The Young Scientist Spotlight series features our former students involved with our Treehouse UCSC Bioinformatics Immersion (TUBI) program, where students gain real-world work experience as researchers in a supportive environment, contributing to Treehouse bioinformatic projects! This week, we are catching up with former TUBI student Mateo Valdivia as he talks about how TUBI has impacted his research interests. (Photo of Mateo Valdivia)
Interview by Krizia Chambers
Can you briefly describe your experience with TUBI? And what did you gain from participating in the program?
I researched putative SMAD4 variants at the molecular and chemical level. This assisted me in some research with UC Berkeley on growth factors, which I wouldn’t have been able to comprehend if I hadn’t spent time on this with TUBI. The research with UC Santa Cruz regarding SMAD4 was helpful in my comprehension of the cellular growth factor research I conducted with UC Berkeley. The cellular growth factor research I conducted with UC Berkeley assisted me in research with androgens at the University of Indiana. The research with UI developed into the rediscovery of a childhood passion of mine regarding human biological sex polymorphisms — which is now my primary, personal research. For full disclosure, I was unable to produce the specific results asked of me by the program, despite effort on behalf of various members of the team. I was not meant to code. This is not a “low-self esteem” comment. Please contact me directly for further clarification regarding my status as a “null-hypothesis”. That being said, I still committed to the hours set aside for me — every week. This included documenting my progress wherever possible in our laboratory journals, researching the genes of interest, and creating slide shows explaining the research. If it wasn’t for my ineptitude with coding, my TUBI experience wouldn’t have lead to the rediscovery of my childhood passion regarding human biological sex polymorphisms.
What was the most challenging part of the program? How do you think you overcame this challenge?
At one point, I felt like a complete failure and like I was just dragging my team down because I have very minimal coding experience. As an athlete, this really negatively impacted me. I felt I was adding to my team’s burden. At times, I wanted to give up on my own career (which doesn’t involve coding at all!) because I was struggling to produce any output. Holly was great at providing help when I needed it, and the training website really helped… I just felt like I was moving at a snail’s pace… so what I did was… I produced output in any other means possible. I researched more on the biomedical side (less of coding) and investigated more regarding the sources of the biological samples, the types of cancers, the genes involved, the specific genetic variances, and I created a slideshow where I explained what specific genetic variances we were working on — what specific single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) looked like at the chemical level. This helped me feel like I was actually serving a purpose and learning. I had to take a lot of breaks with the coding component because I’m honestly “an old man” when it comes to computers. I, similar to a computer, do not wish to be punched in the face — so I had to “step away” and “calm down”. I say “please”, “thank you”, and “sorry” to Siri.
What advice would you like to lend to the new cohort of TUBI students?
If you’re like me, and have literally no aspiration to code (or are just “an old man”) just tell your teammates how you’re feeling. Be honest. Tell them what really interests you about the research. I had the opportunity to seclude myself and avoid socializing with my teammates because I wasn’t producing output. I’m glad I turned that opportunity down because what I chose to do instead allowed me to have a better experience with TUBI and an understanding of myself.
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