Daisy Duan

Daisy Duan (she/her/hers) was born and raised in Brooklyn, NYC, a daughter to two hard working Chinese immigrant parents. She grew up loving the arts, from drawing to painting to creative writing. It was not until attending high school and taking physical sciences classes Daisy was fascinated with how biology and physics concepts could be combined to help us understand biological phenomena. With the help from her scientific advisors and mentors at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Bronx Science, and American Museum of Natural History, Daisy was given the incredible opportunity to first conduct research by the end of 9th grade. Since then, she feels inclined to always pay it forward given the chance: giving feedback on scientific writing pieces and applications, and making aware STEM opportunities to students coming from similarly disadvantaged backgrounds. Upon graduating from Johns Hopkins with degrees in Biophysics and Applied Math & Stats, Daisy became the first in her family to not only finish high school but college.

Now at Yale University, Daisy is a rising third year Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry Ph.D. student in Dr. Anthony Koleske's lab. Her thesis project focuses on elucidating the mechanism by which a tyrosine kinase impacts microtubule dynamics to regulate cellular morphogenesis and migration. Outside of the lab, Daisy loves to explore new cities, hike, and cook with friends in her spare time.