Senior’s scientific research leads to campus lab, pharmaceutical posts

Prakash was uncertain about her career path when she enrolled in 2021 as a biology major. But through shadowing and lab work with La Sierra biologists Nate Sutter and Lloyd Trueblood, with whom she delved into rabbit genetics and DNA mutations, marine biology and research methods, and through studying virology, bacteriophages and molecular cloning under virologist Arturo Diaz, her interests in a research-focused career came into focus.

“La Sierra has transformed my life by giving me the space and support to grow into both a scientist and a good person." – Daphne Prakash, biochemistry and biology double major

It was while studying in Diaz’s lab class that she learned about an internship opportunity with a biotechnology company near San Diego, California. Prakash applied and during summer 2023 she was accepted into the company’s competitive internship program as its first La Sierra University intern. The program often draws students from large state and Ivy League schools.

Her internship responsibilities included screening and characterizing pharmaceutical formulations that can maintain or enhance stability of therapeutics in development for various rare diseases. 

Sutter suggested Prakash could parlay her internship research into a university honors scholarship thesis. She had joined the honors program as a freshman. Her supervisors at the biotech company approved the concept and through a collaboration with university administration, they set up a lab at La Sierra where Prakash could continue related research and receive academic credit. 

“I do a variety of things from my lab here, mostly short experiments, scheduled around my class schedules, to help understand physicochemical properties of potential drugs,” she said in May. 

Last summer, Prakash landed a temporary contractor’s position with the same biotech company to continue working on pharmaceutical development projects. 

Along the way, Prakash has worked to recruit additional La Sierra students to apply for biotechnology internships and follow in her footsteps while mulling her own career pathway after Brown University. She reflected on the impact of her educational experience at La Sierra University where she served in student government, worked as a teaching assistant and as a residential assistant.

“I think the faith-based environment at La Sierra has shaped my spiritual life in a thoughtful, open way.” – Daphne Prakash

“La Sierra has transformed my life by giving me the space and support to grow into both a scientist and a good person,” said Prakash. “A huge part of that growth has also been the opportunity to do in‑depth research in both chemistry and biology, from long‑term projects in faculty labs to my Honors scholarship work, which taught me how to design experiments, handle failure, and communicate results clearly so I began to see myself not just as a student, but as someone capable of contributing science on a real scale.”

Altogether, her campus experiences at the Adventist university helped ground her in her values and faith, she noted.  

“I've grown up Adventist most of my life, but I think the faith-based environment at La Sierra has shaped my spiritual life in a thoughtful, open way,” said Prakash, who is a graduate of San Gabriel Academy. “My religion course with Dr. Maury Jackson gave me space to wrestle with big questions about God, justice, and what it means to live out your beliefs in the real world. I’ve come to really appreciate La Sierra’s motto as an honest description of what happens here: we are encouraged to seek truth, to know God and ourselves more deeply, and then to serve others with what we’ve learned.”

I also really appreciate that La Sierra is open to all walks of life and doesn’t try to force a one‑size‑fits‑all faith on students. I leave feeling more grounded in my own relationship with God and more intentional about how my future work and life can serve others.”