Still, he finds time to do research in Dr. Steven Roberts’ lab in the UVM Cancer Center. Schiefen’s primary project is studying cancer mutagenesis by looking at an endogenous enzyme called APOBEC3A, which is found to be involved in nearly 50% of all cancer types. He also works on some computational biology projects, analyzing mutation signatures.
Schiefen’s mentor, Dr. Steven Roberts, described his aptitude for science this way in his letter of support for the award, “Dan has an obvious gift for science and has many of the personal characteristics that will allow him to excel in this area in his future career. He is intelligent, motivated, and very inquisitive. He grasps the underlying rationale and methodical aspects of his experiments almost immediately. This has allowed us to have a working relationship where I primarily discuss with Dan the general idea of experiments and how to complete them, and he is able to accomplish the experiment on his own. Usually, this amount of independence takes years to develop in undergraduate students who are conducting their first work within a research lab. Dan is my student who has reached this point the fastest.”
Originally from North Chelmsford, Massachusetts, Schiefen chose UVM because it “just seemed like the perfect fit. Everybody I met through touring and emails was super nice and really helpful. It’s a beautiful city and a beautiful campus. UVM just really clicked.”
He began as a microbiology major and added the molecular genetics major after he began because he loved the department and the classes. When he’s not in the lab, he performs music with two UVM clubs. He’s a trombone section leader in the UVM Pep Band. “We were at a lot of different sporting events this spring. We traveled to NC State to follow the women's basketball team with March Madness, which was a ton of fun. That’s my 4th March Madness tournament that I've been involved in.” He’s also the president of Viridescent, UVM’s only competitive a cappella group. They recently made it to the semifinals of the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella. He describes how amazing that felt, “We were the first group from the State of Vermont to ever do that.”
His advice to new or prospective students is, “Definitely reach out and make the connections with your professors as early as you can. We have a ton of really great faculty members, and you may not find the lab or the professor that you're meant to be with during your first year. But if you keep nurturing those connections and ask questions and ask around, you'll meet a whole bunch of really interesting people with really interesting subjects. Grad students are also a great resource. They have a lot of knowledge and they're always willing to help, at least from my experience. So, definitely ask questions, use their guidance, and they will help you, because four, or five, or six years ago they were the same as you. They were getting into undergrad research, and they were also intimidated by grad students. So, they know how you're feeling, so definitely don't be afraid.”
As a rising senior, he’s just starting to think about his plans for after he graduates from UVM, but he hopes to remain in academia. “My eventual goal is to continue in the academic space with labs and research and that sort of thing in the coming years. I hope to get my Ph.D. in either cancer genetics or computational biology, depending on where my projects go. So, I have a lot of hope and plans for the future. If everything works out, I'd love to stay in New England.”
