After she graduated from UW-Milwaukee in May, Ally Ruffino moved to the Washington area to take a fellowship conducting research at the National Institutes of Health.
She recently was riding the Metro train around the city when she had a realization about this new phase of her life. “I was sitting there thinking, ‘Oh, younger me would be really impressed,” she said.
Back in high school, Ruffino discovered that she loved science and completed an independent research project on bacteriophage, a virus type that infects and replicates inside bacteria.
So she was especially excited to arrive at UWM for college and meet Alita Burmeister, assistant professor of biological sciences, who conducts research on phage.
“I thought I knew a lot about phage, but I didn’t know anything,” said Ruffino, who grew up in St. Louis. “I looked at her and thought, ‘I want to be this person!’”
She joined Burmeister’s lab as an undergraduate researcher on a bacteriophage project, and Burmeister became an important mentor. She invited Ruffino to attend monthly meetings of the American Society of Microbiology, which gave her the chance to learn more about the field and network with microbiology professors and people working on related topics in industry.
Another pivotal experience: meeting Jill Budny, assistant director of UWM’s Honors College and associate teaching professor in political science. Ruffino took three courses with Budny, who helped sharpen her writing skills and encouraged her to take on leadership positions. Ruffino led the Honors Equity Team, which provided support for incoming first-generation students. Ruffino also became a leader in the lab, mentoring younger students on multiple summer experiments she led.
Today at the NIH, Ruffino is studying gene expression in E. coli, and how it changes when exposed to stresses such as bacteriophage. When Ruffino’s internship is complete — she expects to stay for a year or two — she plans to enter an MD-PhD program, a rigorous path that will allow her to become a physician-scientist in infectious diseases.
“I’d like to treat patients with conditions like complex immune disorders or antibiotic-resistant infections, but also be on the forefront of research,” she said. “I love the idea of both.”
Ruffino believes her younger self would be happy with how her life is unfolding. “Younger me would be impressed with my confidence and independence,” she said. “Adult life is not as scary as I thought it would be, and it’s still a lot of fun.”
Written by Erin O’Donnell, UW-Milwaukee
Link to original story: https://uwm.edu/news/uwm-helps-student-grow-her-love-of-science-and-her-confidence/