Reno Reporter

A University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) junior, who is majoring in biomedical engineering, hopes that his research will aid people who suffer from aging-related diseases.

Jonathan Taasan is a member of the first cohort of Maximizing Access to Research Careers (MARC) Nevada students, which helps students as they apply to and transition into research-centered higher-degree programs and adds to the diversity in the biomedical sciences; a UNR news release said this week.

“I’m pretty thankful I came [to the University of Nevada, Reno], because of the opportunities with the UROP [Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program] and MARC,” Taasan said in the release.

Under the tutelage research lab of biology professor Thomas Kidd, Taasan’s work has flourished by happenstance. Taasan had to conduct a professor interview during his first year of college for one of his honors classes, and that is when he met Kidd.  

Taasan will be focused on how to help injured cells recover and examining the dynamics between numerous genes that control cell function in the hearts of fruit flies. He presented his research at the Wolf Pack Discoveries conference over the summer after being awarded a grant through UROP.

“I wanted to do something that would pretty much allow me to live a comfortable life, but at the same time accomplish something academically, or like something that I would be proud to say I helped humanity in some way,” Taasan said.