Alumni Spotlight
L.
Alex Gaither ’97
Major: Chemistry and Biology
Occupation: Molecular Biochemist/Geneticist
Heather R. (Steffe) Gaither ’96
Major: English Education
Occupation: Teacher/Homemaker
The long-haired bass player, who enjoyed throwing water balloons with his fellow K3N brothers, was not your typical science major. But outside of having fun with friends and discovering the love of his life (his future wife, Heather), Alex found time to study with his science colleagues in order to survive such courses as organic chemistry with Dr. [Joe] Bohanon, and vertebrate physiology with Dr. [Mike] Tenneson. As a pre-med major, Alex had the goal of someday becoming an M.D. However, after putting in two years of summer school in order to complete a double major in chemistry and biology, his interests were redirected toward a new career, a Ph.D. in molecular biochemistry.
From Evangel Alex received a full-ride scholarship and yearly stipend from the University of Missouri-Columbia for his Ph.D. During this time, his wife, Heather, taught high school English in Columbia, MO. After receiving his Ph.D., Alex accepted a research scientist position at Novartis Pharmaceuticals in East Hanover, New Jersey. Soon after their move to the East coast, they had their first child, Aiden.
At Novartis Alex was challenged with building a platform to support pharmaceutical drug discovery through novel target identification. He has been designing genetic screens for target identification in Alzheimer’s disease.
“Essentially we are trying to ‘functionalize the genome’ by screening all human genes in order to find enzymes involved in neurodegenerative pathways. Our goal is to discover novel drugs that could be used as therapeutics. We have discovered several determinants we think are involved in late onset Alzheimer’s disease, the sporadic form of the disease, where the genetic mutations are not necessarily inherited. Late onset Alzheimer’s disease is the most widespread form of the disease, far exceeding the number of patients with a family history or a known genetic predisposition.”
Alex is also designing genetically altered adult stem cells to be injected into patients with Alzheimer’s disease with the hope of regenerating brain cells that have already died. Alex said, “With a little luck, we think this approach should work. If so, one of our targets could translate into a future therapy for individuals who suffer from Alzheimer’s disease.”
Alex was recently transferred to Cambridge, Massachusetts, and promoted to a senior position at Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Inc., where he now runs a lab of his own. After moving to Massachusetts, Alex and Heather had their second son, Rhett.
Alex and Heather currently attend Riverside Assembly of God in Methuen, Massachusetts. Alex is playing bass guitar as a member of the worship band while Heather serves as the nursery coordinator for the church. Currently Heather is taking a break from her teaching career to stay home with their two boys, and she says, “It is such a blessing to be able to stay home and be an integral part of raising my children.”
Alex has chosen a career filled with challenging moral choices as a research scientist. “Not only did Evangel prepare me for graduate school in the biological sciences, it also grounded me with a strong moral understanding of right and wrong and how to deal with the issues of working with stem cells and the implications of cloning.”