Meet Angela Lu 

Angela Lu

(MS, expected May 2019)

“Your experience as a Master’s student is what

you make of it,” says Lu. “Take advantage of

the opportunities here at SGS, whether they be

in research, networking, or extracurricular.”

Lu will continue her career in the Ph.D. program

at University of Southern California starting fall 2019.

Angela, entered the Master’s Degree program at SGS on the Newark Health Sciences Campus with the goal of gaining pharmacology research experience. “The Master’s program allowed me to take coursework relevant to my interests in pharmacological sciences, courses that were not available to me as an undergraduate,” says Lu. During her first semester, Lu began a lab rotation in the lab of SGS Senior Associate Dean, Dr. Andrew Thomas, there she was able to gain a wide variety of lab skills, including bioenzymatic drug assays, flow cytometry, and live single-cell calcium imaging. Lu’s lab rotation ultimately culminated in a Master thesis on the effects of a novel class of quinazoline compounds on Plasmodium falciparum death.

Lu is very grateful to Dr. Andrew Thomas and Dr. Paula Bartlett, Assistant Professor for their continued support and advice. “Dr. Thomas and Dr. Bartlett have both helped me grow so much during my time as a Master’s student in the lab,” she says. She also believes her advisor for the biomedical sciences track, Dr. Carol Lutz, also played an important role in assisting her during her time at SGS.

Apart from her time in the laboratory, Lu was also able to gain a great deal of enrichment through her involvement in various extracurricular activities on campus. While enrolled as a Master’s student, Lu was a mentor for Students 2 Science (S2S), an organization that partners with local schools to bring science and the laboratory experience to middle and high school students. Through S2S, Lu also participated in the Improving Student Affinity and Aptitude for Careers in STEM program by assisting middle school students with hands-on science experiments, including titrations, melting point determination, UV absorbance, and electroplating. She feels that her involvement in various extracurricular activities has allowed her to apply her love of science in a way that benefits the youth of today.