From Small Beginnings

[inyati13]

From the small beginnings of a home laboratory in the basement equipped with an oil immersion microscope we bought as surplus from the Helena Hospital in Helena, MT, Clint has worked his way to the apex of cancer research.

Clint got his BS in Microbiology at Montana State University.
He spent two years at the University of Louisville Medical School where he co-authored two publications on protein biology.

I attended my son's defense of his Doctorate Dissertation at Vanderbilt University on Tuesday September 8 in Nashville. His defense was spectacular. He now has his PhD in Cancer Cell Biology from the Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He spent 7 years in research at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center. His dissertation is on Bid proteins and how they affect cell mortality.

 

[JW IN VA]

:clap: :clap:

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

You have much to be proud of Ron.

 

[Nesikep]

Kudos to him.. it must be quite a thesis!

 

[jasonleonard]

That is AWESOME Ron! You have reason to be very proud him!

 

[inyati13]

Kudos to him.. it must be quite a thesis!

Thanks. Dissertation is 180 pages. His committee commented that some redundancies could be eliminated to reduce the length. BTW: Doctorate is a Dissertation. Master of Science is a thesis. Just in case you really want to know.

Interesting, Clint's fiance'e also has her PhD in Cellular Biology from Vanderbilt. Two pretty big guns to spend the evening with.

 

[HDRider]

I am happy for your son,, and his father..

 

[Nesikep]

Sorry about my lack of knowledge on the terminology.. shows you I haven't done either!

My friend was working on his thesis in Fisheries analysis for years, he never did finish it

 

[inyati13]

Sorry about my lack of knowledge on the terminology.. shows you I haven't done either!

My friend was working on his thesis in Fisheries analysis for years, he never did finish it

I understand well why many people never finish. Higher education is plagued with eccentric personalities. Clint has gone through a very stressful trial and many tribulations. I could not have persevered as he has. I do not have the temperament. In the beginning he had a member of his committee whose contributions were zero and hindrances were many. He had to be removed from the committee to make progress. For the past two years, Clint has had to deal with a colleague of the PI (Principle Investigator) who now claims a component of the research. The PI and her colleague had a disagreement and his means to seek retribution against her has complicated Clint's progress. It is not generally appreciated that there is basically no supervision or oversight of people at the highest positions in academia. I have to say, Clint's chairman was a strong advocate for him but his authority is missing. That is the nature of these institutions.

 

[Nesikep]

That was part of my friend Peter's reason for not finishing.. his professor was a VERY acclaimed professor (Parzival Copes), but he was getting really old and losing his mind.. Peter had kinda become his personal assistant, recovering deleted files on his computer, working for minimum wage, if for any wage at all.. Then he worked with some of the fishermen on the boats and got serious carpal tunnel sorting prawns... After about 7 years he had $150,000 of student loans and nothing to show for it

 

[boondocks]

wow, congrats! It's always heartening to see "kids" going into the sciences. For awhile there, all the smart kids went to Wall St. I'd much rather see them doing cancer research, personally! Sounds like he is not intimidated by a smart woman, either!

 

[branguscowgirl]

:clap: :clap: Well done by both of you! Your son for his accomplishments, and you for raising him well Ron! :nod:

 

[lavacarancher]

I know you are very proud of him but lets don't forget Ron who supported him and encouraged him through those growing years. Good job, Ron.

 

[Drzr]

Congratulations!

 

[Rafter S]

Congratulations from me also.

 

[slick4591]

 

[inyati13]

I appreciate the comments and compliments very much. Thanks to all.

 

[Williamsv]

Congratulations to you both. These are the kind of stories I like to read.

 

[wbvs58]

Very nice Ron, sounds like he has overtaken the old man now.
Ken

 

[Workinonit Farm]

:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

Congrats to Clint! You have much to be proud of Ron.