Name: Pei-Chin Tsai
Undergrad Major: Medical Technology
Why did you choose to go to grad school?
I decided to go to graduate school because I wanted to expand my knowledge from medical science to pharmaceutical science. I wanted to participate in the research and development of launching a novel drug product to the market. Going to graduate school also means having much more opportunities to expose yourself and potentially work with many big Pharma and biotech companies, which these in return are all very nice networking opportunities.
Another reason of going to graduate school for me was to explore the world outside my home country, Taiwan. Studying aboard in the U.S. was something I planned when I was in my junior year of undergrad. I was very curious about the life in U.S. (maybe I was influenced a lot by the American music and movie industries). Also, learning foreign language and experiencing different cultures were something that interested me and motivated me to come study abroad.
What are your long term goals? (I.e. Do you want to continue in academia, go to industry, etc.)
My long-term goal would be working for pharma/biotech/biomaterial companies in the industry. I enjoyed the working atmosphere in industry where group of scientists will be working on the same goal. I like to collaborate with people that are in different field of expertise and learn new things from them.
What are your currently researching in the labs?
My research involves tissue engineering of skin models and particularly the way cells interact with various polymeric as well as decellularized matrices.
What do you like most about what you do?
I like to expose to trying out new instruments and experimental assays. And I like the fact that my research can potential be applied for drug research and development. Also the compounding lab I am teaching is also very fun.