Sacha Sulaiman

Sacha Sulaiman

Olivia McKenna Award: Biography

            Sacha Sulaiman is a senior student in the Honors Program at The City College of New York, majoring in Biology and double minoring in English and Chemistry. During her sophomore year, Sacha joined The Emerson Lab and under the mentorship of Mark Emerson, Ph.D., she contributed to research aimed at understanding the developmental processes of the vertebrate retina. Working alongside a graduate student in an NSF-funded program, she focused on evaluating the expression of a specific protein in early retinal cells. She also participated in community outreach with local middle schools where she performed DNA extraction and gel electrophoresis experiments with 8^th grade students to stimulate interest in science. During quarantine, Sacha studied the role of enhancer elements in transcription factor binding specificity in hopes that someday this knowledge can be applied to gene therapy techniques aimed at treating various retinopathies.

Outside of the lab, Sacha is in the Pre-med Program and hopes to matriculate into medical school. She regularly volunteered at Mount Sinai Morningside in the Catheterization Lab and Cardiology Inpatient Unit, where she earned a Mayoral Service Award for her achievements.  She also worked as a Sinai Research Associate in their Emergency Department and assisted doctors in observational and quality improvement studies aimed at improving the efficiency of the ED. On campus, Sacha is an active dancer on City Chaahat, CCNY’s Bollywood Fusion Dance Team, and is also the secretary of Women in Science (WinS). Before applying to medical school, during her gap year, she hopes to strengthen her skill set, gain meaningful clinical experience in patient care, and continue furthering her passions in outreach and volunteerism.