Student Spotlight: Darren Liu

Tell us about yourself.

I’m from Seattle, Wash., where I studied for my undergraduate degree in chemical engineering and biochemistry at the University of Washington. Looking forward, I’m currently applying to internal medicine with an interest in gastroenterology and cancer genetics.

Describe your experience at the Lerner College of Medicine.

We have a really positive learning environment here, and everyone is willing to help and support your career. The close-knit community lends itself to mentorship, and I really appreciated that about my time at CCLCM. Also, the lack of tests and grades gives you more time to explore your interests and significantly improves your quality of life as a medical student.

Which academic aspects have you enjoyed?

I appreciate how unique our longitudinal clinic is as well as the communication skills curriculum. I remember feeling uncomfortable at first working with actors in these scenarios, but in hindsight once we went into clinical rotations, I really appreciated that I built up those skills.

What drew you to CCLCM?

I honestly didn’t know about CCLCM until I started applying to medical schools, but knew I wanted research to be a component of my career as physician. I realized pretty quickly that it was the perfect fit for me given CCLCM’s mission to train physician investigators.

Describe a stand-out moment.

Research has opened a lot of unique opportunities for me. For instance, my work in Dr. Charis Eng’s lab has opened the door for me to participate in an international consortium that is currently developing clinical consensus guidelines for managing PTEN hamartoma tumor syndrome. Here, I got to work with international experts across various subspecialty fields as well as patient advocates/representatives. This has been a stand-out moment for me, as I get to witness firsthand the ongoing process of taking decades of research to standardize and improve care for these patients.

Describe your research project.

My thesis project is one of my projects that I’m most proud of. This project involves investigating the fragmentation patterns of cell-free DNA (i.e., DNA fragments that are released into your plasma and blood) as a biomarker for cancer risk in patients with a rare hereditary cancer syndrome. Interestingly, we found that patients with multiple cancers display distinct cell-free DNA size distributions and fragmentation pattern. This is really exciting, as we provided proof of principle that this potentially can be used in the future to risk-stratify patients.

Any technology you used during your time at CCLCM that benefited you?

During my research year, I used artificial intelligence tools to help in writing and troubleshooting code for various bioinformatics data analyses, which really helped my efficiency.

What advice do you wish you had received prior to starting the program?

I wish I had reached out to mentors and upperclassmen earlier on. I think mentorship is an important aspect of medical school that I wish I had focused on earlier in my medical career.

Accomplishments you’d like to share?

I recently received the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute’s F. Merlin Bumpus Junior Investigator Clinical Award for my thesis project on “Cell-free DNA Fragmentomics and Second Malignant Neoplasm Risk in Patients with PTEN Hamartoma Tumor Syndrome.”

How do you spend your free time?

In my downtime, I enjoy playing tennis and pickleball; cooking; and watching horror movies/television shows. I recently watched “The Haunting of Hill House” and cannot recommend it enough.

Fun fact?

We do summer research blocks during our M1 year. As part of a microbiome project, I sequenced my poop as the healthy control.