BLaST Celebrates Scientist of the Month for May

Tristan O’Donoghue is a UAF senior, graduating in May 2021 with a B.S. in biological sciences. O’Donoghue, a third year BLaST Undergraduate Research Experience awardee since 2019, grew up in Fairbanks, Alaska. He is a scholar member of the UAF Honors College, a student ASUAF senator, and holds an officer title in the Alaska Alpine Club. After graduation, he plans to visit nature parks famous for rock climbing, as he loves outdoor activities such as hiking and camping before entering graduate school.

O’Donoghue has worked in a student research position in Andrej Podlutsky, Ph.D. 's cell and molecular lab and worked on several research projects. Podlutsky is a former BLaST faculty pilot project awardee and associate professor at the Institute of Arctic Biology’s Department of Biology and Wildlife.  O’Donoghue’s work focuses on cancer cell lines and their affinity to undergo DNA repair after being exposed to ultraviolet (UV) and X-ray radiation. O’Donoghue credits his interest in this subject to learning about his own family’s long history of genetic disposition towards cancer and wanting to understand more.

“Dr. Podlutsky has helped me have a greater understanding of this biological phenomenon to a much deeper level and inspired me to consider a lifetime career in the field of medicine, more specifically in oncology,“ O’Donoghue said, continuing, “These projects helped me expand my network of collegiate peers both at UAF and throughout the country by being able to present at conferences such as the Western Regional Honors conference in 2019. Experiences like these are not normally found in classrooms so I consider myself lucky. It has led to an enhanced level of education and personal growth.”

His latest research project is titled, “Gene-specific DNA repair in Hela and HDFa cell lines using the V-comet protocol.” The skills he learned in the Podlutsky lab include cell culturing and comet assay techniques. He spent three semesters of his URE on another research project titled, “DNA repair dynamics in colon adenocarcinoma cell lines.” He was able to present his research results at two UAF events: URSA Research Day and the Midnight Sun Science Symposium, both in 2019, and the Western Regional conference at Montana State University (see main photo). 

O’Donoghue has been mentored by Podlutsky since 2018. O’Donoghue credits Podlutsky with teaching him how to be a mentor in his own right.

“I learned how to mentor others through the strong mentorship of Dr. Podlutsky. I have been able to train others in standard lab methods important to continuing research. It became far more apparent to me the difficulties of the mentorship role as I learned to be a (peer) mentor, and I have great respect for those who dedicate their time to educating students as the students develop their skills in their chosen careers,” he said. O’Donoghue also has been mentored by graduate student Robert Williams, who is also a former BLaST URE.