Asthma is a common inflammation disease that causes airway obstruction. The current gold-standard method for measuring the severity of asthma is by spirometry. However, spirometry cannot be applied to young children and patients with acute lung diseases. These limitations motivate our development of a novel approach to asthma severity testing that is based on analysis of the capnogram, a recording of exhaled CO2 concentration over time graphically represented as a waveform. This waveform can be recorded in an easily tolerated and effort-independent manner. Our development and validation of this method will be based on determining the correlation between CO2 waveform shape and spirometry results during methacholine challenge testing.

I have worked with Prof. Voldman on automation of microfluidics systems. I have worked with Prof. Zhang on recombinant DNA. I volunteered in the 22nd International Biology Olympiad.