A graduate of North Carolina State University’s Department of Molecular Structural Biochemistry, Malone Friedman always wanted to work in the medical field.
“Science is hard to learn, but for me it was very exciting and I really liked learning,” says Friedman. “I took an AP Science course in high school and it was fun and I got good grades. I think medicine is something that excites me and makes me happy.”
But she wasn’t sure if she wanted to treat patients directly or focus on medical research, so she joined a lab studying the molecular mechanisms that contribute to advanced prostate cancer.
“I went to college wanting to be a doctor, but I was also interested in research.My main goal was to get into a lab and see if I liked it. and I couldn’t get enough,” she says.
Friedman also found that you don’t have to choose between research and treating patients. She will be able to do both in her future career and is on track thanks to her extensive research experience at North Carolina State University.
ready for success
A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Friedman learned about North Carolina from a North Carolina family friend. When Friedman toured the campus, she was immediately impressed.
“I wanted to do STEM research. North Carolina State University has done a great job communicating how much money and energy they put into STEM and research opportunities for their students.” “It really fascinated me,” she explains.
Friedman joined the Simpson/Ballicki Lab (a joint laboratory of Melanie Simpson and Joe Baricki, Chair of the Department of Biochemistry) during her freshman year until graduation in May 2022.
“For prostate cancer, you may undergo chemical castration, which blocks testosterone in the hope that cancer cells will stop growing,” says Friedman. “I was working with two of his cell lines, one of which he stimulated a prostate cancer that responded to the treatment, and one of his cell lines that no longer responded to the treatment.”
Specifically, Friedman investigated whether lowering the expression of a molecule could improve a cell’s response to cancer treatments. During the pandemic, she also participated in her remote project focusing on the molecule that causes lung problems in her COVID-19.
“Malone was a very talented undergraduate researcher and a valuable member of my team,” says Simpson. “What sets Malone apart are his strong interest in research, his excellent communication skills, and his extraordinary initiative and leadership.”
combine her passions
Friedman enrolled with a combined MD and Ph.D. After graduating, he enrolled in a program at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Based in Milwaukee, his eight-year medical training program is funded by the National Institutes of Health.
“Physicians who see and interact with patients can develop better research to help them better.”
For the first two years, Friedman will be in medical school, completing a research rotation over the summer so that he can choose where to pursue his Ph.D. After that, he took a four-year break from medical school to get his Ph.D. Upon completion of his degree, he will complete clinical grades in medical school and obtain a medical degree.
In the future, I would like to work with children and devote time to patient care and research.
“I’m interested in pediatrics,” Friedman says. “I would like to do mostly oncology or something else where I can see patients longer term. Physicians who see and interact with patients can develop better research to help them better, and I think that’s really important.”
Looking back on his time at North Carolina State University, Friedman believes his experience helped prepare him for a career in medicine.
“North Carolina State University has a lot of great opportunities for students to participate,” Friedman says. “If you go out and look for them, you will almost certainly find something you can get involved in. NC State is so focused on getting everyone involved that it helps me to do what I love to do. I was able to have the confidence to try to do
