Montana State College Billings alumnus Jon Laurent, Ph.D., was not too long ago inducted into the Montana Bioscience Alliance Corridor of Fame for his vital function in COVID-19 testing analysis through the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2020, Laurent was working as a postdoctoral analysis fellow at New York College Langone Well being when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. He and his colleagues have been already conscious that the nation was dealing with a critical outbreak.
“New York Metropolis grew to become the epicenter early within the pandemic and was rapidly overwhelmed,” Laurent stated. “Our lab on the NYU Langone campus was proper throughout the road from the primary Manhattan morgue. We might see it and have been proper in the midst of all of it.”
In consequence, Laurent co-founded the Pandemic Response Lab. On the time, Laurent had developed strategies for high-throughput investigation of genetic problems utilizing know-how platforms that have been additionally relevant to large-scale COVID-19 testing. His analysis rapidly switched to pivoting the platform to supply fast and correct testing to assist fight the illness in New York Metropolis and across the nation.
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By December, PRL had processed over 11 million COVID-19 assessments. Laurent credit his Montana upbringing for setting him on a course that led to his present work. He was born in Hamilton and attended Billings faculties, obtained his B.S. diploma from MSUB in 2009, adopted by his doctorate in cell and molecular biology from the College of Texas Austin in 2016.
Laurent praises the training he obtained at MSUB and believes Montana college students are given alternatives that aren’t at all times obtainable in bigger areas. For instance, when he was an undergraduate, he was in a position to make vital contributions to analysis within the labs of professors Kurt Toenjes, Ph.D., now Dean of the School of Well being Professions and Science at MSUB, and David Butler, Ph.D.
Toenjes stated Laurent was an distinctive pupil and an integral a part of the Fungal Colony Analysis Lab.
“It was a pleasure to function one among Jon’s undergraduate analysis mentors,” Toenjes stated. “His success is not any shock to us, and we’re very comfortable for him.”
Butler stated that proper from the start it was clear Laurent had a vibrant future in science.
“He was good, curious, and liked being within the lab, and it’s been gratifying to examine his many accomplishments,” he stated.
Each Toenjes and Butler acquired him concerned in analysis, which taught him vital abilities early on. Laurent says that they have been each nice mentors and gave him invaluable experiences, which influenced his choice to remain in science and pursue a Ph.D. within the discipline.
“Dr. Toenjes was the one who steered I apply to the College of Texas Austin, as a result of he had nearly chosen that establishment for his post-doctoral research and knew the prime quality of the division,” Laurent stated.
Laurent stated he encourages different science-focused undergraduate college students who need analysis expertise to think about MSUB, since there are numerous alternatives obtainable to them. He stated many instances at bigger establishments, these identical analysis alternatives are typically reserved for graduate college students, whereas undergraduates merely present routine help.
Rising up in Montana and spending many hours open air studying about nature and visiting locations just like the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, resulted in a ardour for science and strongly influenced his profession path.
“I used to be desirous about how issues labored, and my mother and father inspired my curiosity,” he stated.
When his mom died from ALS whereas he was learning at MSUB, Laurent stated his choice to pursue a path in biosciences was solidified as a result of he needed to unravel issues like that. When he displays on why he and others select science for his or her life’s work, two causes floor; one is the need to know extra concerning the world and the way the issues residing in it work, and the opposite is easy methods to use that information to raised humanity.
At the moment, Laurent is engaged on launching a brand new biotech startup. He additionally works as a marketing consultant.
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