Heino Hulsey-Vincent
GRAD STUDENT AWARDED GRANT FOR RESEARCH ON PROTEIN QUALITY CONTROL IN NEURONS
Heino Hulsey-Vincent (he/him/his) is a second-year graduate student of biology and recipient of the WWU Graduate Research Award for his thesis entitled, “Cell Specific ERAD Rescue in Caenorhabditis Elegans.” Under the direction of graduate research advisor Dr. Lina Dahlberg, Heino studies protein quality control in neurons. More specifically, he focuses on the proteins that are responsible for marking misshapen proteins to be destroyed.
Proteins misfold all the time. But misshapen proteins, if not corrected, must be destroyed so they don’t become harmful to our cells. If the degradation process suffers, protein build-up can lead to diseases such as cystic fibrosis, ALS, Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer’s disease. Because mammalian nervous systems are difficult to work with, Heino uses roundworms as a model organism for his research (pictured).
Heino started at Western as an undergrad and continued on to Western’s master's program in biology. He says if there’s one thing he’d pass on to other students, “I’d encourage undergrads to join a lab immediately if you have any interest in research!” Heino has presented his now published research at a number of conferences like the Seattle Cell Science Symposium and the American Society for Cell Biology in Washington D.C. and notes that most people in his group who went to D.C. got their travel and registration fees paid for by Western. Heino adds, “The travel and conference funding is a great example of what doors open when you join a lab! Our research mentors are very supportive, and in the lab, there’s no competitiveness. It’s collaborative—we all help each other out.”
After graduation, Heino plans to join a lab where he can either model disease or explore neurons more and is super interested in understanding more about learning/memory on a cellular level. Heino recently joined Giving What We Can, an effective altruism organization, and pledged 10% of his pre-tax income to charity from now until his retirement so that wherever his lab research takes him, he’ll still have firm footing in reducing climate change and improving human well-being.