Mia Shin, Ph.D.
Doctoral Thesis: A Tale of Two Lons: Mechanistic insights on the AAA+ Protease Lon from Bacteria and Humans
Undergraduate Institution: University of California, Berkeley
Noteworthy Publications: Structural basis for distinct operational modes and protease activation in AAA+ protease Lon, Science Advances (2020)
Honors & Awards: Best Poster Award, Southern California Cryo-Electron Microscopy Symposium (Virtual, 2020); Top Oral Presentation, Graduate Student Symposium, The Scripps Research Institute (2019 & 2020); ARCS Foundation Scholar (2019); Best Poster Award, The Protein Society Annual Symposium (Seattle, WA, 2019); National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) Recipient (2018); Fletcher Jones Foundation Fellowship (2016); Scripps Research Dean’s Fellowship (2016)
Favorite Aspects of Graduate Studies: "I am forever grateful for my advisors, Gabe Lander and Luke Wiseman - for their guidance, support, and amazing mentorship. It wasn't all rainbows and butterflies - they never hesitated to tell me what I needed to improve, do better, or do more of - but it was because they believed in me and saw more potential in me than I did in myself. I couldn't thank them more for that. I am also thankful for all the amazing, selfless, intelligent, and inspiring people at Scripps, especially those whom I interacted with day in and day out in the Hazen Lab facility - I wouldn't be here without all your emotional, intellectual, and academic support throughout the years."
Next Steps: "I am currently a Scientist at Sanofi, a global pharmaceutical company, where I am using cryo-electron microscopy to solve pharmacologically relevant protein structures. While I am currently working remotely in the Bay Area, my husband and I plan on moving to Boston in the summer."
Be sure to join us at 10 a.m. PDT on Friday, May 21 for our Virtual Commencement Ceremony! Shin's advisor and mentor, Prof. Gabriel Lander, will deliver a few words (as will Shin) about her graduate experience, and viewers can learn about our 41 other 2021 graduates, who are now setting out to build careers that will impact the future of biomedical research.
