He Switched from Soccer to Science
DAVIS --Tim Weaver definitely loves soccer.
He played soccer on a full athletic scholarship at the University of San Francisco, and after graduation, played professional soccer for two years with the San Jose Earthquakes, until 2000.
“I played soccer with a number of the very hard-working, dedicated athletes who ended up on the U.S. World Cup team,” Weaver said, “and I have the greatest respect for these guys.”
Then he switched to science.
University of California, Davis entomologist Bruce Hammock and scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are glad he did.
Weaver, a graduate student in Hammock’s lab and a second-year student at the UC Davis School of Medicine, has received a coveted Howard Hughes Medical Institute-NIH Research Scholar Award. He leaves for the NIH lab in Bethesda, Md., on Aug. 8 for a one to two-year fellowship.
Weaver is one of four researchers working in Hammock’s labs to receive distinguished awards this summer. (See related story)
“It is wonderful for us to have a biochemist in the laboratory who also knows the clinic,” said Hammock, a distinguished professor of entomology at the UC Davis Department of Entomology and the Cancer Research Center. “Tim will be a great help to all of us in translating our basic science to the bedside and a great link between the work at UC Davis and that at NIH.”
Hammock, who maintains labs in both Briggs and Everson halls, also directs the NIH National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)-UC Davis Superfund Basic Research Program and serves as the principal investigator of the NIH Biotechnology Training Program.
Weaver’s research involves finding solutions to problems that lead to kidney transplant failure. “I’ll be working in collaboration with the Hammock Labs, while at NIH with the National Institute for Digestive, Diabetes, and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK),” Weaver said.
“I was working with Dr. Hammock and Dr. Richard Perez (director of the UC Davis Medical Center Kidney and Pancreas Transplant Program) to investigate the role of inflammation and lipid metabolism on vascular dysfunction and renal transplant organ function.”
Now Weaver will be doing similar work at NIH, collaborating with Hammock and Allan Kirk, chief of the NIDDK transplantation branch. “Technically, we will be looking at how lipid metabolites and enzyme regulators influence monocyte and T-cell activation, overall effecting kidney transplant outcomes,” Weaver said.
“I will also be working in the Renal Diagnostics and Therapeutics Lab looking at the role of epoxy acids in sepsis-induced renal failure. I will spend two years at the NIH and then return to complete one more year in the Hammock labs, completing my Ph.D. Then it’s back to finishing medical school.”
Weaver was also selected for a Howard Hughes Medical Institute-Research Training Fellowship for Medical and Dental Students Award, but chose to accept the research scholar award.
The former Livermore resident left the San Jose Earthquakes to accept a position as a clinical pulmonary technician and research assistant at the UC San Francisco Medical Center “to prepare for medical school.”
“I’ve always loved the sciences and have always wanted to become a doctor,” he said.
When he joined Hammock’s lab in August 2005, Hammock quipped: “Oh, good, now we can form a lab soccer team.”
Weaver’s kidney transplant work is of special interest to Hammock. “Being alive, thanks to a kidney transplant two years ago, gives me more than passing interest in Tim’s project,” Hammock said.
And yes, Weaver followed the World Cup finals, culminating in Italy outscoring France. Did he watch every minute of the finals? “Yes, just about! It has been difficult, though, because I also am studying for one of my most important board exams right now as well.
“It was extremely difficult to see the U.S. team start and finish so poorly. However, soccer has come a long way in the U.S. in a short time. We will bounce back. I’m happy for Italy. They are under a lot of pressure at the moment. Their credibility as a soccer nation has recently come under pressure. There is no better way to answer the critics than winning the world cup. Overall, I’m part Portuguese, Italian, and German….three of the top four finishers, so I couldn’t be happier!”
Bruce Hammock's Web sites:
Coverage:
- Four Researchers in Hammock Labs Win Top Awards, UC Newswire (July 14, 2006)
- Four Researchers in Hammock Labs Win Top Awards, UC Agriculture and Natural Resources (July 17, 2006)
- UC Davis Grad Student Trades Earthquakes Jersey and Cleats for a Lab Coat, Davis Enteprise (July 17, 2006)
- Four 'Bug' Researchers Win Top Awards, The Reporter, Vacaville (July 18, 2006)
- Four 'Bug' Researchers Win Top Awards, Daily Democrat, Woodland (July 18, 2006)
- Four Reseachers in Hammock Labs Win Top Awards, Davis Enterprise (July 21, 2006)
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