Tyson Shepherd

3rd year Graduate Student of Biochemistry

What is your hometown?

Ophiem, Illinois

What year of school are you in?

3rd year Graduate Student of Biochemistry

How or when did you become interested in science?

Supportive parents; having a very effective junior high science teacher, Ron Hoburg; and science-as-entertainment on television (Bill Nye, Quantum Leap, etc.) were each instrumental in my initial interest in science.

How or why did you choose the University of Iowa to complete your doctorate degree?

During my visit here while looking at prospective schools, I really saw the Midwestern friendliness shine through in both the faculty and students. This, combined with the high esteem in which the University of Iowa is held, made me realize this was the place for me.

Is there a teacher, mentor or University of Iowa faculty member who has helped shape your education?

The graduate student/thesis advisor relationship is a cornerstone of graduate education, and I could not ask for a better advisor than Dr. Ernesto Fuentes. He is a brilliant scientist and a levelheaded mentor, giving advice when necessary but allowing for the freedom to explore new ideas.

What kinds of opportunities or advantages does being a doctoral student at Iowa provide? What about challenges?

Being a student at Iowa has given me the ability to grow as a scientist in a very friendly atmosphere. The tight-knit, open intellectual community of this university has spawned many new ideas and interesting conversations. Iowa City itself seems to foster creativity, and is a great place to live as a graduate student. The time commitment of being a successful grad student can sometime present a challenge, but at least you are surrounded by a community of peers that share these same challenges.

Please describe your professional goals and interests?

I plan to continue on an academic track to become a professor at a research university. Being a professor with the freedom to investigate new ideas in an environment that encourages creativity has always been a major goal in my life.

What are some of your outside interests?

I enjoy hanging out with my friends and family very much. I also consider myself to be an avid reader, especially of books dealing with the social sciences. Recently, I have taken to long-distance running in my spare time.

Do you have an insight or philosophy that guides you in your work?

Every day hundreds of thousands of people all across the globe wake up and go into their labs to continue to fight a war against diseases and flaws in the natural world – cancer, AIDS, Alzheimer’s. These diseases will not cure themselves, so each one of us must help in whatever way we can – be it in incremental steps or large leaps.

If you could change one thing about the world (or the world of science), what would it be?

I believe there are some fundamental flaws in the financing of education and scientific pursuits. Attaining the maximum potential of human creativity can only be accomplished in a world where we are uninhibited by economic problems and artificial resource limitations. Although this doesn’t seem like a problem to be easily fixed in the near future, I think being more open about the benefits of scientific investments would ease people’s issues with putting more money into the sciences.

What one piece of advice would you give to students who are interested in applying to a PhD program?

Be mindful of what you are getting into. There is a lot of hard work ahead of you, but the personal payoffs will be worth it.

What do you see as "the future" of medicine and medical research?

Right now is a more exciting time than ever before to be involved in medical research. The sequencing of the human genome was just one milestone towards living in a world where the eradication of some of the world’s worst diseases is a real possibility. One of the most exciting aspects of this is that personalized medicine is an attainable goal within my lifetime. For example, one day soon we will have the drugs and techniques necessary to individually tailor a cocktail of medications for a specific tumor found in a specific individual, essentially making cancer nothing more than a manageable condition rather than a deadly disease.