[High energy music]
[Rommie]: My name is Rommie Amaro.
Yeah, we're definitely ready.
Here we go.
Wow.
[Narrator]: Rommie is one scientist who's always who's always trying something new...
both at play- and at work.
[Rommie]: You see that hole, where it just really binds inside? That's fantastic.
I am a computational and theoretical biophysical chemist.
[Narrator]: Whoa. Say again?
[Rommie]: I am a computational and theoretical biophysical chemist.
[Narrator]: That's a mouthful.
What Rommie does is study the structure and behavior of
molecules to find better drug treatments for certain diseases.
[Rommie]: What three things are you showing here?
[Man]: I was doing interactions with...
[Rommie]: We are currently working on African Sleeping Sickness and
Avian influenza or bird flu.
[Narrator]: It's a job that combines biology, chemistry, physics,
computer science and math... so for Rommie,
being a chemist was just the beginning.
[Rommie]: After I graduated from the University of Illinois in
chemical engineering, I went to work for Kraft Foods
doing really traditional chemical engineering type projects.
Actually working on Philadelphia cream cheese,
which was actually a lot of fun.
[Narrator]: Always looking for a challenge,
and to make a real difference,
Rommie went on to get her PHD,
and found her way to UCSD's
center for theoretical biological physics.
Where collaboration is a huge part of discovering new drug treatments.
[Rommie]: I think a lot of people have this idea that
scientists work alone in either the lab or their office
and they don’t talk a lot to other people
but that is really not at all the case.
Here we have the same thing happening with this group, situating itself.
[Narrator]: Rommie works closely with supercomputer scientists,
computer imaging designers, and lots of other scientific experts throughout the research process.
[Rommie]: We start with a protein structure and then we use our
programs to basically build a simulated system.
[Narrator]: Once they've simulated the protein system with computers,
they can then use computers to prectict how the protein systems act,
and how a drug can actually change the structure of a molecule.
[Rommie]: Once we have the data from our molecular dynamic simulations
we can visualize how these proteins are moving
either on our normal computer screens such as at my desktop
or in a 3D visualization center or in a virtual reality center.
This is a protein that is involved in African sleeping sickness.
So we are trying to develop drugs that actually will bind inside
this protein and prevent it from working.
So this is really great.
Typically this is something that is about a billionth of a meter in size.
[Narrator]: From there, Rommie collaborates with
lab scientists to verify her computer models,
and success means possibly a new drug that will save lives.
[Rommie]: It’s a really fantastic feeling.
[Narrator]: But it also means a lot of work - and patience.
[Rommie]: Its one of the most fun parts of science
when you do actually get it to work because it’s
a discovery and its very exciting but along the way
it can also be extremely frustrating when you are sitting in the lab
for a long time and it's not working.
[Narrator]: Long hours and dedication are always part of the job.
[Rommie]: Really, for me it doesn't feel like work. Science is really a lifestyle. It's a hobby.
Definitely its an intense job. But it's not like a typical 40 hour work week.
I'm just wondering-- the x, I can't-
[Scientist]: Oh, it's a time stamp.
[Narrator]: Being a biophysical chemist is financially rewarding but the best benefits of this job
are the fringe benefits because you get to travel,
you get to feel really good about the work that you are doing.
You get to work with outstanding colleagues.
[Narrator]: Rommie also makes time for herself - either to chill, or to crank it up a notch.
race. I feel fantastic.
I absolutely love working out. I love doing triathlon sports and running.
[Narrator]: Whether she's working out, flying over the ocean, or diving under it...
[Rommie]: That was awesome.
[Narrator]: ...Rommie always leaves room for friends and family.
[Rommie]: You don't want to miss that one.
For me that is very important so I have always tried to maintain that in my life.
[Narrator]: What's it take to become a computational and theoretical biophysical chemist?
[Rommie]: You probably are going to take a lot of math courses –
maybe some computer science courses, lab courses,
of course a lot of chemistry courses.
You get to take a lot of courses in engineering as well as the traditional science areas.
[Narrator]: So for Rommie, science is an adventure of a lifetime.
[Rommie]: Here we go, yeah.
When you get to combine love of science and love of discovering
and exciting new things with your job it just is a really rewarding experience.
[Jurgen]: Beautiful. Now we can see the surface of the protein.
[Rommie]: I definitely feel like the work that I am doing
is going to have a positive outcome in this world.
[High energy music]
When you're a scientist the skies the limit.
This is awesome.
Sweet!
That was incredible!
Awesome!