My dream in Berkeley

I have always known that this is not a coincidence for me to return to this familiar place, after finally overcoming all the challenges in my life and ready to settle down! I summarized everything in my previous post, The insight for my life from Berkeley.

Therefore, I felt so excited when I saw the job posting for Biomolecular Nanomaterials Scientist at Berkeley Lab! Applying for the position sounds like finishing the last mile of my long journey so that I will be ready to enter the next stage of my life!

 

If my dream comes true, I see that my wife and I will buy a house in Berkeley so that we can be ready to build a family here! There is no place better than Berkeley to raise a child, where you can find all the great examples to teach the kid about open-mindedness, respecting diversity, equality for all, sustainable living, sharing our stuff with the others, and being kind! When thinking about my past, I always feel so grateful that my parents taught me all the important values when I was little! so I got to pass them to my child! 

 

But first thing first, I need to get the job first. To apply for the Biomolecular Nanomaterials Scientist position, I have to write a lot of essays. Here are my writings:

 

 

 

Statement of Research

 

I have been fascinated by the structure and functions of nanomaterials since I started to work with fatty acid in my dissertation research, where I used 1H and 13C NMR and the other physicochemical methods to study protein-lipid interaction and its role in metabolism regulation. The interaction of protein and fatty acid is not just a simple ligand binding mechanism, because fatty acid can aggregate with one another to form polymer structures such as micelles and lamella. These structures can further interact with protein. For instance, while mixing oleic acid with myoglobin at 30:1 ratio, the protein-lipid complex is somehow partially unfolded but not totally denatured. After I spent more time to study lipid polymers, I only realized our understanding of lipid is quite limited and there is really no consensus for what they really look like. It is quite unbelievable, since lipid is an indispensable component of any living organism, yet we have so little knowledge about it!

 

That was why I was so excited when I had another chance to work with lipid polymers when I became the lead scientist in my previous company. I was assigned to synthesize latex nanoparticles that would be used as the probes for detecting DNA hybridization. In the process, I have learned emulsion polymerization and the key steps to make the nanoparticles with homogenous sizes, and the subsequent surface modification methods to conjugate the particles with protein and nucleic acid. I also used the same technology to synthesize the magnetic core and latex shell nanoparticles. From my work, I was amazed by how much the lipid and the other types of nanomaterials can do! They can be conjugated with almost any kind of molecules and let us study the all kinds of biochemical reactions conveniently.

 

At the same time, I was also working on dissolving DNA into a variety of inks. The goal was to create the DNA ink that can be applied on any kind of surface for counterfeit prevention. The oligonucleotide with specific DNA sequence would be dissolved in the ink and can only be detected with the device with the complementary DNA sequence. When I tried to mix the DNA with nonpolar inks, my previous experience in handling lipid polymer just came to my mind! After some literature research, I was able to find the suitable cationic lipid to neutralize the negative charge of DNA so that DNA could be completely dissolved in the nonpolar inks. I was excited to find out the similar idea was used for gene therapies in many drug companies.

 

I was truly excited to create a variety of nanomaterials there, but I also felt the process was too tedious, so it would be wonderful if most of the procedures can be automated, and my dream seemed to come true when I became a research scientist in my current job, I have laid the groundwork for incorporating the high throughput robotic system into the newborn genetic screening assays with qPCR, in particular for spinal muscular atrophy, with the capacity of screening 3000 newborns per day. I am responsible for the development, maintenance, validation, and troubleshooting of the robotic operation according to the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) guidelines. Since I have been familiar with computer programming and biomedical instrumentation from my graduate studies in biomedical engineering, I feel rewarded in working with the robots.

 

In addition, I have felt excited for visiting my passion in molecular biology while I was a teaching assistant during my dissertation research. At that time, I have spent two years collaborating with a professor in creating a new course to train undergraduate students in a variety of molecular biology techniques. I organized setting up the teaching laboratory from inception, testing the reagents and experiment procedures, and mentoring the students for their assigned projects. In the entire laboratory class, the students would learn how to use recombinant DNA technology to produce a target protein. It was a valuable experience because I would know how to start from scratch if I want to mass-produce an existing or novel protein from a genetic sequence!

