Ali Ranjbaran
B.S. in Immunology and Medical Microbiology, West Virginia University School of Medicine
Currently a third-year student in the MGG PhD program (fifth-year student in the MD/PhD program)
Early on during my undergraduate studies, I got involved with academic research. I was part of a lab where we studied plant evolutionary biology of orchids which had lost their ability to photosynthesize. I was fascinated by the idea that we can use genetic information to trace back the evolutionary processes that eventually would lead to this unique phenotype. More importantly, I was drawn to the power of -omics high-throughput technologies and the roles that scientists who utilize these technologies alongside their computational skillsets play to answer trivial biomedical questions. I followed this interest and continued my research endeavors alongside my passion for becoming a physician. While preparing for medical school, I joined the Vaccine Development Center at West Virginia University where I assembled multiple microbial genomes of opportunistic pathogens isolated from the local hospital. After graduating, I worked full-time as a bioinformatician at the Applied Bioinformatics Laboratories at New York University, studied 3D chromatin structure in melanoma and multiple myeloma. This experience, along with my previous research and interest in medicine, helped me decide that I would like to pursue a physician-scientist career where I would be able to utilize my research skills and medical training to perform impactful research. The CMMG program provides a great PhD training opportunity for me to pursue my interest in genomics and bioinformatics, in preparation for my future career as a physician-scientist.