Damon Wing Hey Chan, ’26
Major: Chemistry, biochemistry and microbiology
Project title: “Development and Validation of DNA and RNA Stabilization Under Shipping Conditions Using homeRNA Technology”
Damon Wing Hey Chan was always interested in chemistry and biology, but he wasn’t sure exactly how to use those interests. But he loved the idea of answering questions related to genes and disease.
When he got to the University of Washington, he joined the Bioanalytical Chemistry for Medicine and the Environment Lab and started working on two projects, including one related to collecting RNA samples at home using technology like homeRNA. Most recently, this work has led to his current research where he is looking at how DNA and RNA can be extracted and preserved from a single blood sample.
“This project significantly overlapped my interest in genetics and framed it in the context of a guiding principle in our lab to develop translational science tools that would help bridge current inequities and shortcomings in our healthcare systems,” Chan said.
Finding a way to collect this information from one sample could eventually translate into a way to use self-collected blood samples for diagnostics and disease treatment, he said.
While blood collection methods like dried blood spot cards already exist, this method can result in a low collection sample and can be difficult to regulate during shipping.
Oftentimes, to avoid issues during shipping, blood collection must only be done on site with trained staff, and it’s often only done during business hours. That can make it difficult for people with non-traditional working hours or those who live in areas with fewer medical facilities to receive a blood test, Chan said.
“The homeRNA mission serves as an important reminder in the creation of healthcare tools and technologies that access is fundamental to usability of the device, and that this is an ongoing problem that still must be addressed today,” he said.
Chan is a Departmental Honors student and a Levinson Emerging Scholar, a program that has helped him apply the knowledge he learns in class to his work in the lab and vice versa.
“It’s gratifying when I can apply skills and experience from one to the other,” Chan said. “They mutually benefit one another.”
Being a part of research at the UW has been life-changing, Chan said.
“The experience has completely shifted my future goals to be aligned in a field of research, and I know that no matter where I end up, I want research to be involved in some way,” he said.
About the Symposium
This undergraduate research project was presented in the 29th Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium on May 15, 2026. The Symposium is one of several opportunities UW undergraduates have to engage in the transformative experiences research provides. It’s produced by the Office of Undergraduate Research and is one of the many ways the Office connects undergraduates to the UW’s research ecosystem.