Michelle Zhou

Michelle is an aspiring engineer from Irvington, New York. She is interested in medicine, mathematics, and the arts. With these diverse interests, she hopes to major in either biomedical engineering or applied mathematics and minor in computer science and statistics at SEAS.

In 2022, Michelle joined 2017 Nobel Prize Laureate Dr. Joachim Frank and his team at the Frank Lab at Columbia University, where she researched ribosomes and ribosomal RNA (rRNA). There, guided by Dr. Swastik De, she completed her first research project, in which she studied the structure and sequence of O. cuniculus (European rabbit) rRNA. Most notably, she analyzed the 28S rRNA strand because of the lack of a reliable, consensus sequence at the time of the study. She conducted sequence alignments in Clustal Omega and analyzed structure and nucleotide alignment issues in ChimeraX. Michelle concluded rRNA sequences had been incorrectly propagated through several different RCSB Protein Data Bank (PDB) entries as O. cuniculus structures, leading to misinterpretations of ribosome structure and function in related research. Michelle published sequence-corrected 28S and 18S O. cuniculus structures as a first co-author in the RNA Journal to enhance understanding of ribosome structure and function.

In her second project, Michelle discovered the functions of eukaryotic initiation factor 3 (eIF3) during yeast canonical translation initiation, which were previously unknown due to a lack of a high-resolution 43S pre-initiation factor (PIC) structure. Once again guided by Dr. De, Michelle conducted cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) single particle analysis, which includes image processing, particle picking, 2D classification, model building, map fitting, cryoDRGN heterogeneity analyses, and gel-based assays. Michelle ultimately developed 3D density maps of the yeast 43S PIC at high resolution (6 Å to 8 Å), which allowed her to determine eIF3a/c/b/i/g subunit functions, such as eIF3b’s ability to bind to both sides of the 40S ribosomal subunit in the absence of both mRNA and eIF3i/g, and eIF3a/c’s role in head stability. While completing this project, Michelle also trained a neural network model to facilitate 2D ribosome selection during particle picking in future research projects. These findings provide insights into ribosome structure and protein synthesis and aid in drug development for eIF3-related diseases, such as certain cancers and neurodegenerative disorders.

Aside from research, Michelle is a talented artist. She is skilled in several media, such as acrylic, oil, and watercolor paint; graphite and colored pencil; ink; charcoal; and pastel. Her artworks aim to spread awareness and have won four international art gallery awards, the Congressional Art Award, and a Scholastic Gold Key. She also excels in music, having played the violin since 2010. During high school, she was the concertmaster of the New York International Youth Philharmonic, a first violinist in Area All-State, and the concertmaster of her high school’s orchestra and chamber ensemble. Additionally, she has performed in Carnegie Hall since 2015.

Michelle is a kind and passionate individual who has consistently contributed to helping her community. She has tutored middle and high school students in various levels of math, from pre-algebra to calculus, and was a teaching assistant for biology and physics. She coached members of her school’s varsity fencing team as captain during all four years of high school. Michelle also volunteered at her local hospital, where she transported patients, specimens, and medical supplies.