Shannon Harkins is a first-year BMS student rotating in the Mahmoudi Lab. She graduated from Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) with a First-Class Honors Degree in Biomedical Science. At QUB, Shannon discovered her passion for academic research completing a summer internship validating targets of the Ubiquitin Proteasome System in Chronic Myeloid Leukemia. Shannon’s Honor’s Thesis investigated the inhibition of B-catenin/Wnt signaling in Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Shannon then went on to complete a Master’s of Science in Translational Medical Research at the University of Heidelberg where she completed her thesis studying the role of the protein Asap1 in a Genetic Model of Metastatic Mammary Adenocarcinoma. Prior to starting the BMS program, Shannonwas working at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Massachusetts General Hospital on the molecular characterization and in vivo modeling of human B-cell lymphoid neoplasms and thymoma. Shannon is interested in translational research focusing on tumor heterogeneity, in vivo modeling, and biomarker discovery.