Eric Zollars
Brian Turner
Ryan Turner
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Interestingly enough, all three of them were Duke-bound. But then they
met President Freeman Hrabowski and were told about the opportunity to
experience hands-on research, even as undergrads.
And that was enough to convince Eric Zollars and twin brothers Brian and
Ryan Turner to come to UMBC instead. All three are now sophomores
majoring in biochemistry and molecular biology.
"Dr. Hrabowski likes to tell people he stole me away from Duke," says
Eric, laughing. "He's quite the salesman," adds Brian.
And Hrabowski, they also say, was true to his word. This past summer the
three worked in the research laboratory of Michael Summers, whose work
includes ground-breaking research on the AIDS virus.
"My friend who went to another school can't believe what I did last
summer," says Eric, a University Scholar. "A lot of students don't have
this type of opportunity until they're juniors or seniors."
What Eric did was clone plasmid and express proteins to be used in the
lab. Brian, a Meyerhoff Scholar, worked on determining the structure of a
protein in the T-cell leukemia virus. And Ryan, also a Meyerhoff Scholar,
conducted studies on a transcription factor which regulates metal
toxicity.
Brian even went on to present his research at the National Science
Foundation-Alliances for Minority Participation Student Research
Conference in Tallahassee, Florida, where he placed second in
competition. He was the only freshman competing and lost first place to a
senior.
"I was just blown away by the whole experience," says Brian. "This was
the first time I had ever presented research. This was my first time
going to a big research conference like this."
"You can learn something in a book, but it's not going to be ingrained
into what you know until you actually do it yourself," says Eric.
Eric, who considered majoring in English and becoming a literary
historian, got interested in science while learning about genetics during
the seventh grade. Brian and Ryan's mother, a nurse, encouraged her sons'
interest in medicine as children. "When one of us was sick, she would
answer our questions and speak to us in medical terms, as if we
understood everything," says Ryan, who along with Brian was
co-valedictorian of his high school class. "She never held back. We fell
in love with science and especially medicine."
Brian is the recipient of the Barry Goldwater Science Scholarship, a
prestigious award made to only a select number of students around the
nation who are planning to pursue research careers. He also has a
scientific paper submitted for publication, on the structure and dynamics
of the HIV-I nucleocapsid protein. The paper, he says, "will finally
resolve the controversy about the three-dimensional structure of this
protein of the HIV virus."
Ryan is currently working on a paper for publication that is the result
of a year's work. "I determined the three-dimensional structure of a metal
binding protein," he says. This protein, he adds, is involved in
regulating metal toxicity in yeasts. "Metal poisoning (mercury, lead) can
be better understood and perhaps treated by understanding the biochemical
properties of this protein," says Ryan. The paper will be submitted to
the journal, Nature: Structural Biology.
"What is significant in terms of my achievements is that I will be the
first author on the paper as an undergraduate, which is a first in the
lab," he says.
Both Brian and Ryan have received a research grant to study in Paris this
summer, conducting anti-tumor drug studies at the Gustave-Roussy
Institute, the largest comprehensive cancer research institute in
Europe.
All three say they want to pursue Ph.D.s, as well as attend medical
school and go on to conduct research. First, though, they face three more
years as undergraduates. Three busy years, no doubt. Eric and Brian and
Ryan will continue working in Summers's lab. It is an experience that
will begin to prepare them for the challenges they will face in research
and medicine in the 21st century.
"Our generation is really getting things moving, getting things back on
track," says Brian. "We want to help solve some of the problems existing
in the world today. And UMBC is giving us a good foothold for that. The
next step is grad school and then on to the real world. And we're going
to need a strong background. UMBC is providing that for us."
