Throughout her life experiences, Lauren Rosenthal has always been eager to overcome challenges. At a young age, Rosenthal was diagnosed with a rare physical disability, which affects the muscles in her lower extremities and restricts her mobility. However, her experiences have motivated her to give back to the medical community by investigating treatments for chronic disorders.
During her undergraduate career at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Rosenthal participated in multiple research projects beginning in her freshman year. In her first laboratory experience, led by Dr. Diane Harper, she assisted with identifying preferences within under-screened populations related to the type of home-screening kit that would enable a more accessible method of cervical cancer screening. At the end of her freshman year, she presented her findings at the Annual Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program Symposium.
In her junior year, Rosenthal transitioned into the lab of Dr. Matthew Chapman, in which she conducted experiments to analyze genes that play a role in the formation of bacterial biofilms, which allow the bacterium to go undiscovered by the immune system. In her senior year, she joined the lab of Dr. Stephanie Bielas, in which she assisted in investigating the post-translational de-ubiquitination functions of a specific gene known as ASXL3, and how this gene is modulated in neurodegenerative diseases. Rosenthal received her bachelor’s degree in molecular, cellular, and developmental biology in 2024 from the University of Michigan.
Rosenthal chose to pursue a PhD as she aspired to become more integrated into the research community in the pursuit of gaining knowledge about many aspects of cellular and molecular biology. She intends to study genetic mutations associated with the development and progression of cancer to identify molecular targets for therapeutic intervention.