Max Seibold, Scientist and Oklahoman
Max Seibold
Max Seibold is not a professor's son, he will tell you. Out of context, it is a curious statement, but one you soon learn is rooted in humility, not defensiveness.
You see, 27-year-old Max Seibold, third-year UCSF graduate student (studying genetics) is a native of Lawton, Oklahoma. That means he carries state pride in his pockets the way some people carry change. It is a pride of place that sticks with you because it shaped you, and no matter how far away you move or how high you ascend, the smell, sounds and feel of freshly tilled earth, running cattle and harvested cotton brand you forever as a son of the soil.
Seibold's world now consists of bridge commutes and sterile laboratories, but there is no denying a work ethic — and a certain stubbornness of purpose — that grew as he did from child to young father of two. Seibold, grandson of a dairy farmer and son of a rancher, had a different career in mind.
He wanted to be a pharmacist and, in his single-minded pursuit of that dream, stumbled into an organic chemistry course while attending college at Southwestern Oklahoma State. He struggled, then pulled out a B, an experience that — together with encouragement from his chemistry professor, Allen Lane, PhD — altered the arc of his life.
"I realized I could achieve something," Seibold says. "Inside, I always wanted to do science." And science he has done, despite acknowledging that when he arrived at UCSF with a degree in chemistry, he "had little genetics background." What he did possess was a deep longing for Northern California and UCSF — a legacy school. Indeed, when he was preparing for his graduate school entrance exams, he even used a picture of the Transamerica Building as motivation.
In the years since his arrival in the Bay Area, Seibold has decided upon his quest: to understand the genetics of asthma risk and the differential response to asthma drugs among ethnic populations. He has his sights set on an academic science career, the kind of principal investigator track that so many want and so few achieve.
To make the grade, you have to make an impression — and Seibold has definitely done that. Here are what two prominent UCSF researchers, asthma specialist Esteban Burchard, MD, and microbiology and immunology expert Richard Locksley, MD, have to say about the young man logging long hours at their lab benches.
"Max is hardworking, extremely self-motivated and possesses a level of maturity far beyond his years," says Burchard. "He thinks much more broadly than a typical graduate student and is now tops in his class. Considering that he does not come from a blueblood research background, his achievements are all that more impressive."
Locksley is equally complimentary. "Max is a genetics student who has been working with potential susceptibility loci for asthma among various Hispanic populations. Although he could find linkages, I think he was frustrated that proving causality was difficult. He approached me about studying one of these — an enzyme — by expressing each of the variants of the human gene as based on the sequence polymorphisms. He then tested the expressed enzymes to see whether they had different biochemical characteristics."
His objective? Put simply, Seibold wants to determine whether the reason for the genetic risk he has observed is due to some enzymes performing their biological functions better or worse than others.
Typically, says Locksley, Seibold has encountered all the difficulties that arise when "you go to the bench to study very basic things." But, he adds, Seibold has demonstrated great perseverance. "He has expressed each of the human variants and worked out biologic assays for testing each of them under very controlled conditions. He is a very committed guy, and really wants to make a difference in understanding this complex human disease."
Seibold is far too modest to trumpet his success. Nor does he abjure his roots. "I'm just a country boy. I didn't know any of this could happen."
Still, what urban natives often forget is that while Seibold might not have been cut out to show cattle or work with animals, he is still an Oklahoma guy, who makes regular visits home and who acknowledges that his inherent conservatism sometimes clashes with the Bay Area's prevailing cultural winds.
"I sometimes feel out of place here or at odds," he admits, but occasional disenchantment pales besides the opportunities, which include nonscientific ones like the region's many hiking trails. "I'm a fanatic hiker."
As for his dream of being a pharmacist, well, he didn't exactly walk away from that career, either; his wife is a practicing pharmacist in the East Bay. In short, Seibold is just another — and frequently overlooked — example of the fact that when it comes to students, UCSF often gets as good as it gives.
Photo/Majed
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