Kyusik Kim

Science at a small company is no less small!

Hello! My name is Kyusik Kim, and I am a sixth-year graduate student in the Molecular Cell Biology program at Washington University. This is potentially the final year of my doctoral work so the chance to intern at a company before graduating has been quite the blessing. I can’t thank the Pivot314 fellowship enough for the opportunity they have given me.

My internship was at Fimbrion Therapeutics (https://www.fimbrion.com); a small science company focused on new approaches for treating urinary tract infections (UTIs) and tuberculosis. Current treatments for these two diseases have run into some roadblocks, so Fimbrion has been utilizing cutting-edge research to develop novel therapeutics. My project was to explore the feasibility of developing an mRNA vaccine against UTIs. Ever since the successful launch of the mRNA vaccines against COVID-19, there has been an explosion of interest in developing mRNA vaccines against other diseases. My doctoral research is on protein synthesis – how mRNAs are turned into protein – so my work in the lab has uniquely positioned me to be an expert on this kind of work.

From the get-go, I was given both the awesome freedom and responsibility of being entirely in charge of the project. My tasks were to design potential vaccine sequences, validate protein expression for chosen sequences, troubleshoot vaccine delivery vehicle formulation, and verify efficacy post-administration. It was a bit intimidating at first, because even though our graduate research trains us to be independent scientists, we still have the safety net of our mentor. In this case, I was the expert on the subject and so every choice I made was the course we took. Thankfully, the science team at Fimbrion is composed of very nice and supportive people, and so I really felt like I was able to grow into my role without feeling too pressured. By the end of my internship, I had generated a significant amount of actionable data and left a roadmap to guide any future investigations in the project.

In addition to the science, I also got to see how business is conducted at a small company. During weekly meetings at Fimbrion, I saw firsthand how the team allocated limited resources to hit milestones on current projects. I also became versed in how the company leveraged data from current projects, and utilized their collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline, to generate new projects and revenue streams. It was eye opening to see the differences in project life cycles between research at a small company versus an academic institution; there was much more emphasis on achievable, goal driven results. Even so, the science done at Fimbrion was not any less cutting edge than at Washington University, nor any less impactful!

In conclusion, I had a wonderful time during my internship at Fimbrion. I got to meet friendly fellow scientists who were experts in their respective fields, grow as an independent scientist, and really delve into the mindset that makes a small company tick. I had some thoughts of joining industry science before my internship, but my experiences this summer really highlighted some of those reasons. I wholeheartedly recommend future students to apply for the Pivot314 fellowship, because I know it gave me invaluable opportunities which will help me succeed in my future career.