Charlie Allen

Prior to starting at CCSF, I had graduated from UC Davis with a degree in Biomedical Engineering. I was applying for jobs in the biotech industry after graduating, but not getting very far because I didn’t have enough experience. I started taking classes at CCSF to gain more hands-on lab experience and completed the semester-long Bioscience Internship, which gave me the skills and confidence to apply for the CIRM Stem Cell Internship.  

In my internship with the Buchwalter Lab at UCSF, my work involves understanding the role of the nuclear lamina in regulating gene expression and cell identity. The nuclear lamina is a mesh of structural proteins that tethers inactive regions of the genome to the nuclear periphery, and mutations in the proteins that make up the lamina can cause a number of human diseases through unknown mechanisms. My project has involved differentiating stem cells into neural progenitor cells and growing gastruloids, an organoid that recapitulates aspects of early embryonic development, helping us to understand the role of the nuclear lamina during early development.

The internship has greatly expanded my lab skills and given me experience in independently developing and running parts of my project. After my internship, I plan to continue working in the Buchwalter Lab as a junior specialist before applying to graduate school.