Arya Sajadian

I am a sophomore microbiology major on the pre-med track. I’m from a small town called Mason City slightly up north, and came to find Dr. He’s lab opportunity in the latter half of my second semester and chose it as my first research opportunity. I was fascinated by the unique behavior exhibited by pathogens in order to thrive in spite of the variety of stressors it would have to encounter in its hosts, and have, at the current time, been focusing on the pho4 pathways and how they connect to other stress responses in anticipation of being subjected to multiple hostile elements. While I’ve only had very limited exposure to the procedures of labs thus far, Dr. He and the other members of the lab have been excellent in educating me on the finer nuances of yeast stress responses, and have led me to possibly seek to further document the SPX domain’s role in the pho4 pathway, which acts as a sort of regulator and instigator based on the presence of free-form Pi, and not only activates the whole pathway, but also has direct influence as far down as the cleavage pathway of polyP, and possibly other aspects or even other stress responses.

In my free time, I enjoy swimming and playing piano.