ESP Biography



CONNIE FUNG, Stanford graduate student studying microbiology




Major: Microbiology & Immunology

College/Employer: Stanford

Year of Graduation: Not available.

Picture of Connie Fung

Brief Biographical Sketch:

I grew up in the suburbs in southern California and am the first person in my family to pursue scientific research. For as long as I could remember, I had always been obsessed with learning about cool and unusual things. Hence, I had always wanted to become a scientist because it would allow me to do what I loved best. However, I never thought that I would become interested in microbes, which are really tiny organisms that can be found living practically anywhere on earth, until I was introduced to them in high school.

Fascinated by how microbes can survive in complex environments ranging from the darkest depths of the ocean to the human body, I decided to major in Microbiology at UCLA. After graduating, I enrolled in the Microbiology & Immunology PhD program at Stanford to continue pursuing my interests in microbes and research. Currently, I am studying how the ulcer-causing and gastric cancer-associated bacterium Helicobacter pylori can survive in one of the harshest environments in the human body--the stomach.

Outside of the lab, I am involved in several mentoring and science outreach programs because I love teaching and fostering interest in science for younger students. For fun, I enjoy spending time with family and friends, cooking/eating, reading, traveling, and tennis.



Past Classes

  (Clicking a class title will bring you to the course's section of the corresponding course catalog)

B3501: Parasitic Worms: The Monsters Within in Splash! Spring 2014 (Apr. 12 - 13, 2014)
Parasitic worms have been living inside the human body since times before our earliest recorded history. Unlike the infectious microbes that cause diseases more familiar to us (i.e. the flu, the common cold, gastroenteritis, etc.), adult worms tend not to be microscopic in size—some can even reach 10-20 meters in length (imagine that living inside your gut)! Come and learn about how these disgusting yet fascinating creatures find their way into human hosts, where and how they survive within the human body, and the consequences that may result from worm infections, ranging from blindness to severe deformation of body parts to impairment of physical and mental development.


B3149: Parasitic Worms: The Monsters Within in Splash! Fall 2013 (Nov. 02 - 03, 2013)
Parasitic worms have been living inside the human body since times before our earliest recorded history. Unlike the infectious microbes that cause diseases more familiar to us (i.e. the flu, the common cold, gastroenteritis, etc.), adult worms tend not to be microscopic in size—some can even reach 10-20 meters in length (imagine that living inside your gut)! Come and learn about how these disgusting yet fascinating creatures find their way into human hosts, where and how they survive within the human body, and the consequences that may result from worm infections, ranging from blindness to severe deformation of body parts to impairment of physical and mental development.