Kurt Krummel '96, Science Alliance
ENVISION Magazine, 2006

For every answer, there are five new questions. That’s what inspires Kurt Krummel’s cancer research as a post-doctoral fellow at the Salk Institute in California. “You’re always making new discoveries,” he said.

Krummel ’96 studies what he calls the decision-maker in cancer development, the P53 molecule. “It’s a critical part to understanding cancer and deactivating the path cells take to become cancerous,” he said.

Krummel works with a team of scientists to research and test the P53 molecule in mice to understand when and why cells become cancerous.

“I always liked science, but as a student at UWWhitewater, I never imagined I’d be so passionate about cancer research,” Krummel said.

Personal attention and encouragement from his undergraduate professors helped Krummel discover opportunities he hadn’t initially considered including graduate school and medical studies at Mayo Clinic.

Now Krummel is doing cutting-edge research at the Salk Institute, and his findings have been published in prestigious scientific journals such as the National Academy of Sciences.

“It’s a very challenging but also motivating job,” he said. “The result is better treatment for patients.” – Cassandra Sura