Next up, we have Renato Molina of the Departments of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry and Biomedical Physiology
Name: Renato Molina
Faculty: Molecular Biology/Biochemistry and Biomedical Physiology
Year of study: 4th Year
Supervisor: Dr. Shenshen Lai
Q: What do you want to be when you grow up?
A: Honestly, I used to think people in their 20’s were “grown-up,” and now I can see how wrong I was. I am nowhere close to what I want to become, yet I continue to chip away at what I want the sculpture of my future to be. I think that as science students, we are genuinely curious about everything, and that is where I currently am. I have a hard time deciding whether to pursue a future in medicine, or continue advancing further along the research chain. Albeit, thinking about the future really excites me. Whether its research or medicine, curiosity and science will keep me captivated enough to always enjoy what I study.
Q: What will you be working on this summer?
A: The drug discovery section of the company I am currently at focuses on targeting signaling proteins involved in many kinds of cancers. Many of these signaling proteins are key regulators of important intracellular events that allow cell survival, programmed cell death, differentiation and proliferation. Most of the drugs being developed at the company are inhibitors of such pathways, and so the research I will be conducting in the summer will involve looking at inhibitors and there anti-oncogenic effects in particular cancer cell-lines.
Q: Favorite course you have taken in your degree so far?
A: I don’t like picking favorites, because I love all the courses I take. If I had to, BPK 305 (Human Physiology I) has been the best course I have taken to date. It is hard, challenging and intense. However, it is the most rewarding. You come out feeling saturated with relevant and useful information. I got to learn about cardiac physiology at the mechanical level and molecular level. I also got to learn about the vascular system and respiratory system in depth, and how it all helps keep you alive.
Q: Who is your science crush?
A: Dr. Amy Mainzer is among the top. She studies space in infrared! And she has had an asteroid named after her, how cool is that!?
Q: If you were a scientific lab instrument, what would you be?
A: Most definitely an autoclave. Always eating, and then moody because I didn’t have enough to eat.
***For those who don’t know what an autoclave is, please see wikipedia link here.
SFU Science Undergraduate Research Journal 