{"id":126617,"date":"2022-05-09T09:32:25","date_gmt":"2022-05-09T13:32:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=126617"},"modified":"2023-01-13T15:05:34","modified_gmt":"2023-01-13T20:05:34","slug":"his-research-is-personal-and-it-could-change-millions-of-lives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/his-research-is-personal-and-it-could-change-millions-of-lives\/","title":{"rendered":"His Research is Personal \u2014 and it Could Change Millions of Lives"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>For all his knowledge about complex topics like robotics and cell biology, <strong>Chris Clifford \u201921<\/strong> does not know how to simply decompress. Clifford finished his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/degree\/electrical-engineering-bsee\/\">electrical engineering degree<\/a> in December, and was the first student at UCF to be offered the Gates Cambridge Scholar, which is one of the most competitive postgraduate scholarships in the world. \u00a0Opting for another prestigious path, Clifford will be heading to Harvard-MIT in the fall to pursue his Ph.D. in bioengineering and continue his ongoing research in stem-cell therapy.<\/p>\n<p>For the next few months, though, no one would shame Clifford for watching <em>Ozark<\/em> past midnight and sleeping until noon.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, he\u2019s up at 5:45 a.m.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a lot I want to accomplish before I leave,\u201d Clifford says.<\/p>\n<p>Start with the robot he designed for his senior project. It\u2019s been graded and evaluated, but Clifford will not shove the prototype under a bed as a college memento. He\u2019s perfecting the kinetics so medical researchers can actually use the robot to delicately transfer chemicals between plates of cells without using their hands. Clifford saw a need for precise automation during three summers interning in Mayo Clinic labs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ll donate the robot to Mayo when it\u2019s finished,\u201d he says matter-of-factly.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cMy only objective is to make progress with the stem-cell therapy.\u201d \u2014 <strong>Chris Clifford \u201921<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>When he isn\u2019t working on the robot, Clifford is working in a lab at AdventHealth where he continues the momentum he\u2019s established on a potential cure for Type 1 diabetes (T1D). He thinks it\u2019s silly to wonder why he\u2019d volunteer his time and expertise when he could be on a boat.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy only objective is to make progress with the stem-cell therapy,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>In all of his spare time between making a lab-ready robot and curing T1D, Clifford is studying for his pilot\u2019s license.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s an outlet for my engineering education,&#8221; Clifford says. &#8220;There\u2019s a lot going on all at once in the cockpit \u2014 flight regulations, lift, safety, fuel dynamics. I find that enjoyable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A couple of questions come to mind: <em>Does this guy have 36-hour days<\/em>? <em>And, by the way, how does a 23-year-old in an electrical engineering program get involved in \u2026 stem-cell research<\/em>?<\/p>\n<p>The answer to that last question is tucked under Clifford\u2019s waistband.<\/p>\n<h2>How an Engineer Becomes a Medical Researcher<\/h2>\n<p>It should be no surprise that Clifford studied engineering at UCF. He grew up in Titusville, 20 minutes from the NASA Causeway Bridge. Both of his parents are engineers. One sister graduated with an engineering degree from UCF two years before Clifford did the same. Another sister is a pediatrician.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy mom has always told us to do what we love,\u201d Clifford says. \u201cMy sister who\u2019s the pediatrician became a role model for her work in medicine. That was important when my life changed so much when I was 14.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cMy mom has always told us to do what we love.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>On a flight to visit family in upstate New York the summer before his freshman year of high school, a strange thirst overwhelmed Clifford. He had to urinate constantly, too. A few days later his uncle took him in for tests, which revealed Clifford had T1D. The first year of high school would be stressful enough, but now he had the added pressure of checking his blood sugar throughout the day and worrying if at any moment he might collapse in front of everyone. At lunch he\u2019d find empty classrooms and crawl under desks to inject insulin. It was easier to hide than to explain to other teenagers what he was doing. He didn\u2019t realize it at the time, but at least two other classmates were doing the exact same thing.<\/p>\n<p>Every day he thought, \u201cThere has to be a better way to deal with Type 1 diabetes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When he entered UCF, Clifford didn\u2019t know anything about lab research and he certainly didn\u2019t foresee an interest in stem cells.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt just \u2026 <em>happened<\/em>,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>As a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/college\/burnett-honors-college\/\">Burnett Honors Scholar<\/a>, Clifford had the opportunity to work in a lab with Sam Song, an associate professor in UCF\u2019s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. They explored a method where people in sensitive situations (combat or law enforcement) could use vibrations in garments to communicate, without making noise. They also worked on improving the process of harvesting cartilage for grafts. In that lab, the \u201cwhat-ifs\u201d began to pour from Clifford\u2019s inquisitive mind. During that first semester, he also came across something else he didn\u2019t expect at UCF: a T1D club.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnless you live with diabetes on a daily basis, you have no idea how mentally taxing it is,\u201d Clifford says. \u201cYou\u2019re always thinking about the insulin. You hope the beeper on your pump doesn\u2019t go off in class. You have to explain to your professors why you might be snacking. There\u2019s the concern about insurance and how to pay for supplies. The people in the [Type 1] club became my best friends because we could all relate to the nuances of the disease.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>They also helped Clifford clarify his purpose: To bring normalcy to the lives of everyone who\u2019s diagnosed with T1D.<\/p>\n<h2>From UCF to Harvard<\/h2>\n<p>Four years of stem-cell research and a series of internships later, Clifford will take everything he\u2019s learned to Harvard, where he\u2019ll work alongside others who\u2019ve been chosen for their passion to use research on details as small as a stem cell to solve big problems. It also helps that Clifford can explain his work so anyone can appreciate it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTechnically, I could receive stem-cell therapy right now for my diabetes, but one of two things would happen,&#8221; he says. &#8220;My body would react by destroying healthy cells, or I\u2019d have to take immunosuppressant drugs with dangerous side effects. I\u2019m trying to find a way to protect the stem cells from the immune system so our bodies will accept them for long periods of time and allow the T1D to be alleviated. Eventually, we could apply it to other diseases, too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Clifford\u2019s progress obviously made his application for the Gates Cambridge scholarship stand out. So did his engineering degree, and the robot he\u2019s refining.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cThat\u2019s what I admired about the professors at UCF \u2014 they love what they do.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cBiology research labs like having someone who\u2019s experienced with software and programming,\u201d Clifford says.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps most important, though, is his determination find a solution for millions of people like him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s what I admired about the professors at UCF \u2014 they love what they do,\u201d he says. \u201cIt motivates them to be better every day. I want that, too, knowing my work will make a difference in the lives of people all over the world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Students interested in applying for the Gates Cambridge Scholarship or other major national awards should contact the Office of Prestigious Awards at\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"mailto:opa@ucf.edu\"><em>opa@ucf.edu<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>UCF alum\u00a0<strong>Chris Clifford \u201921<\/strong>\u00a0is determined to help cure Type 1 diabetes, the disease that once sent him into hiding.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":126618,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[15992,5,24],"tags":[18104,973,7301,14916,202],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-126617","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-colleges","category-science-technology","tag-academic-excellence","tag-college-of-engineering-and-computer-science","tag-office-of-prestigious-awards","tag-research","tag-alumni"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.3 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>His Research is Personal \u2014 and it Could Change Millions of Lives | University of Central Florida 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