Alex Vargas

Experience Research Experience I have participated in undergraduate research at Georgia State University in both the Biology and Neuroscience departments Neuroscience research- Modeling of neuronal dynamics through derivative equations and testing of hypotheses leading to poster presentations at the Georgia State Undergraduate Research Conference. Most of my work was primarily done in Matlab but I have some experience with C++ and Python Biology Research 2015 Molecular Genetics involving the identification of novel proteins within parasite mitochondria that required handling of reagents, management of Material Safety Data Sheets, organization of lab supplies, cleaning of lab work space, use of bioinformatics suites such as Geneious R7 and cloning and expression of proteins through molecular methods Education Georgia State University- B.S. in Biology Joseph Wheeler High School- Graduated with honors Poster Presentations Alex Vargas, (2016, April). Multistability and its occurrence in neurons within the Pre-Bötzinger Complex. Georgia State Undergraduate Research Conference, Atlanta, Georgia. Alex Vargas, (2017, April). Effects of the Na/K pump on dynamics in Pre-Bötzinger Complex neurons. Georgia State Undergraduate Research Conference, Atlanta, Georgia. Community Service Senior Mentor ProjectSpring 2017 Mentored a high-school student from my former high school in a new skill. The student chose programming and wanted to focus on bioinformatics. They were taught the basics of coding in python and created a project that randomly generates a number of repeating trinucleotide sequences on the Huntingtin gene. The script then counts the number of repeats and gives a result for whether or not the “genetic test” comes back positive for Huntington’s disease. Page for the Georgia House of Representatives- Served the members of the House of Representatives for one day each year by delivering important information and messages into the House Chamber. Each year I served for the same representative, Wendell Willard. Skills PCR and molecular techniques, purification of DNA samples from cell cultures, protein and DNA analysis using molecular biology software, aseptic technique, PCR primer design and reaction optimization, gram stain procedure, use of Python, Matlab and C to simulate behavior of neurons, proficient in most Microsoft Office programs, data entry involved in inventory processes. Languages Spanish English