Geoff Lynn works with adviser Dr. Joel Karty on a chemistry experiment. Lynn has presented his research fidings across the country.

Lynn has spent his time at Elon preparing for a successful future in the field of cancer research and is focused on doing something helpful for society.

Lynn currently has an interest in two different research areas: targeted drug delivery and hematopoietic stem cell research.

“I’m interested in both of those areas of research because I think they both have the potential to have the greatest impact on the medical field and the ways diseases are currently treated.”

But his desire to save the world was not long lived. After playing football in high school on the field where “The Waterboy” was filmed, Lynn came to Elon from Deland, Fla., for the sport.

He by no means expected to get as involved in the chemistry department as he did. However, very early on, even while he continued to play football his freshman year, he became very interested in Chemistry.

In the spring of his freshman year, with the help of Dr. Joel M. Karty, assistant professor of chemistry, who served as a mentor to Lynn during his time at Elon, Lynn gave his first SURF presentation.

Karty then convinced him to apply for the Summer Undergraduate Research Experience at Elon, and he was accepted.

“After just one year at Elon, I defined my goals and really got into research because of the professors here I was working with,” Lynn said.

He had never seen research as a way to make a difference in society; he thought medicine was the only option.

It wasn’t until the end of his freshman year that he realized how important it is and that he may actually be interested in research.

“People see a picture of Bill Nye, the stereotypical researcher, and they never think ‘Hey, I want to do that,’” Lynn said.

But during that summer, Lynn realized he did and how much he actually enjoyed research. He explained that he “could spend an obsessive amount of time on science and research.”

His freshman year really set the stage for him to do a lot of great things during his time at Elon, since most people don’t get started that early. After working with another student, Kyle Lunsford, both applied to present at a conference. They were only sophomores, but they walked away with second and third place.

His sophomore year, he also applied for the Barry Goldwater Scholarship, an incentive-based program created by the government that is rewarded to only 400 students in the science, math and engineering fields who have already done things and show potential. A committee at Elon nominates two students annually, but hasn’t had anyone receive this scholarship until Lynn, which is incredibly impressive for a sophomore.

The summer after his sophomore year, Lynn did an internship with the University of Notre Dame department of biochemistry and physical chemistry where he researched radiation therapy for cancer treatment.

In the summer of 2006, he was a fellow in the summer research training program at the University of California, San Francisco, where he worked to make a cancer imaging tool with some of the top researchers in the country.

He worked with targeted joint delivery, which is the idea that the drugs today can’t distinguish between different cells [cancerous or healthy]. But with this technology, it is possible to find a difference, and then create an imaging probe or drug that recognizes these cells.

Even though Lynn has the knowledge of science and research, he knows that most people don’t understand what he is talking about.

“I tell my parents what I do and they just seem confused. So I just tell them I kill cells,” Lynn said. “It’s like we’re the Unibomber and we’re sending explosives to the cancer cells, essentially.”

Lynn just received another big fellowship for graduate school, the National Science Foundation Graduate Research fellowship. It covers the full cost of tuition, plus a generous stipend.

He hasn’t decided which graduate school he wants to go to, but is planning to take a year off to work for a pharmaceutical company. He is graduating with a bachelor of science in chemistry, and a minor in biology.

He still hasn’t given up on medical school, and hopes to do a medical Ph.D. program. He will get a Ph.D. in a scientific field, but will also get a medical degree. This way, he will be able to “speak the language and still do the research a scientist can do. It gives the best of both worlds.”

He wants to do application research, or research with a specific goal in mind. This will have a direct impact on society, as opposed to fundamental research.