Viet N.

The Fred Hutch Explorers program has been an amazing introduction to the biomedical sciences— our session has talked and toured with countless professionals working on everything from worm nervous systems in the Bai Lab to genome sequencing— their stories and informational lectures helped me realize what I wanted to do in the future! We’ve also conducted many lab activities, ranging from basic micropipette exercises to more-complex DNA analysis, which gave me a solid skills base to stand on in the future! While the program was a mere two weeks, I feel like I will be carrying the skills learned from it for years. Hopefully, a return to this center is in the books- I would love to help a professor out with research and gain even more knowledge of the biomedical sciences!

The author enjoying the learning laboratory.

The biggest highlight of my experience at Fred Hutch was visiting the Stoddard Lab! Run by Dr. Stoddard, the lab works with x-ray crystallography and other technologies in order to find, study, and utilize the structure of proteins. In essence, x-rays are diffracted by protein crystals, and, with enough data, comprehensive measurements of the structures of the proteins that make up said crystals can be found! The findings of this research can be applied to biotechnologies and other medical uses! Dr. Stoddard and his fellow scientists were very informative and friendly when introducing our program to their lab and work, and the general atmosphere of the lab was very inviting; I especially enjoyed the disco ball mounted on the ceiling. I learned a lot about a field that I wasn’t aware of just days before!

Dr. Stoddard’s x-ray crystallography machine— a very expensive piece of machinery!

Dr. Stoddard’s talk about his history with transporting protein crystals to space in Russia was also extremely interesting; his past was entertaining and inspiring. The fact that his stories and more were included in his book Baikonur Man made me dead-set on obtaining it through the raffle! I didn’t expect to win, but I did! After going through the book, I can definitely say it was a 10/10 read! The education and entertainment in this lab continued to fuel my love and knowledge of the biological sciences, and I am eternally grateful to Dr. Stoddard and his lab for giving us the chance to enter. 

Dr. Stoddard and I admire his book!

Dr. Bai’s lab was also a highlight of my visit to Fred Hutch- witnessing the basics of genetic modification in C. elegans and learning about their uses in understanding more about how our own brains and nervous systems was similarly enlightening! I also loved the festive atmosphere of the lab- the decorations were very cute! Dr. Bai and the SURP/SHIP students in his lab were equally as knowledgable, fun, and passionate— I am also extremely grateful to them!

I extend my thanks to the countless graduate students, researchers, former Pathways members, SHIP students, and faculty members who helped us! Lastly, I would like to thank Huda, our student leader, Alex and Shayan, our graduate TAs, my fellow program-mates, and, of course, Dr. G— you’re all the best teachers/colleagues I could have. I hope I can see everyone at the facility soon!”