About me

I am Kai Cao, a Senior at the University of California, Irvine, pursuing a major in Neurobiology. I am passionate about learning and research in the fields of biology. I am currently in Igarashi Lab at UCI School of Medicine supervised by Dr. Kei Igarashi.

I have participated in various academic programs and projects that have enhanced my skills and knowledge. In the Igarashi Lab, I focus on Alzheimer's disease and memory formation within the entorhinal-hippocampal brain circuits. I perform experiments involving behavioral training and mice tissue analysis, including perfusion fixation and brain sectioning. I worked as a Learning Assistant for General Chemistry at UC Irvine in 2023. In this role, I assisted over 150 students in improving their comprehension of the coursework by facilitating effective communication with the professor and identifying areas requiring additional support. I conducted thorough review sessions to deepen students' understanding of key concepts and effectively prepare them for exams. Additionally, I conducted a comprehensive pathology analysis and designed an experiment related to Alzheimer's disease as a group leader in high school.

I am always eager to learn new things and challenge myself. I am looking for opportunities to apply my skills and interests in meaningful ways and contribute to the advancement of science and society.

I am currently seeking a technician position or research opportunity in the areas of Neuroscience and Cell Biology.

Publication

Nakagawa, T., Xie, J. L., Savadkohighodjanaki, M., Zhang, Y. J., Jun, H., Cao, K., Ichii, A., Lee, J., Soma, S., Medhat, Y., Saido, T. C., & Igarashi, K. M. (2024). Early disruption of entorhinal dopamine in a knock-in model of Alzheimer's disease. Nature Neuroscience. In positive revision, BioRxiv https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.10.10.617678

Presentation

Kai Cao, Tatsuki Nakagawa*, Jiayun L. Xie*, Marjan Savadkohi, Jason Y. Lee, Heechul Jun & Kei M. Igarashi: Circuit mechanisms underlying associative memory impairment in APP-KI, UC Irvine Undergraduate Research Symposia, 2024. (Poster)