FELLOW PROFILE

Kirk Williams
Ph.D. Candidate
Tulane University,
Biomedical Sciences

 

What is your current academic (or professional) affiliation (where do you work – go to school, etc.), and what is your current research area?

I am a Ph.D. candidate at Tulane University, where I am a part of the Biomedical Sciences program and the Center for Bioenvironmental Research at Tulane-Xavier. I am in a unique situation, where I am performing all of my research at Xavier University (one of the Historical Black Colleges/Universities), while receiving my degree from Tulane University.  This situation allows me to work with two of the most renowned researchers in two very different fields: Drs. Thomas Wiese and John McLachlan.  Dr. Wiese is known for his work in Computational Chemistry with Diethylstilbestrol and Estradiol, and using techniques of conformation searching, molecular modeling, and 3D visualization. However, John knows more of the Estrogen Receptor research and is very well known in the field of Endocrinology. I am able to bridge those two areas very well, by looking at how compounds found in the environment can mimic the effect of estrogens and have an effect on the endocrine system.  My work uses computational chemistry, Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationships, Ligand-Receptor docking, and Conformational Searching to understand how compounds such Phytoestrogens (plant estrogens), Mycoestrogens (fungal toxins), and therapeutics (Diethylstilbestrol) can mimic the activity of natural estrogens.

 

Where were you born and raised?

I was born and raised in New Orleans, LA. I am a product of the Desire Housing projects in the lower-ninth ward area.  It was suggested that the projects only produce the dregs of society, as the projects are where you will find people who are living day to day within poverty, on governmental welfare, and know of deferred dreams.  In most situations, this is true. You only see that, as the area, the community, and the education system only allows for so much, and the refuge you can find exist only within the shelter of crack houses, drugs, prostitution, other forms of crime or eventually jail.  However, I realized living there that there is a way out; it may be unconventional, and it will require some dedication, but there is a way out.

 

Where did you receive your undergraduate and graduate degrees?

I received my Bachelors Degree in Chemistry with minors in Math, Spanish, and Japanese from Dillard University in May 1994.  I received my first Masters Degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute located in Troy, New York in the fields of Biochemistry and Biophysics in May 1997, and I received my second Masters Degree in Medical Sciences from the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky in May 2001.

 

What was your favorite subject in grade school, middle school, high school?

My favorite subject in grade school was music. I cannot sing, at all, but I loved that class.  In middle school, my interest changed to foreign languages: Spanish and French, and later in High School I became the computer geek that I am today.

 

Who was your favorite K-12 teacher, and why?

Mrs. Gloria Riche was my favor and more inspiring teacher, mainly because she was a Caucasian woman entering into the projects to educated African-Americans within an intercity school. This was unheard of, and many students began to give her a tough time with her lessons, her ethnic and racial background, and her as a female. However, through all of that, she began to reach each and every one of us (her students), and she never gave up. Regardless of the class, the lesson, situation, or time of day Mrs. Riche was there for her students, and it gave us a desire to be in her class.

 

What would you say is the MOST important characteristic of a great mentor?

EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION! No matter how much knowledge, experience, advice, insight, direction, or wisdom you have, if you cannot communicate it to others, or people who need it, then you are not being a very good mentor.

 

If you could choose one other career (something other than science) what would it be, and why?

I am currently working on two other career paths that are not science related, automotive technician, and writer.  I am planning to take some time off after graduating to complete two novels that I am developing and a book of poetry.  I love writing and it is my passion. I am more relaxed on the weekends writing than doing anything else.  I have won a few awards for my writing, and I have been encouraged to follow passion and path, and I wish publish my work, and I will. Auto-mechanics started off as a hobby, however, it is a family business that I have worked in to “help out around the shop.”  It is great, and it allows me to work with my hands.  I enjoy it cause it is totally different from anything else that I have done in my life and it is a huge change from the norm of my daily activities.

 

If you could give ONE piece of advice to students younger than yourself who want to go into science, what would that be?

Be very choosy in what you decide to do with your life, your research, and in your career.  This is your career, your reputation, and your future that you are building.  Do not allow anyone – be it family, friend, advisor, significant other – to stand in your way, tell you that you can’t accomplish something, or deter you from your dream.  Cause you can bring your dream to reality, with a little hard work and determination.

 

When you graduate, what do you regard as the MOST important contribution you can make to society?

I would say that would be me being the role model that I think people expect of me.  Easily, I can, and I will, be a role model for the other minorities and people of color who are following in my footsteps and educational program.  However, as a role model, you have to learn that you are a role model to the person walking on the street, the person who ask you a question, the “pen-pals” that write to you from the penitentiary, and the older generation that look at you and wish they had continued on where they left off.  To society, I owe it to others who are not in my area, field, and career path to see that someone exist that is not a part of the norm, and have made a contribution from a very different perspective.

 

When you turn fifty years old, what do you MOST want to be able to say about your life?

Life was hell, but I got through it. I noticed that the avenues that I have taken, the road that I traveled, and the people that I have met was very unconventional, but it was the road that I chose, and the life that I lived, and the people that I met that made me what I am today. By no means am I suppose to be here, or should have survived, but I did, and I am living a wonderful life.