Dispatch from a Baylor Summer Fellow 2026 | Jack Ryder
Looking back, spending an entire summer in Dr. Dungan's Exercise Physiology lab through the B-TRUE summer fellows program has brought me far beyond muscular biology; it's significantly contributed to the formation of the individual I strive to be. Beyond the myonuclear domain theory and differing roles of p21 in the cytoplasm and nucleus, more significantly, I've been taught the purpose of service, living out regarding the needs of others daily higher than my own, and growing into the unique grace God has given me in specific passions to promote the common good.
Primarily, this internship fruitfully pruned and transformed every ounce of entitlement I had coming in. Daily, I've been challenged; as I performed repetitive tasks, I had to rid myself of any expectation of what I thought I would get to do. Specifically, imaging hundreds of muscle fibers on the microscope, quantifying myonuclei and collecting cross-sectional area of fibers through image analysis, and translating it all to Microsoft Excel every day grew tiresome at times. Still, it's what our lab needed for our projects to progress. Thus, knowing the needs of who I was serving and who I am working for provided a means of exercising humility, as my perspective has rightfully evolved to understand that the research experience, in the slightest, isn't about me.
Secondly, the work I've gotten to do this summer has allowed me to deepen my comprehension of who is actually being served by my work. Before I began research last fall, I would have said the primary investigator or the scientific community by publishing work that demonstrates the efficacy of our senolytics. Yet, this summer has furthered my understanding that my work is oriented to the common good, which includes a group years down the line that I may never actually interact with or see. Furthermore, it may directly provide new pharmaceutical therapies if our compounds are discovered to be effective or indirectly prevent other muscle biologists from hypothesizing the same thing. However, this experience has shown me that the work of a servant is carried out regardless of the immediate outcome or impact it may have on people we may never know.
Lastly, this summer has revealed to me clearly the joy of living into the specific interests that have been given to me throughout my life. At first, I pursued the research group I'm a part of because of skeletal muscles' overlap in health and fitness that is relevant to the hobbies of my life. Still, from my first conversation with my mentor to this moment, my mind has been transformed to understand its significance in every individual's quality of life. Therefore, this summer has equipped me to intentionally foster, through occupation, a way of translating personal passions beyond my own Ironman training, nutrition, and lifting into a drive that goes beyond myself to enhance the quality of many lives in more critical circumstances than my own.
As a hopeful future healthcare professional, this summer internship has taught me the importance of understanding: why I serve, who I serve, and how passion can be multiplied for the benefit of others. I have learned not only to prioritize others above myself, but also to have numerous opportunities to live it out in practical ways. Altogether, it's given me a deeper understanding of the beauty of challenge, humility, and my specific talents I've been given, and how I ought to steward them as a means of service to promote flourishing from here onward for my community and for those all around the world.
Jack Ryder-Baylor Business Fellow