Tyler Rice

When Tyler Rice stood on the Branscomb Auditorium stage at Florida Southern College giving his salutatorian address to the Class of 2009, it was clear that he had a bright academic future ahead of him. He went on to graduate from Auburn University in 2013 with a B.S. in molecular biology, completed a fellowship at the National Institute of Health (NIH), and now he’s a doctoral student at Yale University, one of the most prestigious Ivy League schools in the United States.

我们采访了泰勒，了解了他在耶鲁大学从事的惊人的研究机会，以及他在ladbrokes立博亚洲的岁月对他一生的影响.

On His Time at LCS

Engage Magazine: What are some of the activities you were involved with during your time at LCS?

Tyler Rice: I played on the tennis team for five years, participated in band, student council, A-team, and in the first few inaugural LCS football seasons, Mr. Livesay kept stats for every game with Ian Thomas, Mickelyn Graves and me as the spotter and stats crew.

EM: Which teachers had the greatest impact on you and why?

TR: Mr. Steve Livesay challenged me to reach for excellence in all my endeavors, not only to honor God but also to love my neighbor by doing work skillfully and diligently. As Dorothy Sayers wrote elegantly in a 1942 essay titled Why Work?, “It is the duty of the Church to see to it that the work serves God, and that the worker serves the work.” It was clear to me as a student in his classes that Mr. Livesay had indeed served his work faithfully, as his long and varied career exemplifies both excellence and service. He was also one of the first people who directed my attention to Auburn University, his alma mater.

EM: What were your career aspirations when you were a student at LCS?

TR: I recall that I wanted to be a biomedical engineer at the time, a career that typically applies engineering principles to solve problems in medicine and the life sciences.

EM: You’ve been featured in the LCS “Prepared for Life” campaign recently. Tell me how you feel that LCS prepared you, not only academically, but for life.

TR: My LCS family shaped so much of who I am today, especially my conviction that people, their hearts, are among the highest priorities I should attend to, as taught by Scripture. If I don’t love my community or my colleagues well, 我可以进行一些突破性的工作，但最终会因为我“错过了目标”而完全失败.“宇宙的上帝和他按照自己的形象创造的人应该永远比无生命的物体或成就更有价值.

EM: If you could pick one thing about your LCS experience that you are most thankful for, what would you say?

TR: Jeans days. No, just kidding! 与其他典型学校相比，LCS的一个独特经历是Work-a-Thon，我将永远铭记在心. 一整天的服务和与湖区居民的联系是一个成为耶稣的“手和脚”的好机会. Although there were SO MANY bags of leaves, Work-a-Thon总是充满了笑声，因为我们在行动中参与了上帝的国度.

On His Undergraduate Study and Fellowship Program

EM: You attended Auburn University. What was the focus of your academics there?

TR: My academic work at Auburn was basically acquiring lots of different “tools” to put in my scientific “toolbox.” I certainly didn’t master these experimental tools and techniques yet, but I was exposed to a wide variety of systems that biologists use to probe the intricacies of the natural world, from agricultural crops to nanomaterials to bizarre deep-sea invertebrates. Anyone and everyone can learn these core scientific tools and how to ask insightful questions about our world, at which point one is free to roam into whatever fields his interests may take him. At Auburn I learned how to learn, and then I began to narrow into a particular field from there.

EM: Did you know early on in your undergrad what you wanted to do, or did you change your mind as you progressed through school?

TR: I changed my mind substantially over the course of my college years. From the start I had a hunch that I wanted to be involved in science somehow, 但直到大四的时候，我选修了一门免疫学课程，我才真正发现了内心强烈好奇心的火花. The immune system is amazingly complex, 但仍有许多核心问题没有得到解答(为什么过敏和自身免疫性疾病如此普遍? Why are only some vaccines protective? How far will immunotherapy take us in treating cancer?).

EM: How well do you feel that LCS prepared you for college?

TR: LCS academics were excellent in preparing me for college, especially in the arena of writing and communicating. No matter your major, all college students are expected to clearly convey their ideas about a variety of topics, and classes at LCS were very rigorous in expecting that I communicate clearly and effectively.

EM: You had a fellowship at the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. What did you do there? What was the focus of your research?

TR: 在NIH我通过研究人类呼吸道合胞病毒(RSV)的小鼠模型学到了很多关于抗病毒免疫反应的知识, which is a particularly deadly pathogen for infants. We learned that certain probiotic bacteria, similar to those in your yogurt, 能帮助启动先天免疫系统，使呼吸道病毒感染的炎症减轻吗. In the course of this project, though, it’s important to acknowledge that I made lots and lots of mistakes in the lab. 进行研究需要坚持不懈和奉献精神，而我优秀、善良的导师，Dr. Helene Rosenberg, supported me and shaped me through those hard lessons into becoming a better, more resilient scientist.

