Position Title
2026-2027
Lily Zhang is a junior at Arizona State University, majoring in Pharmacology and Toxicology. Beyond the classroom, she is involved in student leadership, serving as the president of Dental-Pharmaceutical Club and the vice president of Environmental Advocacy, Restoration, and Technology for Humanity (E.A.R.T.H.) Club. Lily has conducted research under Dr. Jennifer Hackney, investigating the role of specific genes in wing morphogenesis in the common fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. Currently, she is expanding that work by exploring the relationship between ecdysteroids and acoustic stress and examining how acoustic stress influences hormone synthesis, receptor activation, and fertility in both male and female flies.
Lily also interns at the Arizona State Public Health Laboratory, where she supports statewide daily operations and processes clinical and non-clinical specimens, including Acid-Fast Bacillus, wastewater, and newborn screening samples, while gaining exposure to toxicology, virology/serology, and bacteriology. Through MSDT One-Health, Lily hopes to expand her understanding of toxicology within a One-Health framework and learn how environmental factors shape human health, while also forging the professional connections that will support her growth for her future career.