Experience and Discovery
When he’s not playing hockey or tutoring through the Service-Learning Center, Bill Wondergem focuses on kidney cancer research.
Wondergem, a biology major and biochemistry minor, interns at the Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) in the lab of Bin Teh, a distinguished scientific investigator and a specialist in kidney cancer.
Their goal is to search for the genes that cause kidney cancer as well as develop [less toxic] cancer treatments.
The work is exciting, he said. “You’re hunting for these genes, and you could find the gene that could be the target for the next big drug. The stakes are very high, and that makes the work very rewarding.”
Wondergem says his stint at the VARI has stretched his capabilities. “I love working in the lab because Bin gives me so much freedom as a student. He gives me the opportunity to think for myself and determine which experiments need to be done. I think you learn a lot more that way than when you’re just following instructions.”
The VARI internship is a great opportunity for the many Calvin students who have pursued it, said Calvin biology professor John Ubels. “It gives students experience at a major research institute, which is very good preparation for grad school,” he said. “It’s also been very useful for some of our students who have become full-time research assistants there after graduation.”
Wondergem has set his sights on a medical career that includes a fair amount of the kind of research he learned at the institute. “I’d like to go into something that bridges the gap between the lab and the clinic,” he said. “Bringing discoveries made in the lab to clinically useful applications in the hospital is very important.”