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| Harris Bolus presents a poster at the meeting. |
Bolus’ research investigated Jordan Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder affecting RNA proteins called phosphatases. People with this syndrome experience symptoms such as epilepsy, developmental delays, and are often on the autism spectrum. Currently, little is known about phosphatases and their function.
Bolus worked with Richard E. Honkanen, Ph.D., professor and chair of biochemistry and molecular biology, to learn about bioinformatics. Bioinformatics focuses on biological data analysis and statistics. Honkanen’s work incorporates biostats and computer science.
They used CRISPR-based technology to make models of the syndrome and create datasets to understand the models. The technology allows them to modify specific DNA sequences, ensuring greater accuracy in the datasets.
“It was such an honor to present at this meeting because it was an opportunity to meet physicians and medical students from all over the country,” Bolus said. “I was able to catch up with a few friends who happened to be there, make new ones, and talk to faculty from multiple residency programs. I also got valuable feedback on my presentation, thoughts on my project, advocacy opportunities and career advice.”
The meeting included interactive educational sessions that proved enjoyable for Bolus. “It also added a layer of excitement to my decision to go into internal medicine,” he said. “Conferences like this are just another aspect of internal medicine that I'm looking forward to in my career.”
The American College of Physicians is a prestigious organization that recognizes specialists from the internal medicine field and strives to improve patient care. In the future, Bolus plans to apply for internal medicine residencies and is considering a specialty in hematology/oncology.
“My undergraduate lab left me with a love for genetics and cell biology, as well as a taste of how important biostatistics could be in those fields,” said Bolus. “Programming was one of the hobbies I picked up in my gap years, and coming into medical school I was excited to find ways to apply it to open problems in medical research.”
Bolus was able to attend thanks to funding from the Whiddon College of Medicine and the Office of Student Affairs. He encourages fellow medical students to take these opportunities to attend national meetings. “If it’s intimidating to go to a national meeting where you don’t know anyone, keep in mind that medical associations often have local chapters with their own smaller meetings,” he said. “If you go to these, you are highly likely to see familiar faces at the national counterpart.”
