BJU Cancer Research Lab

05/28/2026

IHC+1 adenocarcinoma. 20 years of the same old technology, can you identify a problem with this? Can you identify what and how much is overexpressed, drug targets and drug metabolism of the patient?

05/28/2026

Ready, set, extract...

05/15/2026

BJU Biology RIU 2026 officially completed its first week: 4 students, a cancer that has one of the highest worldwide burdens, and the ability to design the most effective diagnostic and therapeutic. It's time to change the clinical diagnostic paradiagm and redefine testing. Time to follow us through the design process...

01/05/2026

TRANSITIONS

Well, if you’re still checking out this page, you have probably noticed a remarkable lack of posts for some time now. Let me explain. As the oldest member of our department (Biology) who was of retirement age, with the necessary resources to retire comfortably and no children needing my support, I, as director of the cancer research lab (technically not faculty anyway) was chosen to retire, effective the end of the spring 2025 semester. I am content that this truly was the best option. The biology department is still committed to continuing undergraduate research and the cancer lab will simply be under “new management,” i.e., a very competent Dr. Rebecca Garcia. As soon as I can figure out how to do it, I will turn over the administration of this page to her for future entries.

While I miss my students and colleagues, I have discovered an interesting biblical fact that confirms for me the good providence of this situation. The fact: the number forty appears repeatedly throughout Scripture as a number associated with transitions of various sorts. For example, the flood...forty days and forty nights (Gen 7.12). Moses on Mt. Sinai...forty days and forty nights (Exo 24.18). Of course, there’s Moses with forty years in Egypt, forty years shepherding sheep, and forty years shepherding the children of Israel. King David reigned forty years (2 Sam 5.4), as did King Solomon (1 Kings 11.42). Jesus started His ministry fasting forty days and forty nights (Matt 4.2). Etc., etc.

So I was wondering...let’s see, working backwards chronologically: 12 years ministering at BJU; 26 years working at Abbott Laboratories; 2 years post-doc’ing at Los Alamos National Laboratories. Yep, I’m at forty years since getting my Ph.D., so it is time for God to providentially transition me to something else. I don’t know what exactly yet, but here goes! Truly, “A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.” (Prov 16.9) Hallelujah!

Now if I can just figure out how to remember what day of the week it is now that I’m not teaching?!?

12/05/2024

A NOTABLE ACHIEVMENT OF OUR RIU STUDENTS!
This fall two of this summer’s RIU students, Jeremiah and Ivan, submitted a poster based on their summer work to the Labroots Cell Biology Virtual Event Poster Competition entitled “In Vitro Cancer Cell Viability Reduced by Heloderma horridum Venom.” The abstract reads:

Studies on venom peptides suggest that cell proliferation in small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC) cells is reduced by exposure to Helodermin, a protein is isolated from the venom of the Gila Monster (Heloderma suspectum). While research has been conducted on the venom of this species, little research has been done on venom from Mexican Beaded Lizards (Heloderma horridum). The primary research question was whether Heloderma horridum venom contains Helodermin or a cytotoxic analog. Experiments compared the effects of venom on SCLC using flow cytometry analysis. This study suggests the presence of a cytotoxic protein component in Heloderma horridum venom.

And THEY WON! Congratulations to these two, and thanks to all who have prayed for our students here during the summer program. Please do keep us in your prayers as we are slowly gearing up for the summer of 2025 even now!

08/26/2024

JEREMIAH'S JOURNEY
Working this summer in the Cancer Research Lab enhanced my scientific thinking and my communication skills. For example, Ivan and I worked together to identify appropriate fluorescent assays for our flow cytometer's capabilities. Researching products and protocols developed my ability to evaluate procedures scientifically. On the other hand, I gained insights regarding my communication when Ivan and I were together assessing the merits and limitations of various techniques. In another instance, I again had the opportunity to practice scientific analysis during the process of eliminating unnecessary controls and establishing effective ones for the experiments. Communication and compromise were key in these discussions because of the limited time to complete all the experiments. Finally, data analysis offered me the greatest challenge. Learning to interpret the graphs presented the greatest growing opportunity, but this process taught me how to examine results and then verbalize conclusions. Although finding positive results was certainly fun, this summer's research brought significant personal development. Thank you for praying for us!

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08/21/2024

CLARA'S CLARITY
My reflections from the summer –
I am so thankful that God allowed me to be a part of RIU this summer. I have enjoyed applying skills learned during school to real life situations. The challenges we faced throughout the summer have grown me in my ability to think through experimental design and problem solving. The fantastic team of five that God put together was amazing to work with.
There were many times when we needed more help than any one on our team could offer, and in those times the BJU biology faculty quickly assisted us. Dr. Figard especially played a pivotal role in coaching us through many tough situations. Thank you, Dr. Figard for being our teacher, mentor, and friend.
This summer the Lord used RIU to teach me more about a relevant theme that has surfaced in my life these past few years; it is the theme of contentment. Facing setbacks and disappointments during research is normal, but the opportunity to grow comes from how you handle them. Almost every day some unexpected mishap presented itself, and during those times we were given a chance to respond in faith or to give up. Internal grumbling because an assay was not successful, never helped any situation; instead, the Lord wants us to say “let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer” – Ps. 19:14.

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08/21/2024

ANNA'S ATTAINMENT
What an immersive experience!
Researching is so much more reading and planning than expected, but through the long hours of reading and planning, I grew a great appreciation for the skill of careful skimming through the entire arsenal of information about a specific subject in research journals for exactly what I needed to find. All the obstacles that came our way were also a growing experience for me. Thinking through problems and trying to solve them is very valuable to my future profession in whatever field I end up in. Through the thick and thin, what kept us going was prayer, each other’s encouragement, and lots of sweet treats. I am thankful for the BJU Biology Department for allowing me to get a taste of what research is like. Thanks to this experience, I plan on continuing my education in biological research in graduate school.

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08/21/2024

IVAN'S INVENTORY
Being one of the students in the Cancer Research Lab has made the most enriching summer I have ever had. This experience allowed me to dip my toe in the environment of working as an independent scientist instead of being in lab for classes -- we had to plan, prepare, and execute the experiments for ourselves while taking into consideration the limited amount of time and budget. Being a novice in working around a lab environment, I have greatly improved my laboratory skills, dexterity with equipment, and critical thinking for bigger tasks in the future. I appreciate the fellow lovely and attentive students I get to work with, Dr. Figard for frequently being with us in spite of his family commitments, and his continual reminder for us to pray throughout the research.

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08/21/2024

LYDIA'S MELODIA
I entered into the RIU program hoping to gain experience and test the waters of lab work and research as a potential future career. I was mainly wrestling between getting a job right out of college or pursuing some form of graduate school. Since this experience included hands-on, unguided research, I thought it would be a great opportunity to see if the Lord was calling me to grad school. Throughout the summer, I definitely learned a lot of lessons and got a first hand view of the joys and frustrations of working in a lab. It feels that in research you miss just as much as you hit the mark (if not more). The process of research that I found throughout the summer is a series of continually trying new things, failing, and modifying to try again. This is an incredibly long process, but it can be an incredibly gratifying one too. After hours of effort and multiple failed attempts, finally getting good results is a celebratory achievement. Sadly, this summer we did not manage to get good results, which made the summer challenging. However, it did give me a taste of true research and gave me an idea of the joy of success in research might bring. It also helped me make new friends and see the value of teamwork in lab work. Overall, the Lord has certainly used these 8 weeks to guide and shape me, and I have a better view of where He is leading me following graduation.

Thank you!

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