54 Research Reflection by Ryan Gardner

Faculty Mentors: Julio Facelli, Ramkiran Gouripeddi, and Sejal Mistry (Biomedical Informatics, University of Utah)

In the Fall of 2021, I was enrolled in a computational physics class at Weber State University. It was here that I learned what the “protein folding problem” was for the first time. My project ended up being a ball-and-stick representation of a generic protein situated on a two-dimensional lattice that moved in a clunky way. I was nevertheless captivated by the problem and began spending my personal time reading and writing papers on the subject. This was the one of the first problems that I became fascinated with that has yet to find a solution.

Having spent the last few years buried in textbooks and pounding out problem sets, I wanted to gain some actual research experience. As a senior majoring in physics, I knew I’d be passing up a great opportunity if I didn’t at least try my hand. I knew the opportunity would be one that would likely inform whether I’d want to pursue a graduate degree, a notion that has been floating around in my head for some time.

So, I began my search online and found Dr. Julio Facelli in the biomedical informatics department whose interests culminated in everything that I enjoyed in the academic arena. As I dug further, I learned that protein folding was an important part of Dr. Facelli’s research. I was excited by the prospect of being able to use AlphaFold, the leading protein structure prediction software, and being able to learn more about protein folding. I was especially excited to learn that there was a clinical premise to his work. Having spent a decade working in a clinical setting, I found his research to be important.

Dr. Facelli welcomed me with open arms and introduced me to two other mentors: Dr. Ramkiran Gouripeddi, MD, PhD, and Dr. Sejal Mistry, MD, PhD. They gave me the tools I needed to succeed and the confidence that I could contribute in my own way. I had the opportunity to work on research design and methodologies, developing a manuscript, and present our findings at the Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium. It was a steep learning curve, especially coming from a world of physics and entering a world of biochemistry, immunology, and bioinformatics, but after a few weeks of hard study and work, the fog slowly started to lift, and I was able to start piecing things together. This is not to say spending ten weeks on a problem is sufficient for a working, professional knowledge, but it does provide a jumpstart for an aspiring researcher.

I have met many people who were inspiring, including my mentors, my research partner, Joshua Wilkins, and several people in the bioinformatics department who spent personal time talking with me about their experiences and offering advice on how to pursue a career in academia. Building these relationships is perhaps the most valuable thing I gained this summer, something that can’t be obtained through pounding out problem sets and reading textbooks.

Having completed the summer of research, I will be confidently applying to graduate school to study medical physics. Cancer is the great problem of our time, and I hope to contribute to the wonderful science done all around the world to address that problem. I am excited to take what I’ve learned from Dr. Facelli and his team and port those skills into a graduate program that will train me to be the best medical physicist I can be.