• AC Home
  • News
  • Events
  • Quick Links
Austin College Logo

Sherman, Texas

Apply

Visit

MENU
  • 2022 Issue
    • From the President
    • … Worth a Thousand Words
    • Planet Hunters
    • Austin College Can Feel Like Home – For Everyone
    • The Joy of Giving While We’re Living
    • They’re Somethin’ in the Water
    • How Many Laps Make a Champion?
    • An UP and Coming Sport
    • Arts Prevail in Pandemic Times
    • How to Not Get Lost in the Woods
    • Healing in the Arts
    • From Ida Green to the LA Scene
    • ‘Roo Notes 2022
    • In Other Words
  • Issues
    • 2021 Issue
      • From the President
      • Seeing 20/20
      • On the Front Lines
      • A Broad Worldview Helps Doctors Face a Global Challenge
      • Finding A New Normal
      • Making A Way
      • This Family is All In
      • A Dream Realized
      • No One Plans for a Pandemic
      • Pastoring in 2020
      • CREATE at 5
      • Transformed: Student Success
      • An Expert in the House
      • A Voice for Good Health
      • ‘Roo Notes 2021
      • In Other Words
    • 2020 Issue
      • From the President
      • Global Life: ‘Roos Around the World
      • Good to Go
      • Just Keep Running
      • Pledged to the Public Good
      • Leaves Book and Tea Shop
      • Public Health Program Provides Popular Major and Minor
      • Power to the ‘Roos
      • ‘Roo Notes 2020
      • In Other Words
    • 2019 Issue
      • From the President
      • TWELVE
      • The Making of a Legend
      • One Legend’s Story
      • Sacred Expressions
      • Powering the Future
      • Fierce and Friendly
      • The Stories of the Stones
      • Truth in Art
      • ′Roo Notes 2019
      • In Other Words
    • Winter 2018
      • Snapshot
      • From the President
      • Along Grand Avenue
      • The President’s Home at Wood House
      • Roots
      • Home Team
      • 100 Years of Co-Education
      • President Steven P. O’Day
      • Giving to Prepare Future Servant Leaders
      • ‘Roo Notes
      • In Other Words
    • July 2017
      • Snapshot
      • Roots
      • From the Interim President
      • Along Grand Avenue
      • Home Team
      • The Adventure of a Lifetime
      • Au Revoir
      • The Momentum of Discovery
      • ‘Roo Notes
      • In Other Words
    • January 2017
      • From the President
      • For Love of the Game … and the Players
      • This Is Us – Diverse and United
      • Snapshot
      • Roots
      • Along Grand Avenue
      • Home Team
      • ‘Roo Notes
      • In Other Words
    • Winter 2016
      • From the President
      • Snapshot
      • Roots
      • Along Grand Avenue
      • Home Team
      • Living the Liberal Arts
      • At Home in the Rainforest
      • ‘Roo Notes
      • In Other Words
    • Summer 2015
      • From the President
      • Snapshot
      • Roots
      • Along Grand Avenue
      • Community Impact
      • Of Gratitude and Wonder
      • Home Team
      • Reimagining the Liberal Arts in A Digital Age
      • Medical Experience in Mexico
      • ‘Roo Notes
      • In Other Words
    • Spring 2014
      • From the President
      • Snapshot
      • Roots
      • Along Grand Avenue
      • Preventing Pandemic
      • Home Team
      • A Wild Semester
      • The Bottom Line is Greener
      • The Business of Learning
      • Blazing Trails
      • An IDEA Realized
      • ‘Roo Notes
      • In Other Words
    • Winter 2014
      • From the President
      • Snapshot
      • Roots
      • Along Grand Avenue
      • Making A Difference in the Natural World
      • The Mentor Advantage
      • ‘Roos Who Write
      • Storytellers’ Gift
      • Strategic Plan
      • Home Team
      • ‘Roo Notes
      • In Other Words
    • Summer 2013
      • From the President
      • Snap Shot
      • Roots: On the Road Again
      • Along Grand Avenue
      • Heard Around Campus
      • The Austin College Experience
      • Looking Back and Planning Ahead
      • Faculty Retirees Reflect
      • The Business of Food
      • Class of 2013 Takes on the World
      • A Legacy of Law
        • What is Pre-Law?
      • Dr. Kenneth Street
      • Making History
      • Home Team
      • ‘Roo Notes
      • In Other Words
    • Fall 2012/Winter 2013
      • From the President
      • Mission Around the Globe
      • My Summer of Learning
      • Views of the Outback
      • Our Identity
      • IDEA Center Challenge
      • Investing in Austin College
      • Snap Shot: Opening Convocation
      • Roots: Majestic Music
      • Along Grand Avenue
      • Home Team
      • ‘Roo Notes
      • In Other Words
    • Summer 2012
      • From the President
      • Detours to Adventure
      • At the Core of Excellence
      • Who Values Education? WE DO!
      • Sowing the Seeds
      • Banned, Buoyed, & Laureled:
      • A Lifetime In College
      • Snap Shot: Commencement
      • Along Grand Avenue
      • Heard Around Campus
      • Home Team
      • ‘Roo Notes
      • In Other Words
      • Roos for Roos
    • Spring 2012
      • From the President
      • Postcards from Abroad
      • Costa Rica Sisters
      • Texas Super Lawyers
      • An American in…Bucharest
      • My Internship in Congress
      • Along Grand Avenue
      • Home Team
      • ‘Roo Notes
    • Winter 2012
      • From the President
      • Along Grand Avenue
      • A Century of Science
        • Digging the Antarctic
        • Science in Everyday Life
        • Alumnus Integral To The Manhattan Project
        • Starry, Starry Nights
        • Telling Her Story
        • Celebrating the Unknown
        • A Look Back
      • ‘Roo Notes
      • In Other Words
    • Fall 2011
      • From the President
      • A New Year Begins
        • Meet the Class of 2015
        • Pieces of Home
        • Enrollee to Student
        • Freshman Legacies
        • The Summer Read
      • Gifts That Matter
        • Making Moments Matter
      • Along Grand Avenue
      • Home Team
      • ‘Roo Notes
      • Honor Roll of Donors
    • Summer 2011
      • From the President
      • Along Grand Avenue
      • Commencement Photos
      • The Many Faces of Success
      • Ghost Light
      • Time
      • In Full Bloom: Lives of Success
      • The Light Shines for Texas
      • Home Team
      • ‘Roo Notes
      • In Other Words
    • Spring 2011
      • From the President
      • From the Editor
      • JanTerm 2011
      • Commencement 2011
      • ACtivator Event #500
      • The Homesick Texan
      • Remembering Chase Gaddy
      • Along Grand Avenue
      • Home Team
      • ‘Roo Notes
      • In Other Words
  • Archives
  • Contact Us
Info For...
  • AC Home
  • News
  • Events
  • Quick Links
Home » Issues » July 2017 » In Other Words