On His Research at Yale University

EM: When you decided to pursue a Ph.D. program, what was the process and how did you decide on Yale?

TR: Applying to graduate school in the life sciences is similar to applying for college, 但是一些考虑你作为候选人的项目通常会让你飞到他们的校园参加招聘周末. 我参观了全国各地的几所学校，最终选择加入耶鲁免疫生物学，因为它的研究社区关系紧密. Spanning roughly 20 lab groups, 这个部门的人都很真诚和善良，他们经常在实验中互相帮助, ideas, techniques, as well as everyday stuff outside the lab. 当我还在上高中的时候，我不知道大多数科学项目会付钱给他们的研究生去上学——这本质上是一份工作.

EM: What do your days look like at Yale?

TR到目前为止，我已经完成了所有的作业，所以平均每天几乎没有学习. Rather, I push several research projects forward, and my time is split between culturing bacteria, setting up mouse experiments, analyzing cells, sequencing genomes and then discussing results (and inevitable failures) with my lab mates. 最近，我们也开始与临床研究人员合作，让我们能够接触到不同的患者群体和他们的样本. Of course, I do less exciting stuff too, like reading the current research literature in my field, and making lots and lots of PowerPoint slides.

EM: What is the focus of your research, and what do you hope to accomplish during your time there?

TR我的研究重点是粘膜免疫学:肠组织中许多免疫细胞与大约100个免疫细胞之间的界面,000,000,000,000 (one hundred trillion) bacteria living inside the human gut—the commensal microbiota. 有些人会患上炎症性肠病(IBD)，如克罗恩病或溃疡性结肠炎，这是由于肠道中过度的免疫激活造成的, despite carrying the same types of commensal bacteria as healthy individuals. 我们正试图阐明这种宿主-微生物关系的分子原理，以便医生能够进行干预，以恢复IBD患者的健康. Development of preventive vaccines is also a goal as well, 尽管我们需要对潜在的生物学有更清晰的了解来为我们的疫苗设计提供信息.

EM: Your research has been published. Tell us about that.

TR: I was an author on a few studies published by Dr. Rosenberg报道了我们对乳酸菌和小鼠病原体肺炎病毒(人类呼吸道合胞病毒的同源物)的研究. 我们发现称为单核细胞和巨噬细胞的免疫细胞通过几个关键受体发出信号来促进保护性抗炎反应. More recently I’m compiling the data for a manuscript with my current advisor, Dr. Noah Palm, 在这篇文章中，我们已经评估了免疫系统是如何通过抗体的作用来“监视”特定的共生细菌的, immunoglobulin A (IgA). 这种细菌在许多健康人体内平静地生活，但在某些不利条件下也会导致IBD.

EM: What do you want to do after you’re done with education?

TR完成博士学位后，我可能会在另一个实验室获得博士后职位，以进一步丰富我的研究训练，并在我的研究中变得更加独立. 最终，我希望有一天能在大学、医院或研究机构领导自己的实验室团队. 追逐一个特定的研究问题似乎很有吸引力，而且有机会指导我实验室的年轻科学家. 我有很多导师，他们对我作为一个人和科学家的成长贡献良多, and I’d like to pay that forward with my own trainees.

Final Thoughts

EM: 湖区基督教学校的使命是在上帝的话语的光教育学生，以装备他们一生的学习, leadership, service and worship. 我们的目标是让学生不仅在LCS的几年里做好准备，而且要为他们的一生做好准备. How has that mission played out—and continue to do so—in your life?

TR我在LCS的经历教会了我，我不仅要努力在我的一生中继续学习, 而且每天都要重新考虑我在基督里的身份如何为我的工作和人际关系提供了与其他世界观不同的视角. He calls me to love Him firstly and glorify Him in the truths that I uncover, then love my neighbors, listen to them, cherish them and point them to the hope of the gospel in any way that I can. I’m regularly filled with gratitude and awe that this is what He’s called me to do, so all I can do in response is walk with Him in obedience and faith.

Tyler’s Research Citations:

Dyer, K.D., et al. (2015). Journal of Virology 90, JVI.02279-02215. Percopo, C.M., et al. (2015). Antiviral Research 121, 109-119. Rice, T.A., et al. (2016). Antiviral Research 132, 131-140.