A Tea Chat For Life Sciences w/ Linda Shi, OPALS Internship @ UCSD
Friday, October 16, 2026, 9:30 AM PDT – 11:00 AM PDT
Cornerstone Plaza · 6170 Cornerstone Ct E, San Diego, CA 92121, USA
Hosted by Premium Discovery Group, S.P.C.
Join us on Friday 10/16/2026 (9:30-11:00 am PDT) for our October “Tea Chat” to meet with Dr. Linda Shi, Principal Investigator (PI) of Biophotonics Lab, Co-Director of Biophotonics Technology Center (BTC), and Director of OPALS (Outreach Program For Advancing Learning in STEM) Internship Program at Institute of Engineering in Medicine (IEM), UC San Diego. Let’s learn more together soon again! Linda holds a B.S./M.S. in Electrical Engineering and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering. She has 20+ years at UC San Diego’s Biophotonics Technology Center. As founder and director of OPALS, she has mentored 700+ high-school students through a hybrid Spring and in-person Summer internship program, with interns presenting original work at regional, national, and international conferences. The program emphasizes scientific curiosity, effective communication, and real-world impact through interdisciplinary research spanning biomedical engineering, life sciences, public health, and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning. In this episode, we’ll explore: (1) Leadership of the OPALS high school internship program at IEM: How is it designed and managed to ensure pre-college students establish a strong foundation in STEM and develop a rigorous research mindset. And how does it coordinate and structure mentorship when bringing together high school interns with researchers, graduate students, and undergraduate students. (2) Interdisciplinary Research & Mentorship: Drawing from the role as a Project Scientist at UCSD, how does Linda bridge the gap between engineering and medical science in interdisciplinary research environments, and what methods she uses to guide mentees or junior researchers in understanding scientific principles and critically analyzing experimental data? (3) Communication & Student Assessment: How are the intern students supported and evaluated as they prepare to present their research findings through final talks or poster presentations? What strategies are employed to set realistic expectations for the intern students entering high-level university research for the first time? For more information about the OPALS high school student internship program, please visit https://iem.ucsd.edu/programs/opals/index.html. Premium Discovery Group, S.P.C. is a social purpose c-corp of life sciences & health technologies, dedicated to advancing and fostering forward-thinking leaders of their organizations and our ecosystem. We welcome you to join our community and follow us on social media (LinkedIn | Instagram) too! “A Tea Chat For Life Sciences” is a monthly series that honors innovations of life sciences and health technologies, giving participants opportunities to network with some of the best inventors, entrepreneurs, and experts available in Southern California. Please be sure to save the dates for these unique experiences of inspiration and connectivity!