Mahmudul Hasan, who goes by "Hasan", had the opportunity to intern at the newly created Moderna Genomics Division from mid-September to mid-December 2021. He is a 4th-year UNMC graduate student in the department of pharmaceutical sciences.
"The skills I learned while doing my graduate research at UNMC have actually shaped me in such a way that when I went to Moderna, I was able to run independent experiments with my manager’s input," Hasan said. "I think this training I went through, the struggles, hardships and crazy working hours, made me a better scientist."
While at Moderna, Hasan was able to run select experiments, work with animal tissue, work with DNA and RNA, add treatments and do a range of genome editing experiments.
"I used to question my ability to do science because I didn’t have a reference to gauge how I was doing at UNMC, and when I went outside in an additional reference stream, I could saw that I could actually understand the science there. I could understand what was needed and how to solve a research problem.
Hasan’s PI, Dr. Howard Gendelman, chair of the UNMC Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience and head of the UNMC Global Virus Network Center of Excellence, was very supportive of this internship. Click here to see the UNMC Today article "A pathway to HIV elimination", which explains what Dr. Gendelman’s team (including Hasan) is researching.
"It (interning at Moderna) was an amazing learning experience for me and was also an opportunity to contribute," Hasan said. "It gave me more confidence."
Hasan is also president of the International Students Association (ISA) and serves as a student ambassador through the Office of Global Engagement.
"My first interaction with student organizations was with the Student Ambassador through ISA and the Office of Global Engagement. Then, slowly I got involved with ISA, GSA (Graduate Studies Association), and the AAPS-UNMC (American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists) Student Chapter," Hasan said. "I also served as a senator at large for GSA for two terms. I got a lot of help in my early days from these organizations. So, I just wanted to keep the wheel turning and extend whatever I could."
When Hasan started working with ISA, a bond was formed. The association successfully organized a couple of large events such as Holi and International week. Unfortunately, then pandemic hit, and they were on the verge of losing the official status of ISA. This year, after Hasan was elected as the president, he and the vice president rewrote the whole constitution, and the organization is functioning successfully.
Hasan is planning to graduate in the fall. At which time he hopes to continue with genome research in either industry or academia.