Duke University | Howard Hughes Undergraduate Program

One of the most rewarding experiences of the RF program has been the seminars put on by distinguished faculty. The series started off with a resounding success in the form of Dr. Philip Benfey. As Chair of the Biology Department, Dr. Benfey leads a lab that investigates the mechanisms by which plant cells choose their identity, specifically in the root tip. but the most interesting part of his spiel was his life story. Dr. Benfey has literally been around the block. After spending time in the rugged Mountain West as a teenager, he traveled to the Philipines and lived in Japan before settling down in France. There he earned an undergradutate degree in biology and was accepted to a host of top schools, finally earning his Ph.D from Harvard. He spoke with such eloquence that one couldn't help but be fascinated by his description of systems biology and the use of mathematics in biology. I could go on and on about Dr. Benfey, but he was only the start of a line of professors that took the time to teach a classroom-full of undergrads about themselves and their research. Dr. Mohamed Noor, winner of the Darwin Medal awarded by the Royal Society every fifty years, Dr. David Sherwood and Dr. Steve Haase are just a few of the other speakers who come to my mind as great mentors and communicators. They opened my eyes to fields of biology I had never heard of and, without sounding too naive, gave me hope that scientific progress made at Duke would contribute to curing some of the world's most fatal diseases and saving millions of lives. 

Research. From an outsider's presepctive it seems rather dull- mixing smoking chemicals in a dark room and observing how they react is not most people's idea of a job. But for the lucky few that can call themselves scientists, research is a gratifying occupation in which new knowledge is discovered and used to help others. Whether it be finding the compound to stop runny noses or finding life on another planet, getting positive data and good results can make scientists the happiest people in the world. Except when that doesn't happen. If I follow a protocol to the letter, make sure everything is done correctly and the data generated is not intelligible, I get rather frustrated. All that time and effort and love got mixed into an experiment that didn't work. But those little shenanigans don't get to me too much because I'm just an amateur in the science community. I can only imagine how scientists whose jobs depend on that same protocol, among others, must feel. Because sometimes, consistently poor scientific performance can have a negative impact on a career. And that pressure to perform sometimes gets to be too much for some people. They get the notion that maybe the decimal place in a PCR readout can be moved over one digit or a few flourescent cells can magically appear in an microscopic image. And at that point a shenanigan can become bad news. Falsifying data is one of the worst possible actions a scientist can make- it destroys all credibilty and respect. No matter what the incentive, whether it be trying to save a job or make a historic "discovery", publishing fudged results is a shortcut on the road to failure. And those who disrespect the efforts of their peers by cheating need to find something else to make a living.

Today, The New York Times featured a front-page article titled "Grant System Leads Cancer Researchers to Play It Safe" (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/28/health/research/28cancer.html?ref=health). The article details the political nature of cancer research in America. After reading the article, I felt as if biomedical research labs were throwing money at problems that the researchers knew would never be solved. It seemed that they were simply using research money to fill their pockets. I can only imagine how sad and demoralized cancer patients and their families must have been when they read that possible treatments were being passed up for more popular projects.

These past few weeks have opened my eyes to this hidden part of biomedical research. It certainly is not always about the science. A novel imaging technique to film hematopoietic stem cells is by no means a prerequisite to winning "pioneer" research grants. There are other factors at play. But research doesn't pay for itself- that new imaging technique won't refill pipette boxes or reagent bottles. Perhaps the Wu-Tang Clan put it best- Cash does Rule Everything Around Me. So researchers must play the games to win coveted NIH money. And sometimes the best way to do that is to present projects that show documented promise. For example, one of the projects in the Reya Lab investigates the role of certain molecules in cellular signalling pathwaysin cancer stem cells. It is a different turn on a proven method of treating cancer, the most complex and multifarious disease on the planet. And though it may not cure cancer, the new knowledge gained from that project will add to the pool of information from which a cure will eventually be designed.

So the article may not have gotten it completely right. Some projects will certainly not get the funding they need and will be filed away. But the projects that are getting funded are often just as deserving. The light bulb was not invented in one experiment- it will take many, many scientific pipettes and reagents (and grants) to finally solve the cancer puzzle.

