The Biology Department was pleased to welcome back C. Corey van Vlymen ’08 to give a department seminar on his graduate thesis research being performed at Old Dominion University and Eastern Virginia Medical School.  Mr. van Vlymen’s research deals with epigenetics, an emerging field that considers how genes are regulated once mRNA transcription is complete.  Epigenetics work of the type being conducted by Mr. van Vlymen is instrumental in understanding how diseases such as cancer can develop over time in the human body. Following the talk, a brief discussion was held about the graduate school experience, including how to prepare and what to expect in terms of workload and daily life.  Mr. van Vlymen will complete his master’s degree from ODU this May and anticipates starting medical school this coming fall.

Mr. van Vlymen presents his research