Kate Johnson (she/her/hers) is a first-year PhD student at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering. She grew up in Bedford, MA, and attended Middlebury College in Vermont for undergrad, majoring in Chemistry. Throughout college, she pursued a variety of research experiences, from natural products research, to cancer stem cell biology and synthetic organic chemistry, wanting to try as many things as she could. After graduation, she moved to Boston to work for a small biotech company, Platelet BioGenesis, conducting, optimizing and scaling the directed differentiation of human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) into megakaryocytes, the precursors to platelets. Her exposure to research in a small, biotech setting piqued her interest in understanding and controlling stem cell fate. It also solidified her decision to apply to graduate school to follow these curiosities, and gain greater scientific independence. In her spare time, she enjoys running, painting, and experimenting with cooking (even when her creations don't come out that edible).