Alen is an incoming junior at the University of Washington in Seattle studying Biochemistry. At his home institution, Alen is an undergraduate researcher in Dr. Sean C. Murphy’s lab, where he studies malarial vaccine development and antigen discovery.

As a UCLA Amgen Scholar, Alen works in Dr. Lena Pernas’ lab studying host-pathogen and inter-pathogen interactions in dually infected cells. Coinfections are an understudied aspect of immunology but are clinically relevant on a global scale. By examining morphologies of the parasite Toxoplasma gondii and bacterium Chlamydia caviae in singly and dually infected mammalian cells, he hopes to shed light on the mechanisms behind these underlying interactions. The lab’s central aim is to understand the metabolism of infection, studying the relationship between pathogens and organelles by examining the interactions of Toxoplasma gondii and host mitochondria.

Alen would like to give thanks to the members of the Pernas lab for their flexibility and good nature throughout the program, especially to Dr. Lena Pernas for her invaluable guidance this summer as well as post-doctoral mentor Dr. Amy Prichard for her continued support and patience. He would also like to thank the members of the Murphy lab for their ongoing support of his research in addition to the Amgen Foundation and the UCLA administrative staff who make this program possible, especially Kimberly Mendez, Dr. Tama Hasson, and Dr. Beth Lazazzera.