The University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine
What is your hometown?
Newton, Iowa
How or when did you become interested in science?
When I was young my grandmother used to read history and science to me. I guess these stories sparked my interest, because soon after that I started conducting my own independent experiments using things around the house. These simple homemade experiments hooked me on science for life. Since then I’ve always read about discoveries in the fields of chemistry, biology and medicine.
How or why did you choose the University of Iowa to complete your doctorate degree?
I was attracted to the University of Iowa by the opportunity to research and study at one of the premier health care facilities in the Midwest. The various programs and high quality of research conducted at the University of Iowa seemed like an environment in which my career could prosper. I was particularly drawn to the outstanding research and training environment in the cancer center here at the University of Iowa.
Is there a teacher, mentor or University of Iowa faculty member who has helped shape your education?
The entire faculty of the Free Radical and Radiation Biology program has guided me during my training at Iowa. However, the most important among these would be my thesis advisor Dr. Frederick Domann. Dr. Domann has given me multiple opportunities to gain new skills, form my own ideas, and collaborate with other scientists. Most importantly, he has started me on the path of becoming an independent investigator. Over the past two years Dr. Domann and I have worked closely together to outline the new field of free radical epigenetics to investigate the link between altered epigenetic processes and metabolic defects in disease and development.
What kinds of opportunities or advantages does being a doctoral student at Iowa provide? What about challenges?
The Free Radical and Radiation Biology program at Iowa is among the best in the world researching the connection between free radicals and human disease. Being trained in such a prestigious environment gives me an education in free radical biology and research available few other places in the world.
Please describe your professional goals and interests?
My overall career goal is to become the principle investigator of my own laboratory in an academic or institutional setting, studying the role of epigenetic processes in human disease and development. I have chosen this career path because I enjoy applying the scientific method to address scientific questions pertinent to public health. Such a career path would allow me to utilize my creative nature to address such questions. Fostering the development of the next generation of scientists is also crucial. During my experience as a graduate student at the University of Iowa I have enjoyed the opportunity to mentor several undergraduate and graduate students. Becoming a principle investigator would allow me to continue to train the next generation of health scientists.
What are some of your outside interests?
When away from the laboratory I enjoy watching University of Iowa athletics. I also like spending time outdoors to go fishing, camping and traveling whenever possible.
Do you have an insight or philosophy that guides you in your work?
The most valuable commodity of health scientists is their ideas and approaches to research. My driving force is to be creative in all my scientific pursuits. I’m always striving to formulate new hypotheses that address questions pertinent to the health of Iowans.
If you could change one thing about the world (or the world of science), what would it be?
Right now I would change the current funding situation. The primary source of medical innovation is based upon research paid for by federally funded peer reviewed grants. With the decrease of federal funding it is becoming increasingly more difficult to move forward with clinically relevant research. The decline of such research is a critical loss for the public.
What one piece of advice would you give to students who are interested in applying to a Ph.D. program?
Pick a program that is willing to train you in matters other than just research. Students often get caught up in what their project is going to be, rather than focusing on the academic environment. The success of a student after they leave a graduate program will equally depend upon their abilities to think, create, write and work at the lab bench.
What do you see as "the future" of medicine and medical research?
I feel that the future of medicine and medical research is in the development of nanotechnology. Applying nanotechnology to treat injuries and disease is potentially astounding. Treating a patient with small particles targeted to a specific lesion or defect would save a patient from suffering many of the side effects of current standards of care procedures.