May 16, 2014
Liberal Arts Honors Program up close: Katherine Helming ’09
By Charles C. Joyce
Not every cancer researcher works with the perspective that shapes Katherine Helming ’09.
In September 2010, one year into her Ph.D. program at Harvard Medical School, Helming was diagnosed with leukemia. After being hospitalized for a month, she endured a chemotherapy regimen for two years. She is now cancer free and has returned to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and her classes at Harvard, where she hopes to graduate in 2015.
“I feel lucky to be here and to be able to do research,” said Helming, who researches a rare, often lethal, pediatric cancer (malignant rhabdoid tumor) approximately 45 hours a week. “If I feel discouraged … all I have to do is look across the street,” where the sick children are hospitalized.
Determined “to make an impact in cancer research” and considering teaching at the college level, Helming said her love for biology was sealed when she took a Histology and Cytology course with Rev. Mark D. Nowel, O.P., associate professor of biology and dean of undergraduate and graduate studies. She loved viewing cells and tissues under the microscope and the excitement Father Nowel displayed when teaching.
Her passion also was fueled by her advisor, Rev. Nicanor Austriaco, O.P., associate professor of biology, with whom she conducted research and took three courses.
Working amid Nobel Prize winners at one of the world’s finest cancer research centers is “amazing,” and her laboratory’s proximity to patients makes her research more meaningful, she said.
Helming often finds herself reflecting on the value of the Liberal Arts Honors Program, particularly Development of Western Civilization courses, when researching and studying. In some respects, she feels further advanced than some of her medical school classmates.
“I have the ability to think critically and learn quickly,” she said, noting her PC experience emphasized process — discussion, research papers, defending points of view — over content. “The education allows you to go into any career path.”
Profile
- DEGREE: B.S., biology; Spanish minor; summa cum laude
- POSITION: Student, Harvard Medical School, Biological and Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. Program
- HONOR: Youngest graduate to present Distinguished Alumni Address at PC’sLiberal Arts Honors Program Convocation (October 2013; 19th Annual Convocation)
