August 12, 2021

Ethan Fix ’22 has returned to the lab of Wayne Carver, professor of cell biology and anatomy at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine, for another summer internship.

Ethan Fix '22Fix, a chemistry major with a minor in computer science, pursued the opportunity, which came his way through a family connection, to “expand my horizons past chemistry and to gain knowledge in a different field of science so that I can use this in the future.”

“Initially, I came to work at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine for lab experience, but being at SU has given me that experience as well, so now the goal is to work and get my name out there on research articles,” Fix said.

This summer, Fix has been working on three different projects. The first is a continuation of the study he worked on last summer, which found that the plant compound emodin may provide an effective therapeutic agent for fibrosis. This project led to Fix’s second authorship on a paper published with Carver in the Journal of Cellular Physiology.

Fix is also working on a second project that examines the viability of reseeded cells on pig vessels and a third project that is a branch off the aforementioned emodin study, looking at the combined effects of emodin and doxorubicin on cardiac fibroblasts.

“The most exciting part for me so far has been continuing my work with emodin and learning new techniques that I can use not just here, but in any lab environment,” Fix said.

While his workload has been daunting, Fix said the prospect of achieving authorship on more research publications “is too good to pass up.” After graduation, Fix plans to pursue his Ph.D. in chemistry with the goal of teaching and researching.

“Susquehanna provided me with the confidence needed to work in this kind of setting,” Fix said. “Being a chemistry major, I’ve gained the experience needed to be successful in my career choice.”