Bringing It All Together
The end goal of a BYU education, James Lee says, is to give students chances to apply what they’ve learned. For him, that happened at the Simmons Center for Cancer Research.
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Searching for a Cure in Russian
February 2019
After learning about her family history of cancer, Emily Hoskins knew that she wanted to use her Russian and bioinformatics skills to find a cure. An unexpected step toward achieving her goal was found at the Latvian Biomedical Research and Study Centre.
Through data analysis, Hoskins discovered 20 different gene mutations that help predict cancer. Hoskins says that her internship not only furthered cancer research but also gave her the confidence to continue searching for a cure. After noting that she was the only woman in her Latvia office, she says, “I’m proud to be representing women in bioinformatics.”
Today she is working on a project with the National Cancer Institute to analyze mutations in protein structures. This groundbreaking research will help providers give individualized cancer treatments to increase success rates. Hoskins’s internship has opened her eyes to the opportunities in cancer research.
She recently applied for a grant supporting female cancer researchers. In the long term she plans to complete a PhD and assist other women pursuing careers in bioinformatics. She hopes someday to find a cure for cancer.
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