Simon Van Deursen ‘22 is a double major in CIS and Molecular Biology and Biochemistry who works as a Research Assistant in Professor Alison O’Neil’s lab. He grew up in San Anselmo, California and is a member of the Ski and Snowboard team at Wesleyan. He decided to elect a major in CIS because the open-ended, interdisciplinary nature of the major appealed to him. He has enjoyed the “think outside the box” mentality of the CIS major, in addition to being exposed to fields of science that he may not have otherwise experienced.
His research project in the O’Neil lab has focused on the role that astrocytes, a type of star-shaped glial cell (non-neuronal cells that help maintain homeostasis but do not emit electrical impulses), play in the development of the disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Simon uses stem cells to model both healthy and diseased cell types to study the effects of mutations associated with ALS. His advice to incoming CIS majors would be to keep an open mind when picking research labs and paths of study, as there are many opportunities within the major for students to try things outside of their comfort zone.