When Brandon Johnson enrolled at Lake Forest College with a desire to be “immersed in science,” he found what he was looking for — an education that went far beyond learning from science textbooks.
Brandon worked alongside Associate Professor of Biology Shubhik DebBurman in the laboratory, charting the direction of Parkinson’s disease research. “In Parkinson’s disease, certain molecules in the brain misfold, which causes the death of brain tissue,” he explains. Their research looked at whether proteins would react in a similar way in a test tube and found that they would. “We met on a daily basis,” Brandon says. “I would contribute to the experiment by suggesting ways to refine it while following the path of the science.”
This research became the topic of his senior thesis as well as the basis of a scientific journal article that was published with contributions from additional Lake Forest students, who continued Brandon’s research after he graduated in 2003.
Brandon credits the opportunity to plan and conduct research, and Professor DebBurman’s unflagging encouragement, with his acceptance into Stanford University’s molecular and cellular physiology graduate program. “My training in primary research and developing critical thinking and scientific communication skills have provided the base for a successful graduate career,” he says.
Once Brandon started working in the lab at Stanford, he felt the undergraduate training kick in. Currently, his neuro-muscular research involves dissecting proteins that are important for smooth muscle contraction. Brandon recently received a prestigious National Institutes of Health National Research Service Award — less than 15 percent of pre-doctoral students receive funding — to continue this research, which could one day lead to a medical therapy aimed at regulating blood pressure and contribute to greater understanding about epilepsy. Ultimately, he plans to pursue a career as a scientist at a biotech company where he will conduct research to discover new medical therapies for clinical trials.
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