Searching for cancer treatment alongside a laureate
Cornelius Taabazuing, a biochemistry major who graduated in May, has spent the summer at a highly coveted research program studying RNA with a Nobel Laureate. He says his path to working in the lab of Tom Cech, who shared the 1989 Nobel Prize in chemistry, came from seizing opportunities—and, of course, hard work.
“You need to be given an opportunity in order to realize what you can achieve,” says Taabazuing, “If I didn’t have the opportunity to do research I would never have known that I can excel at it.” He spent the summer working in Cech’s lab at the University of Colorado in Boulder. “I love the area and the experience. The lab is well established and Tom Cech is a brilliant guy,” notes Taabazuing.
Taabazuing says UMass Amherst prepared him well for research and offered opportunities throughout his four years, with the research in Cech’s lab the crowning achievement. The paid research stint is part of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Exceptional Research Opportunities Program.
Taabazuing started his research career when one of his biochemistry professors announced that Nathan Schnarr, assistant professor of chemistry, was setting up a lab and looking for student researchers. Unsure of what to expect, he grabbed the chance; it was a life-changing moment. “When I first started I was learning basic things. I wasn’t a dishwasher,” he says. “They exposed me to research right away.”
In Cech’s lab, Taabazuing worked on manipulating biological processes to generate new metabolites that may be able to combat the rising tide of drug resistant bacteria. In Colorado, he conducted research aimed at finding potential anti-cancer treatments. As an incoming UMass Amherst graduate student, he will continue his research. “It has the potential to make a significant impact on the world,” he says. “It could give us the edge in the war against microorganisms.”