Albert Xu
Luo Lab, MCB-CDB Senior, 2017
Senior Honors Thesis: The Role of Elongation Factors ELL1 and ELL2 in P-TEFb Network Stability and Carcinogenesis

Professor Luo says, "Albert joined my lab in his freshmen year and has since grown into a mature and confident scientist. He loves research and spends all the hours outside his classes in the lab. His persistence and hard work have resulted in a co-authored publication recently."

Xu says, "The first time I held a pipet was in Kunxin Luo's lab freshmen year — at the time, all I knew was that I was interested in biology, but I didn't know what to do with my interest. After spending many evenings and weekends studying how disruption of developmental pathways can lead to cancer, I've picked up essential skills such as troubleshooting and scientific literacy, and even had my work published in a peer-reviewed journal. Now, almost 4 years later, I'm ready to use the skills I've learned to further my pursuit of a career in basic science research."

Xu's contributions to the MCB Department go beyond his lab work — he also served as the co-president (along with Albert Wu) of the MCB Undergraduate Club "MCBcDNA" which aims to serve the needs of the UC Berkeley undergraduate Molecular and Cell Biology and science community by providing our peers with the resources for success.

Xu graduated this Spring, where he was awarded an I.L. Chaikoff Award in recognition of his outstanding achievements and excellence in research in the emphasis of Cell & Developmental Biology.