Doubt is the Only Obstacle

Pushing the limits of research and determination

“Do good. Make a difference. Change the world.”

These words are a personal motto of Peter Werth, namesake of the Werth College of Science, Technology and Mathematics, and they hang outside the office door of Dr. James Balthazor on the third floor of Tomanek Hall. It is a daily reminder that sums up Balthazor’s approach to teaching, service and research. You can see these words in action every day in his lab at Fort Hays State University.

Balthazor, affectionately known as Dr. B by many of his students, leads research to take on arguably some of the most significant challenges facing the world today. His lab is one of three in the world that study the structural properties of the human protein Armet, and his lab is at the forefront of research that utilizes ribonucleic acid (RNA) interference techniques in the unfolded protein response of various species.

Complicated, yes, but at a high level the research identifies the building blocks for future GMO crops, cytotoxicity testing of products on insects and cancer cells, and pinpoints possible solutions for targeting crop pests from feral hogs to insects. Balthazor’s innovative research has the potential for billion-dollar impacts on production agriculture and the shaping of cancer research in pursuit of a cure. It is also transforming students’ lives by inspiring a love of science and inquiry.

An FHSU alumnus (class of 2011), Balthazor credits his research experience as a college student for transforming his own life.

“While I was a student at FHSU,” Balthazor reminisced, “I intended to pursue a medical degree. Trying to bolster my medical school application, I worked as a research assistant in the chemistry department, and it changed the direction and tone of my life. I fell in love with research.”

On any given day in a semester, the chatter of Kansas Academy of Mathematics and Science students reverberates down the hall from the doorway of Balthazor’s lab, mixing with the hum of freezers, incubators, fans and other electronics.

This spring semester, you might have heard a peal of laughter as KAMS student Shelby Oshel, Wichita, erupted with glee and a happy dance before posing for a selfie with her culture of the HeLa cells she found still alive in April.

“I never imagined growing up that I would get to work with and passage cancer cells. This opportunity has affected us personally as well. My mom was diagnosed in December, and Michelle Storey’s (her classmate) dad was diagnosed this year. Knowing that I might be doing something that could contribute to finding a cure is exciting. We wouldn’t have this opportunity anywhere else,” Shelby said.

Oshel and her classmates are students in Chem 830, a class Balthazor created to provide KAMS students with the unique opportunity of learning the foundations of cancer cell research.

Students in this research course culture and passage HeLa cells. This means they learned how to keep the HeLa cell cultures alive and healthy. The ultimate goal of the research is to test various RNA gene silencing products. The gene silencing products could potentially kill the cells, thus identifying possible treatments for cancer. The research findings of Shelby and her classmates will be published and provide information that will be a component in a future patent application.

The excitement of Shelby and her classmates was obvious as they viewed HeLa cell cultures through the microscope and peppered Dr. B with questions. The KAMS students – only 16 years old – each took turns under the hooded lab station, learning the foundational skills necessary to engage in research that most students won’t experience until graduate school.

Balthazor looked on proudly as the KAMS students worked through the protocol steps.

“KAMS students are engaged and passionate to learn,” he said. “They have the tenacity to do more and to work harder. These students hunger for it.”

At the other end of the lab quietly working was Jacob Lutgen, a senior from Basehor. A KAMS alum, Jacob will graduate in December 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in biology and a minor in chemistry. He then plans to attend medical school. Lutgen is working to find a way to kill the agricultural pest, the pea aphid, without using insecticides by targeting a specific protein in the aphid. His research is titled, “RNA Interference of X-Box Binding Protein in Acyrthosiphon pisum (pea aphid).” If successful, those using his research will have a building block to a new GMO crop that can be raised and harvested without the use of pesticides.

With a big smile, Lutgen described his experience learning from, and working alongside, Balthazor.

“Dr. B is great at presenting information. It can be really complicated, and he steps back and brings it down to where we can understand and grasp it.”

Lutgen has seen his share of success and achievement as a KAMS student and an undergraduate researcher. This year, he earned honorable mention at the Kansas Idea Network of Biomedical Research Excellence symposium, and was selected as the 2019 Outstanding Undergraduate Scholar in the Werth College.

One of his greatest feelings of accomplishment has come through the perseverance he has learned in the lab.

“Failure is the biggest challenge. It gets frustrating after you do the same thing over and over again, but he (Balthazor) doesn’t let you quit, and he doesn’t give you the answer. He pushes us in the right direction and then lets us use our resources to work through the solution.”

This ability to think creatively and persist against the odds will serve Lutgen well, no matter what area of medical practice he decides to pursue.

Balthazor, with a knowing look, confirmed that the push he delivers to students is intentional, strategic and essential in helping students succeed in the lab and in life. His approach builds persistence.

“They are going to learn that failure is always an option, but 95 percent of research results in failure. Learning from failure is going to make them stronger and more resilient,” Balthazor said.

Jared Ridder, a graduate student in Balthazor’s lab, attested to the tenacity learned from research and how this lesson has shaped his own compassionate teaching ability. Ridder could be found most days this spring term pouring over years of research in Balthazor’s office as he prepared his graduate thesis alongside his mentor. The two worked close enough to share notes, collaboratively edit, and when needed, Bathazor could deliver an occasional nudge, “Jared, you’ve got this, just keep writing!”

“He cares tremendously, and that’s why he lets us struggle. He wants us to learn how to succeed on our own. It’s the best thing he could do for me; to let me work it out and then to be there when I absolutely need it,” Ridder said.

Ridder graduated this spring with a master’s in biology and will move on to Kansas State University to pursue a doctorate in biochemistry. When asked about the most memorable aspects of his experience at FHSU, he pointed to working (sometimes all night) in the lab and the independence and opportunity he enjoyed to focus on his passion, meaningful research and pushing the limits of what is currently known about the RNA folding process that he works on.

One other opportunity Ridder described, and one that has shaped his perspective on life, is the experience of being a teaching assistant and mentoring other students at FHSU like Lutgen.

“The most rewarding thing is seeing that ‘ah-ha’ moment in the students I work with,” Ridder said. “I ask questions and let them think for a minute. I want to get them thinking differently, and then their eyes light up, and that’s pretty cool. I know that feeling, and it’s great.”

“Do good. Make a difference. Change the world.” It is easy to see how Dr. B is living this motto every day. Opening doors to scientific exploration and helping students learn life skills like grit and determination that are vital in the classroom and in life.