Christina is a rising senior at UCLA majoring in Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology. She has worked in Dr. Crosbie’s lab since December 2021, where she studies how the mechanotransduction protein YAP can alter inflammatory macrophage behavior in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), enhancing overall disease pathology. DMD is a rare, X-linked disorder that currently has no cure and is ultimately fatal. Patients experience progressive muscle weakness and muscle degeneration, as well as chronic inflammation and muscle fibrosis due to elevated macrophage activity. Muscle fibrosis results in elevated extracellular matrix (ECM) stiffness, activating mechanosensing proteins such as YAP, which normally regulates cell proliferation, but also has a potential role in polarizing macrophages towards an inflammatory phenotype in stiffer environments. Christina’s project with the UCLA Amgen Scholars Program seeks to better understand how macrophage cytotoxic behavior is altered when YAP is activated in macrophages by the stiffer, fibrotic environment of DMD muscle. Using cytotoxicity assays and immunofluorescence techniques, Christina hopes to better understand mechanisms of immunomodulation and macrophage behavior in DMD. Christina would like to thank her graduate student mentors, Pranav Kannan and Daniel Helzer, and Dr. Rachelle Crosbie for their incredible mentorship and support, as well as the Amgen Foundation for this amazing opportunity to continue her growth as a scientist.