Samprity
Ankita Saha — Medical Laboratory Scientist —

Medical Laboratory Scientist — Clinical Research & Immunotherapy

• Conduct translational clinical research in cancer immunotherapy, supporting the manufacture and evaluation of fusion vaccines and CAR-T cell therapies.
• End-to-end processing of human-derived cell products: receipt, handling, cryopreservation, and chain-of-custody documentation.
• Manufacture CAR-T cells on the Miltenyi CliniMACS Prodigy under strict cGMP and regulatory standards.
• Execute and analyze flow cytometry, manual and automated immunohistochemistry staining, and cell-viability assays.
• Maintain QA/QC, safety, and infection-control compliance within a clinical manufacturing environment.
• Troubleshoot equipment, manage reagent and supply inventory, and train new lab staff.
• Document procedures, deviations, and results to institutional and regulatory standards.

Site Host

Front-of-house operations at a public-health testing site during the pandemic — coordinating intake, sample handoff, and the human side of high-volume diagnostic logistics.

Laboratory Intern

• Prepared, maintained, and validated media, buffers, and reagents for research and production workflows.
• Supported SOP documentation to keep procedures accurate and audit-ready.
• Received, logged, and stored laboratory shipments per documentation protocol.
• Performed routine maintenance, sterilization, and lab organization to keep operations running.

General Biology Learning Assistant

Mentored undergraduate students through introductory biology coursework — recitation sessions, lab support, and the first taste of teaching as a research practice.

Research Laboratory Intern — Amphibian Microbiome Study

• Extracted genomic DNA from 300 skin-swab samples across two amphibian species and other environmental samples.
• Ran PCR amplification of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene; verified with gel electrophoresis; normalized and purified PCR product.
• Prepared libraries for Illumina MiSeq next-generation sequencing and ran downstream bioinformatics in QIIME2.
• Performed streak isolation to obtain pure bacterial cultures.
• Computed alpha-diversity indices and modeled microbial community composition and antibacterial activity in R.

Research Trainee

• Conducted preclinical research evaluating anti-malarial compounds against pediatric brain-cancer cell lines in the lab of Dr. Bakhos Tannous (Massachusetts General Hospital).
• Performed in vivo mouse studies, including tumor implantation and experimental monitoring.
• Maintained mammalian cell cultures and refined sterile pipetting technique.
• Assisted in data collection, analysis, and research reporting under faculty supervision.
• Presented the project at the SPARC Scientific Research Symposium — Technologies Emerging in Cancer, hosted by Dana-Farber / Harvard Cancer Center.

Student Intern

Acquired pipetting technique and applied it to DNA-sample testing; mentored visiting high-school students in lab procedure; supported lab organization and oversight of ongoing experiments.

Teacher's Aide

Worked with adult English-language learners on basic English and computer skills; assisted with lesson planning and classroom preparation.

Teaching Assistant

Supported teachers in lesson and classroom preparation; assisted ELL students with mathematics.