Lea Repovic is a rising senior at the Lakeside School who is passionate about human health, geography, and languages. Although she has been curious about biology since childhood, she credits the book Immune by Philipp Dettmer with kindling her interest in immunology. She is fascinated by the complex interactions occurring within the human body and their consequences on health and disease. Lea is drawn to the multilateral approach necessary in scientific research that requires thinking both inside and outside the box, and she is passionate about doing research that can make a significant impact on someone’s life.
At Lakeside, Lea is the president of her school’s Quizbowl Club, a convivial space for trivia enthusiasts and open-minded novices alike, and has led the Quizbowl team to victory at multiple local tournaments. Lea is also a leader of her school’s Science Club to foster scientific exploration outside of the classroom. Channeling her enjoyment of ballroom dance, Lea is one of the leaders of Lakeside’s Global Dance Club which provides opportunities for students to let off steam in an active and unique way. In addition to her leadership positions, she is an active member of her school’s drama department.
Outside of academics, Lea is passionate about geography, performing arts, and linguistics. She has participated in numerous geography competitions since middle school and is always on the lookout for new geographic facts. As an employee at Trader Joe’s, she extends her linguistic interests into gastronomy, educating herself and others on the etymology of the store’s products. Lea loves to spend her free time conversing with acquaintances, dancing, and doing crossword puzzles.
At ISB, Lea and her partner Sarah Feng researched the effects of gene mutations associated with atopic march on the proteomes, metabolomes, and genomes of individuals. They worked with Dr. Andrew Magis in the Health Data Science Lab, employing Python to analyze polygenic risk scores and multi-omic information obtained from the Arivale database.
Lea is grateful for this opportunity to spend her summer at ISB and thanks her fellow interns and mentors for making this experience memorable.