Ella Lindsey Yee

Ella Yee is from Saratoga, California and graduated from The Harker School. She plans to major in biomedical engineering at Columbia with a minor in computer science, aiming to contribute to research that creates human-centered solutions at the intersection of computation, technology, and medical innovation.

During high school, Ella conducted and published independent research in biomedical computation. Her patent-pending projects include developing a deep learning-based system for early diabetic retinopathy diagnosis, identifying neural patterns associated with autism spectrum disorder through fMRI analysis, and elucidating the relationship between circadian gene dysregulation and cancer progression. She has also contributed to larger biomedical research initiatives at the UC Davis Genome Center and Stanford Cancer Institute, particularly in the areas of ultraconserved genomic elements and NK cell-based cancer immunotherapies, respectively. A 2024 Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS) Scholar, Ella has received recognition for her research including two Grand Awards in Biomedical and Health Sciences at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), the Regeneron Biomedical Award, the IBM Award for Innovation and Impact to Humanity, and top honors at the California Science and Engineering Fair and Synopsys Science and Technology Championship.

In addition to her research pursuits, Ella is deeply passionate about community outreach and advocacy. As Co-President of Harker’s Women in STEM Program, she helped organize the Harker Research Symposium, an annual event that unites over 800 students, professional researchers, and industry leaders to explore topics such as the AI revolution through collaborative discussions and workshops. Ella’s love for community engagement also extends to her interests in journalism and communication. During her senior year of high school, she served as Editor-in-Chief of Harker Aquila, her school’s online student-run publication. In this role, she strove to lead Aquila reporters to produce articles, illustrations, and multimedia pieces that strengthened community connections and fostered awareness of diverse issues.

Ella’s long-term goal is to merge her passions for computational biology and community engagement by pursuing a career that advances disease diagnosis and treatment strategies, ultimately improving patient care. At Columbia, she is eager to work towards this goal by embracing valuable academic opportunities and learning from the diverse perspectives of her peers and mentors.

In her free time, Ella enjoys dancing, binge-watching K-dramas, and experimenting with fusion cuisine in the kitchen. A fun fact about Ella is that she has trained in Chinese classical dance since the age of four!