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Have you ever seen what the molecules in our bodies looks like up really close? Now is your chance! That’s what set me on a path which landed me here in Memphis, Tennessee. I originally come from the middle of Ireland. Like Bilbo Baggins in Lord of the Rings, I wanted to go on an adventure and see the world! I set off for USA 🇺🇸…

During my chemistry graduate studies in Tampa, Florida, I learned all about the little machines that keep our bodies ticking – proteins. I wanted to know everything about them! Especially because when they don’t work properly, we can get very sick from it. That’s why I became a structural biologist. In short, I take photographs of tiny proteins – millions of them! Using a special camera attached to a big microscope called an electron microscope 🔬. I use these photos to determine why certain proteins can lead to cancer when they are not formed correctly.

But I don’t just photograph proteins all day. I also love sports! I am learning all about American sports like American football, baseball and hockey. I am also a guitarist 🎸. My style of playing is the louder the better!

Proteins are the little machines in our bodies that keep things going. Imagine a tiny world of builders, farmers, carpenters, teachers, and soldiers. That’s the proteins in your body! But often they don’t work properly. Imagine a builder without their hammer! This can make your body very sick.

But thankfully, we have the tools to figure out why proteins sometimes don’t work properly! The tool I use is called a cryo-electron microscope. I use this microscope to take millions of photos of the protein from all angles and sides, just like a paparazzi taking photos of a celebrity. But imagine if we had to freeze the person we were photographing 🥶 ! That’s what we do to the protein – we put it in a “cryo” state (meaning it gets REAL cold, REAL quick). This stops them moving around too much so we can get a clear photo. When I have these photos, I can piece them together and figure out how the protein works 🕵️‍♂️ !

Here at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, the main problem I am looking into is why these proteins sometimes cause cancer when they stop working. We work tirelessly to ensure that every child lives a full and happy life, and that all their proteins are in top condition 💪 ! It is amazing to work every day to this goal and I would love to tell you much more about it!

On a typical day I wake up at 7am, but I am not a morning person 🥱 , so I need a shower to wake myself up. I play with my Boston terrier, Abe, for a bit as my girlfriend and I get ready for work. I drive to St. Jude with a bagel and cup of coffee with me, and a podcast playing. Upon arriving in lab, I plan my day out. What experiments do I need to start? What ones from the previous day do I need to finish? What do I want to have for lunch?

Often my experiments involve purifying proteins – this means growing it up in bacteria 🧫 , and then separating it out from all the other gunk. We do this so that when we take a photo of it 📸 , we don’t get a bunch of other stuff in the photos. After lunch, I take my pure protein, put it on a tiny stage, called a grid, and very quickly freeze it using liquid ethane. Now I am ready for photographing using the electron microscope! But that is for another day. At this stage, it is 5:30pm and I am tired! After a chat with my boss about my experiments, I head home.

At home, I usually grab some food and get ready for what I am doing that evening – gym, cooking, hanging out friends, or just vegging on the couch watching a movie 🎥 ! I am usually in bed before 11pm after some more play time with the dog.

The SEA PHAGES project is an international program aimed to increase young researcher interest in biology. Students are tasked with finding and naming their own bacteriophage and performing experiments on them. This program was recently introduced at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria 🇳🇬; however, resources are limited. I would love to see this prize money going directly to the bacteriophage research team at the University of Ibadan to facilitate their work. This may involve helping to pay for a conference visit, or perhaps helping to fund publication.