By Michael Blanding
The more doctors learn about cancer, the more they realize that no two are the same. Some tumors respond to certain therapies, while others don't. Working in the lab of William Pao as a grad student at Vanderbilt, it was Katie Hutchinson's job to tell the difference. "A lot of my research was focused on determining molecular mechanisms-often in the form of gene mutations-that cause tumor cells to be sensitive or resistant to certain therapies," she explains.
One particular mutation she and her colleagues focused on involved two genes fused together, causing the cell to become dysregulated and grow uncontrollably, something Hutchinson, PhD'14, compares to a light switch being stuck always on. "We were working on identifying drugs that could turn that light switch off," she says. "It was intriguing and fulfilling to see how applicable the research I was doing could be to future drug development for patients." Now a little over a decade after earning her doctorate at Vanderbilt, she is doing exactly that as a senior principal scientist in Translational Medicine Oncology at biopharma company Genentech. She and her team work to identify biomarkers in patients similar to that stuck light switch in Pao's lab and then set up clinical trials to treat them.
Alongside a large team of scientists, Hutchinson has supported several agents in Genentech's pipeline-in particular, a newer drug for patients with breast cancer that can inhibit the activity resulting from mutations in a gene called PIK3CA. Of course, her involvement wasn't an accident-in many ways the research she did at Vanderbilt as a doctoral student prepared her for just such a breakthrough. "Using the techniques that help us answer questions applicable to human health gave me a really solid understanding of cancer cell and molecular biology, that then let me run with it in a clinical trial setting," she says. Hutchinson is one of many Vanderbilt students who have been able to translate hands-on research they performed on campus in Nashville into practical applications to find jobs and help people now.
While Hutchinson applied her specific molecular biology know-how in a clinical setting, others have used expertise gained outside the classroom during their time at Vanderbilt to achieve success in artistic curation, environmental politics or special needs education, to cite just a few of many examples. And some have used their hands-on experience in ways that had nothing to do with the specific research goals, but allowed them to better understand and thrive in unfamiliar fields.
ART AND ARCHIVES
As an undergrad, Lydia Ohl, BA'11, thought she'd study history on the way to a business career, but she took an art history course her sophomore year that just clicked.
Joining the lab of Professor Tracy Miller, an expert in medieval Asian art, she conducted field research, traveling to China to help construct a database of temples in a remote area. At one point she had to slide herself under a chained gate to access a temple, using her Mandarin skills to communicate with local caretakers. Ohl worked with Miller to create an archive geomapping location of temples along an ancient trade route and catalog their unique architectural features.
After earning her M.A. in London, the experience translated directly into a job with Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang, a multimedia and performance artist who combines Eastern philosophy and art traditions with daring exhibitions involving artworks created by exploding gunpowder. Ohl wrote her doctoral dissertation on Cai, and she worked for him documenting and archiving his works in real time. "The connection of archive work, with a knowledge of ancient Chinese art, and a sense of adventure got me the job."
She's currently working in an equally adventurous job as an archivist for late avant-garde theater director Robert Wilson to create an institution called the Library of Inspiration, which will have a physical component and a digital platform for artists to experience and share the work of Wilson and others. "What interests me in working with artists' archives is finding a way to balance their unique sense of the chaos with facts and research, and then make it available to other people in a dynamic and inspiring format."
UNDIES AND WATER TESTS
Making research accessible to the public was the goal of ASCEND (Advancing Solutions to Climate & Ecological Needs & Discoveries), an initiative of the College of Arts and Science to work directly with community partners on research involving climate change, pollution and environmental health. "It's often inspirational to students to see just how work is going to impact the lives of people they can see," says Stevenson Professor of Chemistry John McLean. "It drives it home more than just thinking they are doing some esoteric work that will help humanity."
Brianna Moyers, BA'23, worked on a project with the cheeky moniker "Soil Your Undies" to teach citizens about soil health. Fruit of the Loom, headquartered in nearby Bowling Green, Kentucky, donated new underwear to community groups who distributed them to participants to bury in their backyards. They were dug up after a set amount of time, and the extent they were degraded showed how much microbial activity there was in the dirt, a measure of how healthy it is. "The public perception of science can be that it's up in the ivory tower, inaccessible and separate," Moyers says. "We wanted to make participating in science projects feel accessible." Moyers became manager for the project, helping analyze before and after pictures sent in by citizen-scientists and translating the data in a way that would be fun and informative for participants. "It was honestly cool to see people holding up their underwear and smiling and having fun," she says. At the same time, "it made me feel more confident stepping into a leadership role."
