This month, we speak to undergraduate student Steven Ding. As Co-President of the LMP Undergraduate Student Union (LMPSU), he is involved in organising the next LMPSU annual conference - Byte-Sized Biology: How AI Is Decoding Human Health Bit-by-Bit.
What are you studying at LMP and why are you interested in studying it?
For my third-year option course, I studied ANA300: Human Anatomy and Histology, which was followed up with ANA400: Anatomy Dissection this semester. I have always held the belief that to understand the pathophysiological state, one must first understand the physiological one; to understand the physiological state, one must first understand the anatomy. Thus, the anatomy stream of courses appealed to me immediately.
In terms of LMP course options, I will study the courses on cancer, forensic pathobiology, and cardiovascular pathobiology. Although all three will be in the upcoming winter semester. I have chosen to study forensics for the possibility of applying anatomical knowledge, and I have chosen to study cardiovascular pathobiology for its relevance to my research.
Tell us about your research
I am currently studying the role of vascular smooth muscle cells in atherosclerosis progression in the lab of Dr. Michelle Bendeck.
My research focuses on a cell surface receptor tyrosine kinase called Discoidin-Domain Receptor 1 (DDR1). In the past, our lab has found that both global knockout and knockout specific to bone marrow-derived cells led to changes in atherosclerosis progression, ranging from plaque size, composition, to overall burden. To advance this line of understanding, we have generated a novel transgenic mice system with DDR1 knockout in only the smooth muscle cells, which are known to be major contributors to atherosclerosis, in order to study the precise role that DDR1 plays in vascular smooth muscle cells, as well as whether and to what extent that contributes to the global knockout effects that we have previously reported.
What is the most interesting thing you’ve done, seen or got involved with while at LMP?
As we were both elected to be second-year representatives two years ago, we have both witnessed and contributed to the organization of three LMPSU annual conferences.
These conferences take almost an entire year of coordination and planning, and have attracted hundreds of attendees ranging from undergraduate students to graduate students to members of the general public. It is by far the most exciting thing that I have witnessed and participated in in relation to LMP.
A close second would for sure be the variety of courses that we have access to, especially since many upper-year LMP courses focus on the research that is being conducted by the professor giving each lecture, which progresses every year. This gives us LMP students a detailed understanding of biomedical research at its finest, where everyday there may be new findings and breakthroughs.
What was the best career advice you ever received?
The best career advice I have received comes from my own interpretation of a famous quote from the 4th - 5th century BCE text 'The Analects', where it is said that Confucius once said to his students that “to study the texts without contemplation is otiose, to contemplate without studying any text is perilous.”
I take this to be analogous to a career in research: if upon encountering some problem one merely attempts to try it over and over again, say some experiments failing, then one is simply wasting time; if one merely contemplates about all the factors and does not give the technique more trials, then one will easily go astray, getting nowhere close to solving the issue. It must be a combination of both thought and practice that gets someone through any obstacle in their life, career or otherwise.
What has been an important learning experience in your life?
I participated in the cadet program in Canada for almost 7 years, where we were afforded the opportunity to engage in full-time, barrack style training in the summer. This experience shaped much of my outlook on personal discipline and interpersonal relations in a team setting.
Who is an influential person in your life and why?
From a general perspective, my parents have been the people by my side for the longest by far, thus they are of course the most influential. From an intellectual perspective, the Prussian philosopher Immanuel Kant has had the most profound influence on my understanding of myself and the structures underlying my experience.
What would it surprise people to know about you?
I am a big fan of operas, musicals, and theatre in general. My favourite musical at the moment is Hadestown, which I saw on Broadway a few years back, and met some of the original cast! I am also a proficient performer of a type of traditional Chinese theatre, being a student of a very prominent performer in China.
What activities do you enjoy doing outside of your studies?
Outside of work, I enjoy playing a variety of sports (table tennis, boxing, volleyball, etc.) and reading texts of philosophy or philosophical fiction.
What is your favourite album, film, and novel?
Album: Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda or Love Me Later by Wang YiTai
Film: Phantom of the Opera (dir. Joel Schumacher)
Novel: Gateway by Frederik Pohl, Desperation by Stephen King, or Nausea by Jean-Paul Sartre
Who would be your dream dinner guests?
My number one choice would no doubt be Immanuel Kant, not that I would be able to communicate with him, but it would be awesome to just meet him over dinner. Of course, preferably a younger Kant prior to his unfortunate cognitive decline later on in life.
Where/what is your favourite place?
Depending on the occasion, it will either by any place in nature where I can experience the sublime, namely some scene so grandiose that one’s mind can’t help but let go of the trivial things in one’s human life, or some place that is comfortable and intimate, such that I can read in silence and in safety.
If you were stuck on a deserted island but had all your basic needs taken care of (i.e. food and water), what two items would you bring with you and why?
I would want some device that has voice/video chat capabilities such that I can contact my loved ones regularly but without any internet connections, as well as my own bookshelf from home, on which I have many titles that I have yet to read, regrettably.
