Ariana Noghreh

EDUCATION

College / University

Middle East Technical University

Highest Degree

Bachelor of Science

Major Subjects

Biology

Country

Iran

Lab Experience

Mammalian Cell Culture (Viability Assays, Immunocytochemistry); PCR; Protein Isolation (Total and Cyto-Nuclear Fractions); Protein Quantification (Bradford Assay); DNA Isolation; Electrophoresis Techniques (SDS-PAGE, AGE); Western Blot; Bacterial Molecular Cloning; Light Microscopy; UV/Vis Spectrophotometry; Chromatography Techniques (Size-Exclusion); Image Lab; ImageJ; GraphPad Prism; SnapGene

Projects / Research

2024: Undergraduate Project “Analysis of the Effects of the Alkalinizing Agent Ammonium Chloride (NH₄Cl) on Autophagic Flux and EMT in Caco-2 Colorectal Cancer Cells”; supervised by Dr. Sreeparna Banerjee at Middle East Technical University, Türkiye
2023: Internship, Assisted in experiments related to neurodegeneration in MTOR (-/+) Zebrafish mutants, as well as blood brain barrier integrity in APOE (-/-) mice mutants; supervised by Dr. Michelle Adams at Bilkent University, Türkiye
2022: Undergraduate Internship Project “Pseudotyped Virus-Based Neutralization Assay Against SARS-CoV-2”; supervised by Dr. Sibel Çetinel at Sabancı University, Türkiye

Scholarships / Awards

2024 – 2025:	Stipend by the International Max Planck Research School
2024:	Graduated as a High Honor student and ranked 2^nd among the 2024 class of Biology graduates at Middle East Technical University
2023 – 2024:	Granted the Türkiye Success Scholarship for academic achievements by Türkiye Scholarships
2022 – 2024:	Granted a 50% Tuition Discount for high departmental ranking and CGPA at Middle East Technical University

SCIENTIFIC INTERESTS AND GOALS

I always admired biology because it is a never-ending story about the complex interactions between various molecules, making life possible through emergent properties; if one of these puzzle pieces is missing, survival may be at stake. I am interested in many subfields, yet I am mainly fascinated by the topics of aging and cancer, specifically how they are affected by factors such as the survival mechanisms of cancerous cells during stress through the selective hijacking of a variety of signaling pathways. I hope to further pursue these interests but also have the opportunity to learn about and appreciate other subfields to contribute to this unfinished story in terms of how to understand, treat, and even prevent such conditions.