Sharangi Vasavan

55 Summerlea St. Markham, ON L3S 4H7| 416-826-9752 | sharangiiv@gmail.com

Dear hiring manager,

As a recent graduate from the Honours Life Sciences program at McMaster University with 6 years of
hospital and patient interaction experience, I am excited to apply for the Research Technical Assistant position in
the Biospecimen Services department at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. Princess Margaret Cancer Centre’s
compelling reputation and dedication to optimize and evolve cancer care on a local and global scale by
harnessing the potential of clinical and translational research to develop novel, cutting-edge therapeutics and
collaborate with healthcare stakeholders to revolutionize how cancer care is funded and delivered, coupled with my desire
to improve patient experiences at the point-of-care inspired me to apply for this role. Having contributed to clinical data
collection and analysis to improve the provision of healthcare; a strong understanding of human anatomy and physiology,
immunology, and the molecular biology of cancer through coursework; and extensive experience manipulating samples
from patients and animal models in research contexts, I believe I can make meaningful contributions to your team.

As a research volunteer in Dr. Khan’s gut mucosal immunology lab in McMaster’s Health Science Centre, I was
responsible for extracting colon samples from mice and contributing to experiments involving ELISA, western blotting,
qPCR, immunofluorescence and immunohistochemistry staining using in vivo mice models and human cell cultures. To
do this, I became familiar with the interactions between the intestinal microbiota, serotonin production in the GI tract, and
the host immune defense within the context of inflammatory bowel disease. I also read protocols, observed and learned
from other experienced lab members as they conducted their own experiments to consolidate my ability to execute these
lab techniques. Through this process, I learned how to conduct immunological experiments on samples from patients and
animal models. In this position, I am confident that I will be able to support research projects by isolating and handling
tumor cells, processing blood, body fluids and other samples from patients with varying chronic and infectious human
diseases.

As a research volunteer for the Model Schools Pediatric Health Initiative at Unity Health Toronto, I was
responsible for collecting and analyzing data for a study that explored the effects of COVID-19 on the mental and
developmental health of children and youth from inner city schools along with the role of school-based health clinics in
improving children’s educational achievement. I carried out these roles by using REDCap to administer surveys to
children from the school-based health clinics and their parents, organized and analyzed data from large databases
pertaining to more than 10 TDSB schools using Excel to identify child/youth health and educational support needs that
weren’t being met. Through this process, I learned how to analyze and translate clinical data to improve healthcare
services. In this role, I can exercise this skill by biobanking clinical and research data from patients with various diseases
including cancer and cardiovascular disease to improve the quality of therapeutics and patient care.

I believe that my previous hospital experience, strong problem-solving and interpersonal skills with patients, in
addition to my passion for biomedical research and proven ability to learn new skills and thrive in both collaborative and
independent environments make me an excellent candidate for this position. I hope to be able to contribute to your work
in a productive manner and make an impact on patient’s lives by supporting clinical data collection and analysis and
conducting experiments on patient samples for research purposes using my strong foundation of medical terminology,
human anatomy and physiology, immunology, human pathophysiology and cancer biology. Thank you for taking the time
to consider my application. I look forward to an opportunity to discuss how I can be an asset to your Biospecimen
Services team.

Sincerely,

Sharangi Vasavan