Michael Hogan '11
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Mike Hogan doesn't think he's at all unusual. A bio-chemistry major, he studies Italian and Japanese, works part time at the Maddock Alumni Center, volunteers for committees, carries out cancer-related research in the lab of Dr. Carthene Bazemore-Walker and is "very heavily involved with Brown University Gilbert and Sullivan," a group that performs a free open-to-the-public production of a play every semester. This semester, he'll be directing.
A lot of what he does is "completely unrelated" to his concentration, he acknowledges, "but that's what Brown is all about. The open curriculum at Brown definitely encourages pursuing different interests, which I really enjoy."
This past summer, however, thanks to receiving an Undergraduate Teaching and Research Award, he set aside other pursuits in order to concentrate on his main passion: cancer research. "We studied the mechanism of a chemo-therapeutic drug called 2-Methoxyestradiol, or 2-ME," he explains. "We started by optimizing the protocols for a couple of assays: a cell viability assay and a cell cytotoxicity assay. We went on to do different treatments of several cell cultures. We disrupted the part of the cell membrane called a lipid raft and then measured its effect on cell viability when treated with 2 ME." And although the results were not all he had hoped for, "it was definitely interesting, and I'll be able to do follow-up studies."
"His enthusiasm, hard work, and hunger for learning and exploring different areas in biomedical research are what define Mike," says grad student Teresa Ramirez, who mentored Hogan during the summer. "His ideas were always welcome and useful."
Despite his many accomplishments here, Hogan, a Rhode Island resident, didn't always have his sights set on Brown. He visited Barus and Holley - the physics and engineering building - as part of a high school activity and eventually toured the rest of the campus, "really liking" what he saw. But, as a member of a single-parent family, he didn't think he would be able to afford to attend Brown. "I wouldn't have been able to come here without financial aid. Brown has been very generous."
As for his future plans: "In the spring I'll be studying in Bologna, Italy. Senior year I hope to be in the same lab doing research for course credit. Cancer therapy research and drug research interest me because cancer has affected a lot of people in my family. I've lost a few family members to cancer - at least one recently - and others in my family are (cancer) survivors. Eventually, I'd like to go on to either graduate school or medical school."
But for now? "I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. Brown is a really welcoming home."
