Student Spotlights

My name is Emma Than, and I’m a senior from the Class of 2025! During my sophomore year, I co-founded the Asian Student Union (ASU) and have been co-leading it ever since. Along with the ASU, I am also heavily involved in Forefront, a suicide prevention club. I have been presenting since my freshman year and was the secretary of the club my junior year.

At Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, I was assigned a lab to work in and allowed to conduct real cancer research! I worked in the Turtle lab with Dr. Erik Kimble, MD and researched new CAR T-cell therapies for acute myeloid leukemia. I did cell culturing (growing live cancer cells) with two different lines over six weeks and then used a machine called a flow cytometer to radiate the cells. I then analyzed the data by creating histograms to see if the death receptors in the cells changed. Throughout the 8-week internship, I worked on a final presentation that displayed the results of my research and what I gained from my experience.  

I knew I wanted to work in STEM, but I wasn’t sure what I wanted my career to be. I saw the Fred Hutchinson summer internship as a chance to explore the field, and it gave me the insight I was looking for.

In a real lab, you do real lab calculations! Stoichiometry, a form of lab math I used over the summer, was taught to me in my dual-credit Chemistry class at Kennedy Catholic. Because I had already learned how to do these calculations, working in the lab and measuring out my solutions came easily.

I plan to attend a four-year university after graduation with a major in Biochemistry. After this, I’d love to continue my education and end up working in cancer research!