​​Bianca Rollbusch navigated her childhood cancer through fierce strength and determination. Today, the San Diego State senior is using those same qualities to pursue scientific research that will one day help other kids facing cancer diagnoses. Bianca is a Maximizing Access to Research Careers (MARC) Scholar and undergraduate researcher at SDSU, studying breast cancer while pursuing a bachelor’s degree in cellular and molecular biology with an honors minor in interdisciplinary studies.

Outside the lab, Bianca serves as a peer mentor in the SDSU College of Sciences and an executive board member for SDSU’s Women in Science Society. She also volunteers with Some of My Best Friends are Bald and the Emilio Nares Foundation, both of which support children and teens affected by cancer.

Bianca’s vision is to become a doctoral candidate and hematology-oncology researcher, contributing to a future in which patients—and especially the young— no longer have to endure the often-grueling side effects of cancer treatments.