 

That is why the Biomolecular Nanomaterials Scientist position is so appealing to me! First, I am always interested in working with nanomaterials, after I was amazed by the complex nature of the lipid polymer during my graduate studies and again by the application of the nanoparticles and cation lipid-DNA complex while working at my previous company. Second, it has been always my dream to synthesize novel protein or new biomaterials with genetic engineering after I had my wonderful experience in building a molecular biology laboratory from scratch, and I am sure my dream will come true with the enormous selections of genomic sequences and vectors from Joint Genome Institute and the state-of-the-arts technologies in Molecular Foundry to work with the nanomaterials. Third, I will be able to incorporate high throughput technologies to automate the processes of genetic engineering and working with nanomaterials. In fact, that is how I first learned about the research in Joint Genome Institute, when I was looking for the companies who are also using Hamilton robots. I have spent a lot of time and effort to optimize the robot performance in my current work, so if I have an opportunity to use the high throughout robotic system, I am confident that I will be able to fully incorporate robotic operations to accelerate my research progress! Therefore, I am truly excited about working in Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory where I will advance my career to the next level and work with the great scientists there to make the world a better place to live!

 

 

 

Statement of User Support

 

When I applied the position of Biomolecular Nanomaterials Scientist, I had a very clear goal in my mind, creating a sustainable way in our energy and material production. We have relied too much on irreplaceable natural resource in the past and right now we are suffering from pollution and global warming because of our mistakes. To reverse the harmful effect that we have done on the earth, we need to make renewable energy and biodegradable products more available, and I am passionate about contributing my expertise in this task.

 

First, I would like to work with the experts in Molecular Foundry to develop novel nanomaterials that can be used to study protein expression in the microbes or the other living organisms. With my expertise in lipid polymer and nanoparticle synthesis and conjugation, I can really contribute my knowledge and skills in the mission. For example, nanomaterials can be used to delivery genes or proteins into microorganisms or as a probe to detect chemical reactions. In addition, my training in NMR technology can also be of great help in studying the structure and functions of nanomaterials.

 

Second, I would like to work with the experts in Joint Genome Institute to identify the genes that can be used for energy or biomaterial productions. With my experience as a teaching assistant for the genetic engineering laboratory, I can easily set up the protocol for studying the gene and protein expression of the target gene sequences. Also, with my training in computer programming and managing high throughput genetic screening assays, I will be able to streamline and automate the different tasks required for the gene manipulation and expression.

 

In addition to my knowledge and skills in multidisciplinary fields, I am also persistent and determined to accomplish my goals. I have finished my dissertation research resulting in five published journal papers with very limited resource, so I have confidence that I will still be reliable to my team and get the things done even during the difficult times!

 

 

 

 

Contributions to Advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

 

I have learned so much about advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion from my parents. When I was a little child, Taiwan was still under the dictatorship of an exiled regime from China. There was no freedom or human rights at all, and the people who followed the exiled regime became somehow the upper-class of the society, while the rest of the people were discriminated and treated unfairly. At that time, my parents were social activists who helped organizing demonstrations and civil disobedience to protest against the oppressive regime. When I grew older, their actions have gained more and more support from ordinary people, and eventually the regime crumbled and Taiwan has turned into a democratic country!

 

However, very different from what happened in the other countries, there was no reckoning for the previous regime and the people who supported it, because most Taiwanese people, like my parents, do not hold grudge against them. They realized that racism and prejudice were instilled by the authoritarian regime, so it was more important to change the political and social system than to punish the individuals. From there, they were working hard on building a comprehensive social welfare system that could help the under-served populations, establishing a better education system that teach people to be respectful and open-minded toward those who look different or think differently from them, and encouraging people to involve themselves in the policy formation process of their communities.

 

Inspired by my parents’ great work, I also decided to join Lin-Sen Community Development Association in Taipei City when I was a college student. I worked with the other students to conduct surveys to seek the residents' opinions on the local facilities and organize events for the community development plans. We were so passionate about getting everyone in the community to participate in the decision-making process for the community planning. We firmly believe the bottom-up approach is the only way to empower the minorities or under-served groups.

 

A lot of these great ideas in community planning were actually from the U.S., so I was truly disappointed when I rarely heard about them here. Instead, I have heard about gentrification all the time, which from my research seems to be always a decision-making process solely from the special interest groups, a top-to-bottom approach that would only hurt the under-served populations more.

 

Therefore, I will make contributions to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion by sharing my family’s and my experience in promoting it, in particular the importance of the bottom-up approach in the community planning. I will also involve myself in the grass-root movement for advancing diversity and invite my colleagues to join me! I understand the situation in the U.S. might be quite different from Taiwan, but it will still be great I can help more people to recognize that they have the ability to make the things much better!