Christopher Murphy, G5
Chris came to Harvard from Pennsylvania, home to both him, and Pennsylvania State University, where he did his undergraduate work.
In his junior year, Chris started a research project with Dr. Biao He, who studies paramyxovirus pathogenesis and virus-host interactions. The research project allowed him, finally, to use all the concepts and background knowledge he’d been picking up in the classroom. He loved having the freedom to plan his own experiments and carry them out on his own schedule.
Chris chose MCB for several reasons. He says he was very impressed by the faculty during his interviews, and he loved the campus. At the same time, he was trying to decide whether to continue studying viral pathogenesis or to start in a new field. The MCB faculty studies a wide range of topics, which Chris found to be a great asset for someone looking to try something new. Furthermore, the Harvard Integrated Life Sciences program had just been formed, meaning that, should he continue working on viruses, he would have access to the many pathogenesis labs available at Harvard Medical School.
Ultimately, Chris settled on Professor Matt Michael’s lab in MCB. The Michael lab uses Xenopus egg extracts and C. elegans to study the signaling pathways that regulate the cell cycle in response to DNA damage and DNA Replication Stress. Some of these proteins, however, seem to play a role in the regulation of cell-cycle length during normal development, even in the absence of DNA damage. Chris’s project is the investigation of how these proteins are activated in the absence of DNA damage. In 2007, Chris won the Peralta Prize for his presentation of this project during his candidacy exam.
Chris says he’s really enjoyed being a graduate student at MCB. He’s made a lot of great friends here, and has great memories of hanging out with them. Chris isn’t sure what he’s going to do after he finishes his degree. He’s attracted to academic research, but he also has an interest in business and in applied science, so he may work for a biotech or pharmaceutical company. He feels confident and prepared for either career path, and he will rely on his committee and thesis adviser for advice as he makes his decision.
