#MizzouResearch
July 25, 2018
A shift in focus: Lorson moves basic research to drug development
By Roger Meissen & Erica Overfelt | Bond LSC It takes a lot to move a discovery from lab bench to an application that can provide therapeutic benefits to those suffering from disease. Bond LSC’s Chris Lorson is making moves to bridge that gap with the start of Shift Pharmaceuticals. With its formation in March 2017, Lorson adds co-founder and Chief Science Officer of the company to his list of titles that include Bond LSC investigator, professor of veterinary pathobiology and associate dean for research and graduate studies. Shift Pharmaceuticals builds off of years of progress the Lorson Lab has…
June 7, 2018
Stephanie Scott #IAmScience
Stephanie Scott, a biochemistry major, works in the Thelen Lab in Bond LSC. | photo by Allison Scott, Bond LSC By Allison Scott | Bond Life Sciences Center Students choose colleges for a number of reasons: location, price, programs offered. Stephanie Scott was just a kid the first time she stepped onto Mizzou’s campus, and she knew it was the school for her. “We took a field trip, and I fell in love with the place because it had three swimming pools,” Scott said. While that’s not a typical selling point for places of higher education, it…
May 25, 2018
Andrea Ravelo #IAmScience
Andrea Ravelo, a Ph.D. candidate in Chris Pires’ lab. | photo by Allison Scott, Bond LSC By Allison Scott | Bond Life Sciences Center Mizzou is a family tradition for some. It’s passed down from generation to generation of Tigers as more and more family members join the lineage of “True Sons and Daughters.” Andrea Ravelo, a Ph.D. candidate in Chris Pires’ Lab at Bond LSC, came to Mizzou to continue that trend. “My parents went to Mizzou as graduate students when I was a baby,” Ravelo said. “After I finished my undergraduate degree, I decided…
May 18, 2018
Maria Boftsi #IAmScience
Maria Boftsi, a Ph. D candidate, stands near her lab station in the Pintel Lab in Bond LSC. | photo by Allison Scott, Bond LSC By Allison Scott | Bond LSC Change is hard. Especially when you’re comparing weather, like Maria Boftsi, a second year Ph.D. student in the Pintel Lab at Bond LSC, did. From the sunny skies of a small town in Northern Greece, where she’s originally from, to the contrastingly harsh winter of mid-Missouri, Boftsi was in for a lot of change when she came to Mizzou. “The summer after…
May 3, 2018
Mark Schroeder #IAmScience
Mark Schroeder, a Ph.D. candidate, works in Lloyd Sumner’s lab in Bond LSC. | photo by Allison Scott, Bond LSC “#IAmScience because I like to learn how things work from the deepest level.” For most people, a television breaking or a computer shutting down is annoying at best. It means they’ll have to embark on the often drawn out process of choosing a newer, more expensive version to purchase. Fortunately, Mark Schroeder isn’t most people. “If I have something that breaks, I’ll take it apart just to see if I can put it back together,”…
April 27, 2018
Ben Spears #IAmScience
Ben Spears, a Ph.D. candidate, works in the Gassmann Lab in Bond LSC. | photo by Allison Scott, Bond LSC “#IAmScience because science is like solving a puzzle, and I can take any scientific question and boil the results down to chip away at much greater puzzles.” By Allison Scott | Bond Life Sciences Center Like a lot of science majors, Ben Spears had plans to go to medical school after graduating with his bachelor’s degree. That is until he realized the very sight of blood makes his stomach turn. So, it was back to…
April 20, 2018
Sam Smith #IAmScience
Sam Smith, a freshman plant sciences major, works in Walter Gassmann’s lab in Bond LSC. | Photo by Allison Scott, Bond LSC “#IAmScience because I overcame my doubts and was able to find my place within the field.” By Allison Scott | Bond Life Sciences Center It’s no secret that science is intimidating. The test tubes, white coats and field-specific jargon paint a picture of a field that’s difficult — sometimes too difficult for some people to imagine themselves being in. Sam Smith, a freshman studying plant sciences through the Freshman Research in Plant Science…
April 6, 2018
Garren Powell #IAmScience
Garren Powell is a freshman involved in research through the Freshman Research in Plant Sciences (FRIPS) program. | photo by Allison Scott, Bond LSC “#IAmScience because research helps fulfill the curiosity I have for learning about the world around me.” By Allison Scott | Bond Life Sciences Center Some people spend their whole lives trying to figure out what they want to do. Garren Powell, however, has known that science was his route for as long as he can remember. “As a kid I was always the one doing my own little science experiments at…
March 30, 2018
Maddie Willis #IAmScience
Maddie Willis, a senior biochemistry major, works in the Burke Lab in Bond LSC. | photo by Allison Scott, Bond LSC By Allison Scott | Bond Life Sciences Center Setting a routine makes everything easier. However, changes to a set routine often leads to complications. For Maddie Willis, a senior biochemistry major, that change came in the form of working in different labs and learning their unique styles and areas of emphasis. She started in Lori Eggert’s lab freshman year and switched into Frank Schmidt’s lab for the next two years before changing labs a final…
March 21, 2018
Laura Greeley #IAmScience
Laura Greeley, a postdoc, works in the Peck Lab in Bond LSC. | photo by Allison Scott, Bond LSC By Allison Scott | Bond Life Sciences Center “#IAmScience because I’ve been able to build upon my experiences and explore science in a new, exciting way.” High school is a weird time for most people because everyone’s trying to figure out where they fit. Laura Greeley was ahead of her time, though. She uncovered important truths about her passions back then, and the postdoc in Scott Peck’s lab at Bond LSC hasn’t looked back since. “In high school,…
March 16, 2018
Tyler McCubbin #IAmScience
Tyler McCubbin, a Ph.D. candidate, collaborates with the Peck Lab in Bond LSC. | photo by Allison Scott, Bond LSC By Allison Scott | Bond Life Sciences Center “#IAmScience because I am passionate about solving real world problems with creative solutions.” A lot of people get signs as a guide for the direction they’re supposed to take in life. Tyler McCubbin’s sign was more literal. “There was a giant billboard alongside a county road and it said ‘Pray for Rain,’ and it’s probably still there,” McCubbin said. “Seeing that at the height of the drought was inspiring.
March 9, 2018
Chris Zachary #IAmScience
Chris Zachary, a junior chemistry major, stands near his lab station in the Mendoza Lab in Bond LSC. | photo by Allison Scott, Bond LSC By Allison Scott | Bond Life Sciences Center “#IAmScience because the lessons I learn through research will help me to one day become an astronaut.” Asking kids what they want to be when they grow up usually leads to a variety of answers: doctor, lawyer, president, astronaut. A few years down the line, though, most of those answers change. Chris Zachary, a junior chemistry major, is the exception. He never outgrew…