FINDING THEIR PLACE
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BIN ZHANG, PH.D. Background: Zhang came to URMC in 2015 after finishing his Ph.D. in molecular genetics and genomics, a genomics fellowship at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and a clinical cytogenetics fellowship at Washington University in St. Louis. He became Director of the Cytogenetics Laboratory in 2017, marking the beginning of a new chapter in his career. Up until then, Zhang had focused more on translational research. Current research: Zhang splits his time between his research lab at Strong Memorial and overseeing the Cytogenetics Lab at Bailey Road. His research primarily focuses on the formation, plasticity, and epigenetic inheritance of centromere. He will also be collaborating with Archibald Perkins, M.D., Ph.D., on a new grant from the Department of Defense to study evolution of Monosomy 7 Myelodysplastic Syndrome. How has your clinical work changed the way you approach research? Now, as a cytogeneticist, I frequently solve clinical cases by integrating both medical evidence and biological mechanisms together. As a scientist with a clinical position, I am consistently exposed to the imminent challenges of the field as I investigate various unique cases. Compared to before I became a clinical cytogeneticist, this increased exposure definitely helps me form more basic research questions/hypotheses oriented towards potential medical applications. Research also keeps the clinical work more dynamic, as a solid understanding of underlying mechanisms helps
interpret clinical data in a systematic way and classify related clinical phenomena. For me, clinical work and basic science research are mutually beneficial. I often enjoy coming in on weekends to take care of bench work. It’s been six years since you took over a clinical lab. Was there ever an “aha” moment for you? I probably spent my first three years here searching for a relevant and interesting research topic. I had many discussions on ideas with colleagues and pursued some pilot experiments. Three years ago, I finally found a project/ scientific question I realized I wanted to pursue for the rest of my research career. I had never had that feeling before and it was a great moment for me and my research aspirations, even though it was just the beginning. Tell us more about your research area. The subject is centromere biology and its potential medical applications. I’m a cytogeneticist and we read chromosomes every day. The centromere is an important machinery for chromosome segregation, so it’s very relevant to our daily clinical work as well as human diseases like cancer and certain constitutional disorders. My background matches this field well. I have the skills to ask questions and I am very fortunate to have support from the department. What keeps you going? It’s not easy having a clinical responsibility while pursuing basic science research. However, I keep going because it is immensely fulfilling when I can solve genetic puzzles, link them to important biological questions or hypotheses, and even test them. I have passion for science because we can exercise what we know to make new discoveries. And eventually, these new discoveries will come back to help patient management. This, I consider very rewarding.
RESEARCH NEWS I don’t know whether it’s from resetting the clocks, the prediction of spring weather ahead, the lifting of COVID restrictions here at the Medical Center and in the community or perhaps the joy of hard work recently accomplished (see cover story) but whatever the reason, I have spent the last week of winter feeling a renewed sense of optimism. Maybe changing the hour when my dog wakes us up from 5:30 to 6:30 a.m. was the psychological boost I needed? Maybe I’m feeling uplifted from getting to see colleagues and friends in person again. I vividly recall how I felt two years ago
Helene McMurray, Ph.D.
on these days between March 13 and 15 when COVID restrictions were first being implemented: fearful of the unknown, anxiously wondering what would happen and how long the danger would last. I remember a few weeks before the lockdowns hearing a talk from colleagues in Clinical Microbiology about SARS-CoV-2 and the dire situation that had developed overseas. The discussion among us afterwards was hushed and dubious— would we implement restrictions here? How would that even work? How would we keep people safe from this invisible threat? None of us could foresee the extent that our lives would Continued on page 5 4
