At Northwestern, Cooper is a rising junior majoring in Biological Sciences, with a concentration in Cell and Developmental Biology. Since the summer of 2023, he has been studying the epigenetic regulation of progenitor skin cell differentiation in Professor Xiaomin Bao’s lab. He has worked on projects relating to the cell-state specific interactions of chromatin remodeling complexes, and the roles of ligand-activated transcription factors in xenobiotic metabolism and differentiation. 

At UCLA, Cooper is working in the Goldstein lab, which investigates stem cells, metabolism, and cancer initiation in the prostate. This summer, he is studying how germline variations of the HOXB13 gene reprogram lipid metabolism in prostate cancer. Some ancestry-specific variants of certain genes, like the transcription factor HOXB13, have been linked to an increased risk of earlier and more aggressive prostate cancer. Using techniques like western blots, drug treatments, and metabolite tracing, Cooper seeks to uncover how these variant cancer cells build or utilize lipids differently than their wildtype counterparts. He hopes this project will help reveal how more aggressive cancer phenotypes reprogram cells’ metabolism, and inform more targeted, ancestry-specific therapeutic options for advanced prostate cancer in the future

Cooper would like to thank Shirley Zhang, Dr. Andrew Goldstein, and the whole Goldstein lab for their kindness, patience, and support. He’d also like to thank the Amgen Foundation for this opportunity to learn new skills and refine his interests as a scientist.