Mia is a rising senior at Western Washington University, where she participates in undergraduate research in protein biochemistry under the mentorship of Dr. Jeanine Amacher. In the Amacher lab, Mia leads a project on investigating selectivity determinants of the extracellular domain of Streptococcus Pyogenes Sortase A. For the UCLA Amgen Scholars Program, Mia is conducting research in Dr. Aaron Meyer’s lab in the Bioengineering department. Her research focuses on developing a new type of cancer immunotherapy for high-grade serous ovarian cancer, the most common and deadliest form of ovarian cancer. Although many patients naturally produce antibodies that recognize their tumors, these antibodies are unable to activate the immune system well enough to destroy the cancer cells. Mia is studying a universal T-cell engager (uTCE), an engineered protein designed to connect immune T cells to tumor-bound antibodies so the immune system can better recognize and kill cancer cells. Mia would like to thank Dr. Jeanine Amacher for her support while Mia participates in this amazing opportunity, Dr. Aaron Meyer and the entire Meyer lab for their mentorship, and the Amgen Foundation for making this all possible.