James Matchynski is passionate about science and medicine, and determined to pursue a career in biomedical research. 

He has been involved in independent research at UM-Dearborn since the summer after his freshman year. He has spearheaded several different projects, many of them of his own inception. 

“James is an incredibly gifted and intelligent young man who is sure to make ripples in the scientific world in the future,” said Sheila Smith, associate professor of chemistry. “Currently, James is exploring the ability of the protein that is the focus of the lab, an egg protein that we hypothesize has a role in copper transport and storage, to transfer copper to other proteins from eggs. He designed and built a new device for purification of the protein that we work on in our lab based on isoelectric focusing.”

He is doing this work on the department’s new Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrometer, an instrument that he was the first to use and for which he has written the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the users in the department. He has the opportunity to present the results of his work to the National American Chemical Society and the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

James has been active in several student organizations for science. He has been a Supplemental Instruction leader for several courses, including general chemistry. 

James joined the Neurology Club in the winter of his junior year. He assisted in a neuroscience outreach event named “Backyard Brains,” using invertebrates to help students learn how cells in the brain communicate.

James will go onto medical school following graduation from UM-Dearborn. He has been offered one of only six M.D./Ph.D. spots in the entering class of Fall 2015 at Wayne State University's College of Medicine, where he hopes to be involved with research in the areas of radiology, epidemiology or oncology.