Joanne Liu

I am an undergraduate student studying Bioengineering at the University of Washington. I enjoy exploring the wide variety of topics within bioengineering but my current research interest is in improving point-of-care diagnostics. Improving the sensitivity and accuracy of point-of-care diagnostics is important because it enables us to better control viral infections, particularly in low-resource settings which are often the most hard-hit by the impacts of widespread disease. At the Lai laboratory, I am researching the development of a point-of-care diagnostic device for detecting viral antigens in saliva by applying temperature-responsive smart polymers for analyte enrichment. Outside of the lab, I enjoy photography and exploring Seattle!

Education and Training

Experience/Positions

2020 - Present

Lai Laboratory, Undergraduate Research Assistant, Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington

• Developing a point-of-care flow-through assay for the detection of COVID-19 in saliva samples. Conducting experiments on prototypes, literature searches, and mathematical modeling to optimize the fluid flow rate of the device.

• Studied the research and clinical applications of exosomes to publish a comprehensive review paper in collaboration with researchers of the National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan.

• Exploring topics in and deepening understanding of nanomaterials, stimuli-responsive polymers, and biomarker detection in weekly literature review discussions with undergraduate peers.

2021 - Present

Gao Laboratory, Undergraduate Research Assistant, Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington

• Exploring novel signal amplification techniques to improve the sensitivity of lateral flow assays

2019 - Present

Nguyen Laboratory, Research Intern, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Stanford University Medical Center

• Conducting a first-author clinical study to explore renal impacts of hepatitis B treatments in liver transplant patients by analyzing medical databases and conducting statistical analyses (using Stata) to communicate findings in a research paper to be published.

• Co-author of a clinical study published in Hepatology on effects of a new hepatitis B antiviral drug.

• Conducting data analyses using UW Medicine database for research projects related to hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and liver cancer, to be used for collaborative studies with Stanford Medicine.

2021 - Present

COPE Health Scholar, Swedish Medical Center

• Actively participating in patient care 4+ hours a week by taking vital signs, feeding patients, and other essential health care tasks.

Awards/Honors

2021

Rice 360 Global Health Technologies Design Competition, Semifinalist