The US Open has returned to the daunting Bethpage Black Golf Course in Long Island, New York. The last time the golf world focused its attention on Bethpage, Tiger Woods was the only golfer under par. Everyone and their best friend expected Tiger would repeat as champion this year. There was a short list of other contenders, among them Phil Mickelson, this year's fan favorite. However, after three rounds Tiger and Phil are both trailing a man ranked 519th in the world. Ricky Barnes is exceeding expectations by shooting the lowest 36-hole score in US Open history and holding the lead into the final round. Sometimes our expectations are not met, but other things come out of nowhere to make for a great experience.

Coming into the HHRF program, I tried to keep my expectations in perspective. An eight-week research internship is not quite enough time for an eighteen-year-old rookie scientist to find the cure for cancer, AiDS or even the common cold. But as it turns out, I could spend that time doing a lot of other things. Like observing how different scientists will run the same protocols in their own unique way. Sam mutters his way through an experiment, focusing intently on the step at hand. Mark will test his pipette a good twenty, thirty times before actually using it. Takahiro is cool and collected, doing in his work but evidently having fun at the same time. I'm developing my own style, but so far that just seems to be scrambling to find reagents and a lot of emergency problem-solving. I'm also learning how scientists plan out their daily experiments and still keep their eyes on the prize. Mark lays out his objectives in the morning and nearly always completes them by the time he leaves the lab in the evening (sometimes the late evening). My daily lists tend to repeat themselves a lot; I might have to work on actually completing my objectives. But I am learning so much about how to be a successful scientist. And as it turns out, we will be curing cancer this summer. The internship is definitely exceeding expectations.

For the last few months, the biggest question among college undergraduates has been about summer plans. When people asked me what my plans would be, it was difficult to come up with one simple answer. One response was “the Howard Hughes”. But that drew many blank faces- non-Dukies didn’t associate that with an eight-week research internship. Instead, that name brings to mind Hollywood glamour, a playboy personality and outlandish airplanes- there was no reason why I would simply be doing “the Howard Hughes”. Another response was “stem cell research”. This one often elicited oohs and aahs from the audience, even if they weren't necessarily warranted. And if I wanted the summer plans conversation to end rather quickly I could respond with “the role of specific proteins in the Hedgehog and Wnt signaling pathways in the maintenance of cancer cells in chronic myelogenous leukemia”.

In reality, every response has come together to describe my summer. Howard Hughes, once the richest man in the world, established the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in 1953 with the goal of trying to understand “the genesis of life itself” (and save millions in taxes). Now the second-wealthiest philanthropic organization in the United States, HHMI donates millions of dollars to biomedical research every year and funds undergraduate research programs around the country. The Research Fellows program at Duke places students in a variety of life science research labs on campus. I am working in Tannishtha Reya’s Pharmacology and Cancer Biology lab. An associate professor in the Duke School of Medicine, Dr. Reya is also co-director of the Stem Cell Research Program at Duke. Her lab’s research focuses on signaling pathways in hematopoietic stem cells, such as the Hedgehog and Wnt pathways, that may lead to clues as to how cancer (specifically myelogenous leukemia) cells renew themselves. The idea is the research going on right now will someday lead to the creation of pharmaceutical drugs that can prevent the proliferation of leukemia cells as well as cure them. Maybe those same drugs will be applicable to other cancers, like pancreatic and breast cancers. It’s pretty amazing that research conducted in this lab and others around the world could potentially save thousands of lives in the future.

Here's a idea of pathways and lineages in hematopoietic cells:

Despite the serious nature of the work in the Reya lab, the lab atmosphere is surprisingly relaxed. I’ve been around for a few months helping out, but I never really got to meet the guys that make up the lab team. They all come from different backgrounds and are at different stages in their careers, but they get along like the good friends they are. Mark Fereshteh (pictured below) is my mentor- you’ll be hearing more about him soon.

The desk of a post-doc:

And my desk:

And Mark thugging it out (yes, that's a Ferrari key chain in his pocket):

Basically, Dr. Reya’s lab is a fun place where there are plenty of opportunities to learn a lot about biomedical research and make a significant contribution to science. Howard Hughes, stem cell research and cell signaling pathways have all come together to make this a very exciting summer. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for further updates!