ROSITSA TSARNAKOVA

(814) 380 – 4478 • rtsarnakova@gmail.com • State College, Pennsylvania

EDUCATION
BS Degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Expected 2026
The Pennsylvania State University University Park, PA
• GPA: 3.93
• Ongoing Minor: Statistics
• Relevant Courses: Chemistry, Biostatistics, Matrices, Independent Research
• Involvement: Society for Industrial Biotechnology, Alpha Epsilon Delta, Science Lion Pride

High School Diploma May 2022

The State College Area High School State College, PA
• GPA: 4.7 (4.0 - Unweighted)
• Awards: Richard M. Sharp Memorial, Principal Awards, Top 10%, Honor Roll
• Involvement: National Honor Society (Vice President), National Technical Honor Society (President), HOSA
EXPERIENCE
Pharmacy Technician May – August 2022
CVS Pharmacy
• Managed patient medical records, insurance, and prepared prescription medications

Volunteer October 2018 – Present

Mount Nittany Medical Center
• Managed customer and patient requests in the hospital gift shop and trained upcoming volunteers
• Invest service time towards the emergency department

RESEARCH
Undergraduate Research January 2023 - Present
The Pennsylvania State University, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department
• Ongoing independent study focused on purine-nucleotide metabolism in the model organism C. elegans
• Attendance of weekly laboratory meetings to discuss results and drawbacks
• Took part in chalk talks detailing current project and collaborated with lab fellows on possible adjustments
• Assisted laboratory graduate members in metabolomic analysis of C. elegans

Junior Science and Humanities Symposium Competitor March 2022

Juniata College and Albuquerque, New Mexico
• Conducted and presented research at a regional and national science competition
o Regional - 1st Place - Juniata Region, Huntington, Pennsylvania
o National - Albuquerque, New Mexico
• “The Effect of Electrical Stimulation on Ethanol-Induced Paralysis Modeling Parkinsonism in C. elegans”

Summer Scholar and Researcher June 2021

Emory Winship Cancer Institute Virtual
• Attended lectures from Emory faculty and worked with Dr. Sarwish Rafiq to propose a novel cancer therapy
• “Engineering CAR-T Cells with Tumor Penetrating Peptides for Breast Cancer Therapy”

Governor School Student July 2021

Carnegie Mellon Pennsylvania Governor’s School for the Math and Science Virtual
• Attended CMU lectures, partook in a chemistry laboratory, and worked in a group to develop an enzyme digest and PCR
algorithm
• “Microbial Forensics: Identifying Bacteria and Yeast Using Ribosomal DNA Fingerprints”

SKILLS
Language: Bulgarian • Spanish
Computational: Minitab • MS-Dial • Latex • Excel
Other: Laboratory techniques • Statistical analysis