Nikki Higa

Nikki is a licensing intern for life sciences at the Stevens Center for Innovation.

She is a Cancer Biology and Genomics PhD student in the lab of Drs. Peter Kuhn and Jim Hicks. Her
research focuses on applying multiomic analyses to identify and characterize novel circulating cancer
biomarkers detected in blood-based “liquid biopsies”. Through her research, she is a member of the
Blood Profiling Atlas in Cancer (BLOODPAC) consortium, a multi-institutional group of stakeholders in the liquid biopsy field that are collaborating to accelerate the clinical adoption of these tests. She is also an associate on the Biotech Connections Los Angeles Consulting Team where she has provided strategic expertise for various life science projects.

Prior to attending USC, Nikki worked on developing point-of-care diagnostic tests at the Seattle Children’s Research Institute and the University of Washington. She earned a BS in Bioengineering from the University of Washington.