Max Vale
senior
E-mail: smv2m9@mizzou.edu
Home town
Columbia, Mo.
What got you interested in biochemistry?
After realizing that I wanted a lifelong career in science, I turned to biology and chemistry. I love the living and breathing perspective that biology has to offer, as well as the analytic approach to processes that chemistry provides. Biochemistry is the perfect synthesis of both.
What research projects are you involved with now? What are your career goals?
I started working in a lab in June 2008, researching Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA). One of my projects focuses on potential cardiac involvement in the SMA phenotype using a mouse model. I have also worked to develop a transgenic mouse expressing a potentially therapeutic gene. My third project involves mouse breedings to explore genes under the control of tissue- or temporal-specific promoters using Cre-recombinase. I plan to pursue an MD/PhD program in neuroscience to conduct clinical research.
What has been your best (or most surprising) MU biochemistry experience so far?
Advising! The MU biochemistry advisers take a truly personal interest in student achievement and success, offering unique and individual opportunities to their students! For example, I was able to speak to Columbia high school students about MU, college life and the biochemistry department in an outreach program. It was an enriching opportunity to share my passion for science, research, music, and Mizzou with the community!
The faculty are also great. Biochemistry faculty are wholeheartedly dedicated to student growth and learning, within and beyond the classroom! Exceptional responsiveness, small class sizes, and genuine teacher interest foster strong lifelong connections between professors and their students (and among students, themselves)!
How has being a Conley Scholar helped your education?
Being a Conley Scholar (pre-admittance into the MU Medical School) has given me the confidence and institutional support necessary to feel comfortable in pursuing a double-major in seemingly unrelated fields: biochemistry and music. Music has always been a central aspect of my life - I started piano lessons before kindergarten, and developed a love for the saxophone in middle school. Music continues to be at the heart of my college experience!
Any similarities in the two disciplines?
Yes! Surprisingly, there are a lot of parallels between music and biochemistry. The same kind of critical thinking skills are required to analyze the form of a classical Haydn sonata as are needed to identify residues in an amino acid sequence. The language of music, evolving across time and cultures, is as varied as the molecules of biochemistry, newly discovered and synthesized every day. And, mostly importantly, it is impossible to escape practicing either!