Tjaša Mlakar Has Completed Her Unforgettable Research Visit at the University of California

Tjaša Mlakar, ASEF Fellow 2021 from Slovenia, has completed her research visit at the University of California, Riverside, under the mentorship of Dr. Jernej Murn, Assistant Professor of Biochemistry. Throughout her visit, she gained new knowledge and skills in the field of RNA biology. Specifically, she worked on a project with the help of a postdoctoral fellow, Yuan Liu, that focused on tracking circular RNAs in living cells. She has not only gained new skills and knowledge, but the project she performed during her stay in Riverside will also act as the basis of her master’s thesis. Besides working on the project, she participated in lab meetings and journal clubs. All the lab members in Dr. Murn’s lab were wonderful and always happy to help.

When not working in the lab, Tjaša spent her free time discovering California. She visited several Californian cities, including San Diego, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. She also visited Joshua tree national park and swam in the Pacific Ocean at Laguna beach. Furthermore, while in California, she got involved with the Slovenian community consisting of Slovenians living in Riverside and its surroundings.

Tjaša describes her time spent in California as unforgettable. She is looking forward to further collaboration with Dr. Murn while she finishes her thesis. She is thankful to Dr. Murn and his team, ASEF, and the Public Scholarship, Development, Disability, and Maintenance Fund of the Republic of Slovenia for enabling her stay abroad.