2022 where my concentration is in Chemical & Physical Biology and my secondary field is in Statistics. Previously, I had worked in 2 labs: at Stanford, studying the biochemical treatment of stormwater in California's water systems, and at Harvard, studying the genetic basis of a rare neurological condition. Throughout college, I have developed an interest in cancer biology and oncological care after reading the Weinberg's textbook, the Emperor of All Maladies by Mukherjee, and Being Mortal by Gawande. I begin to work as an undergraduate researcher in the Sethi lab in the fall of 2020. In the long term, I'm hoping to pursue a career in cancer research and care as an oncologist.

Research Interests/Projects: For the foreseeable future, I will be helping Nilay and other researchers in the lab analyze bulk and single cell RNA-seq data and other epigenetic data to characterize the regulatory network that controls the expression and activity of SOX9, a protein previously shown to be critical to the aberrant activation of the stem-cell-like state in malignant cells in the intestinal tract. In all honesty, I'm very excited and grateful to be able to participate in such a clinically important and scientifically innovative endeavor here at the Sethi lab.

Fun Facts and Interests: A fun fact about me is I am "double-jointed". My hobbies vary, ranging from biking, basketball, medium-distance jogging, to playing chess. My favorite thing to do is to sit down and have interesting deep conversations with friends. On campus, I enjoy volunteering for the Kidney Disease Screening and Awareness Program, at the Harvard Square Homeless Shelter, and at the nearby Spaulding Rehabilitation Center.

Contact: khoadoan@college.harvard.edu