Mark Engelken’s interest in science started after learning about the central dogma while in his high school biology class. His initial curiosity gave him the determination to further pursue his interest in biology and strive towards a career in science. His commitment to biomedical research was first shaped as an undergraduate after being awarded an American Society of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics fellowship in the lab of Dr. Michael Borchers, where he studied the role of the immune system in a rare lung disease and won an award for his capstone presentation.
Engelken graduated with a genetics degree from Iowa State University in 2022. While at Iowa State, he performed undergraduate research in the lab of Dr. Melha Mellata, studying antimicrobial resistance. As part of the Mellata lab, he assisted in developing an in vivo model for studying bacterial conjugation. After graduation, he joined the lab of Dr. Esther Obeng at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital as a researcher. During his time in the Obeng lab, he enjoyed contributing to the mission of St. Jude. His research focused on the effects of a mutation to an epigenetic regulator on immune cells and their impact on bone marrow transplantation outcomes. Engelken plans to continue his research about the immune system in graduate school and would like to expand his studies into the translation applications of immunotherapy.
Hometown: Washington, IA
Publications:
Ott L, Engelken M, Scott S, McNeill E, Mellata M. Drosophila Model for Gut-Mediated Horizontal Transfer of Narrow and Broad Host-Range Plasmids. mSphere Oct 2021 https://doi.org/10.1128/msphere.00698-21.