Rea is currently a junior at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. Over the past few years, she has picked up interests old and new. She continues to be heavily and happily involved in ballroom dance as captain of the team, occasional instructor and a gold level competitor.
She is also conducting biomedical research within the realm of stem cell biology, not unlike the work that comprised her GFF enrichment experience. Rea’s current project is looking at how adipose-derived stem cells respond to inflammatory environments, specifically looking at their interactions with the extracellular matrix. She hopes that her research will contribute to using stem cells as therapeutic effectors of wound healing.
Coursework has been extremely intellectually fulfilling, and she has found a new love of bioarchaeology. “Not only can I determine the type and side of any bone in the body based on a fragment, but I also have developed a great appreciation for the stories that these bones may tell—what was the age, stature, and sex of the individual? To which socioeconomic class did they belong? What religious implications exist in the way that their remains were left behind? Reconstructing the life of a person or pig based on their remains is unbelievably exciting. This has led me to pick up another hobby—archaeological illustration.”
A few of the honors Rea’s recent honors include the Presidential LINK Award, the Korean Honor Scholarship, and the Korean-American Scientists and Engineers Association Scholarship.