What year did you graduate from UCSD and with whom did you work while at UCSD?

I graduated from UCSD in 2009 and was mentored by Professor Michael Burkart.

What scientific accomplishment are you most proud of since graduating?

That every paper we’ve published has had a unique idea about the biochemistry or biology of metabolites. This is because chemical tools can point you in fundamentally new directions than established methods. Probably our most unexpected advance came last year, when we applied one of our novel methods to discover a microorganism whose ribosomes are dynamically decorated with the metabolite acetate. This was something that had never been seen before in nature which has implications for how RNA works at high temperatures, something could be useful in RNA vaccines and therapeutics. I also love this work because it is a reminder of the amazing chemistry that exists across the tree of life, something I learned to appreciate studying natural products at UCSD. 

What advice would you give current/graduating UCSD students?

One of the things I think makes UCSD special is it is such a great place to grow. I came into graduate school with essentially no research experience. The way I survived was by having a great group of peer mentors and an advisor who (in retrospect) was willing to help me develop for a couple of years before I produced anything of note. So find those advisors, postdocs, and senior graduate students who can serve that role for you. Try to enjoy yourself; there can be some pain involved in growth, but I am a firm believer that graduate school should not be about suffering. Keep an open mind about your career options and be flexible to whatever arises. Finally, lock your bicycle. And never drive across Death Valley in a car that is more than 25 years old.

Greatest memory from your time at UCSD?

It is so hard to pick just one. I spent most my time in an endless cycle between lab, the Grove, Main Gym, and Porter’s Pub, and the conversations I had with friends in those places were formative. I was in a horrible bicycle accident the week of my qualifying exam, and my committee chair Tad Molinski started off the meeting with a story of a bicycle accident he’d had to put me at ease, which was very kind. Probably one of my favorite memories came when I was a third year meeting with my advisor Mike Burkart in his office. I had been reading a ton about mechanism-based inhibitors, and had an idea for one that could help a project in the lab. I proposed it very tentatively, sure it was going to be dismissed. Instead he said, “Really? That could work!” That small interaction gave me confidence to continue sharing my own ideas (a few of which actually did work).

What drew you into your current field of research?

I was really fortunate to be writing my research proposals right as the science of the cancer metabolism-epigenetics interface was emerging. I remember vividly sitting in the Caltech library, reading a paper showing acetyl-CoA concentration could influence histone acetylation, and being just exhilarated by the idea that metabolites could act like drugs and activate (or inhibit) powerful epigenetic enzymes involved in the control of gene expression. I knew this was an area I would stay interested in that could grow in lots of different directions and started thinking about how I could make an impact.

What recent major awards have you received?

I received the NCI Director’s Award (2016), a Rising Star Award from the International Chemical Biology Society (2020), and the Eli Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry from the American Chemical Society’s Division of Biological Chemistry (2021).

How have you seen the field of Chemistry change during the course of your education and career?

Three things. One, I think chemistry is more collaborative now. In a recent project we worked with five groups spread across three continents to use our chemistry to discover something we never would have on our own. Bringing all of these interdisciplinary minds together was almost as exciting as the science itself, and I think was viewed as a pure positive. Two, I think chemists are becoming much more sophisticated in the problems they take on. You rarely see a chemical biologist make a tool just for the sake of making a tool anymore; instead they are inspired by a deep understanding of the questions they’d like to answer, and very knowledgeable of their biological and clinical constituencies. Three, I think personal well-being and mental health are much more openly discussed. Twitter has given trainees and even investigators who are struggling a way to connect with other people who are going through the same thing. I mentor my trainees with the view that if they are successful I will be successful, so I better do everything I can to make that happen. In my opinion these are all hugely positive changes that have largely taken place in the ten years since I graduated. I can’t wait to see what the next decade will bring!