Now as an environmental scientist with the Tennessee Department of Conservation, she works to perform inspections of sites working with hazardous chemicals such as lead, asbestos and PCB. The experience she had with ASCEND communicating scientific concepts to people from all walks of life directly translates to her current work, she says. "The idea of meeting people where they are is a really important concept in science communication," she says. In talking with contractors in asbestos abatement in Memphis, for example, "a lot of them don't have a thorough understanding of the science behind what they are doing, and a lot of times they create a hazard because they're not being careful. If I were to come in with a lot of attitude as a regulator, they're less likely to be receptive."
Defne Salli, BA'23, honed her communication skills in a different way through ASCEND project Chemicals in the Garden. She dove into archival sources to examine ways that local regulations around pesticides have changed in the United States in light of state and federal laws that have pre-empted local control. As part of the project, led by Zdravka Tzankova, director of undergraduate studies in Climate and Environmental Studies, Salli examined lobbying by chemical companies in the face of scientific and citizen activism. "It gave me a lot of perspective into how to understand industry incentives and ultimately how to understand consumer behavior," she says.
She now puts that experience to use in Geneva, Switzerland, as an early career professional at the World Economic Forum, where she works to help convene businesses, government and environmental nonprofits to discuss issues around ocean trade and conservation. "The experience I gained at Vanderbilt helps me engage in systems thinking and be analytical about how different actors use levers to affect the environment," she says. For example, she is working on an analysis of deep-sea mining to communicate the uncertainties around the practice. "We're able to use data from the World Economic Forum, which has a lot of legitimacy, to show why it's good right now to have a pause in this."
We wanted to make participating in science projects feel accessible.
BLOOD VESSELS AND BRAINS
As these students' experiences show, research doesn't only prepare you for the specific topic you study, but also helps you more broadly develop skills that can be applied to any subject. Jennifer Zachry, PhD '23, cofounded a company, Orion Therapeutics, that on the surface seems far removed from the research she did in the lab. And yet, she says, that research gave her the confidence to become an entrepreneur in a new area. At Vanderbilt, Zachry worked with Assistant Professor of Pharmacology Erin S. Calipari, who studies the underlying mechanisms of addiction by examining the reward circuits in the brain.
Intrigued by the idea of developing gene therapies that could translate into patients in the real world, Zachry participated in the 2022 Scipreneur Challenge, a competition by Life Science Tennessee Foundation to spur entrepreneurship based on intellectual property developed by universities in the state. She was assigned to a professor at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville who created a platform that could deliver gene therapies directly into cells using lipid nanoparticles.
"I definitely had the thought when I was doing this competition that this was not my area of expertise, and I should pick something more within my wheelhouse," she says, "but the skill set you learn in doctoral work of asking a question and then figuring out how to answer it is broadly applicable in any realm of science." Zachry did a deep dive into papers on the topic and asked questions of the researchers to help develop a business proposal for the technology, which placed second in the competition. The co-inventor on the technology platform, Trey Fisher, asked her to come aboard as a co-founder and director of business development for the company, Orion Therapeutics.
Zachry took part in a Vanderbilt program, Aspire on the Road, which took her to Boston to tour pharma and biotech companies. There she made some key contacts at the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, which led to participation in the MassBio business accelerator. "That gave us access to a network that's continued to pay back tenfold," Zachry says. In the time since, the company has further developed the technology, which has the potential to deliver targeted gene therapies to difficult-to-reach areas of the body.
She recently completed her MBA to further develop her business acumen. "There's a part of me that will always miss doing bench science," she says. "But I've also had an interest not just in asking scientific questions, but also in the translational piece of taking science with promise and giving it an application in humans. The skills I learned from my Ph.D. have given me the confidence that I can figure that out."
At the end of the day, that combination of practical skills and confidence that can only be gained from experience allowed her to take an unfamiliar technology and grow it into a position where it can potentially be of help to a great number of people. Whether it's helping to cure cancer, inspire with art, or promote sustainability, Vanderbilt students have learned to apply that combination to a broad range of fields-positioning them to be much more effective in translating their education to results outside the classroom.