In Other Words

An Education Rooted in Inquiry Facilitates Science and Society

By Kole T. Roybal ’05

Kole RoybalLiberal arts institutions are needed as much as ever in our country today. We need an electorate that is informed about the major challenges facing the world, all of which are multifaceted and require a collection of expertise. The onslaught of attacks on science in the public sphere and the undercurrent of contempt for intellectuals is troubling to say the least. Schools like Austin College are the antidote for these sentiments as solutions come from rigorous thinking and a concerted effort to understand others and other cultures. Austin College forces students to acquire a breadth of knowledge and the skills for taking problems apart and assessing them from multiple unique, but credible viewpoints. An education rooted in diversity of thought and rigorous inquiry can lay the foundation for success in a wide spectrum of careers when it is combined with the deep knowledge of a discipline.

My chosen field is biomedical research, and I now lead a lab at the University of California, San Francisco, working to develop next-generation cancer therapeutics. As I navigate my career, I periodically reflect on the experiences at Austin College that prepared me for my job, which requires management, mentorship, teaching, community outreach, and continual work at the edge of the unknown. The core tenants of a liberal arts education form the foundation of scientific thought and instill the collaboratory mentality needed to tackle the most pressing scientific questions of the day.

If we dissect what is required to take scientific research from the early stages of discovery to the treatment of patients, a liberal arts education provides many necessary skills. At the early stages of a project, it is important to identify critical areas of research that could lead to breakthrough therapies, and this is often facilitated through interaction with other scientists with a diverse set of expertise. Some of the most important advances in science and medicine come from research at the interface between different disciplines, and a liberal arts education prepares you for this by offering a broad curriculum that forces you out of your comfort zone.

We are in exciting times in cancer therapy with pioneering scientists working at the interface of cancer biology and immunology—the study of our immune system and how it combats disease. Scientists such as Jim Allison, who is now at MD Anderson, worked through initial pushback in the cancer field and have shown that our immune system is incredible at combating deadly cancers if it is effectively stimulated. This area of research, called cancer immunology, seeks to understand how our immune system interacts with tumors and how we can stimulate immunity to the disease, much like we think about eradicating a virus or bacteria from our body. We now have breakthrough immunotherapies that can drive a curative immune response to cancers, and we can even engineer our body’s own immune cells to better detect and get rid of the disease. These types of therapies will become standard of care over the next decade and will relieve the need for highly toxic therapies like chemotherapy and radiation.

Biomedical research goes well beyond the lab and experiments. The next stages require clear communication of your research to make sure the community understands the importance of new findings and how they can impact their lives. Many of the best scientists think deeply about how they can foster understanding of science in the community as we all rely to some degree on taxpayer-funded institutions for funding. The onus is on scientists to convince the public that what we do is important, and the process of explaining our work in simple terms can help to distill ideas. It doesn’t matter if you have made the most exciting discovery or therapeutic if you can’t convince the medical community and public that it is a viable approach to treat disease.

A liberal arts education can aid in the process of dissemination of important scientific breakthroughs as it incentivizes people to go out in the world and community and talk about ideas and build common ground. The desire to teach and inform through direct interactions with other scientists and society is essential to assuage the science skeptics. Many scientists could benefit from a liberal arts perspective. Scientists need to go out and change the perceptions in the community and truly understand where our message is lost. To tackle major societal concerns like cancer and global warming, we need an educated population that feels empowered by science rather than constrained.


Kole T. Roybal ’05, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of immunology and runs a lab that focuses on cancer immunotherapy at the University of California, San Francisco, one of the leading medical institutions in the world. He is an Investigator of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, and the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The content of this column expresses the perspectives of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views, position, or policy of Austin College, its administrators, or its Board of Trustees.

GET IN TOUCH

903.813.2000
Austin College
900 N. Grand Ave.
Sherman, TX 75090

Contact Us

GET SOCIAL

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn

GET LINKED

  • Quick Links
  • Human Resources
  • Campus Offices
  • Directory
  • Email

GET CONNECTED

Subscribe to Austin College E-Communication

Connect to AC

Copyright © 2022 - All rights reserved | Privacy Policy | Consumer Information | Site by thrive-logo