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For many years, Durham-based Gary Cantor has been pursuing his education and career goals with immense drive and passion. He was barely a teenager when a YouTube video forever changed his vision for his life, but also provided the inspiration needed for his long-held aspirations. Aiming now for a career in medical research -- specifically focused on the human genome and how it operates -- Cantor has earned a Bachelor of Science in biology from the University of Florida and studies today at the University of North Carolina. There, in Durham, Gary Cantor is a fourth year PhD candidate in the genetics and molecular biology department after complete one year in the biological and biomedical sciences program. It is not an exaggeration to say that Gary Cantor always wanted a career in the medical field. When he was just a young boy in Coral Springs, Florida, he watched the medical reality show, “Trauma: Life in the ER,” as often as possible. Some say he was addicted, but he would say he was fascinated. It was then that he decided his goal was to save lives and provide hope to people without it. At first, he wanted to be a surgeon, but that changed when Gary was about 13. That was when Gary Cantor, Durham researcher of the future, came upon a YouTube video as he surfed the Internet. The video was posted by Dr. Aubrey de Grey, who was a biomedical gerontologist who propagated a fervent belief that medical research could make it so that humans could eventually live for as much as 1,000 years. From that point on, Gary Cantor studied his way to his current status as a Durham medical researcher of great renown. Gary Cantor Durham grew up in the 1990s in Coral Springs, Florida, where he enjoyed watching television shows like Trauma: Life in the ER. This television show, likely long-forgotten by most, made a lasting impact on Gary Cantor Durham. At that time, he was incredibly impressed by how each of the doctors worked to lengthen the life of their patients, whether in the short-term or long-term. It was then that he was convinced he wanted to be a medical doctor or surgeon. This was before, though. Before Gary Cantor Durham watched a youtube video of Dr. Aubrey De Grey, a biomedical gerontologist who exposed him to the ideas of regenerative medicine at a young age of thirteen. Durham wrote an email, hoping to speak with Dr. De Grey and even received a reply back, inviting him to a conference. Today, Gary Cantor Durham is a member of the Genetic and Molecular Biology department at the University of North Carolina, where he is a fourth year Ph.D. He is still just as consumed by the topic, perhaps moreso, as he was when he first saw that video. It has blossomed into a passion and a career in the making. He is excited to begin a career in which he can continue learning about genetics, molecular biology, and studying aging in a more focus manner. At a very young age, Gary Cantor, Durham researcher, wanted a career in medicine, as a surgeon. Why? Because he was fascinated with medicine and surgeons looked the coolest to a little boy in Coral Springs, Florida, which is where he was born and raised. While that dream would change when he entered his teen years, Gary Cantor knew that he wanted a career in the medical field. He was just 13 when Gary Cantor’s medical dream experienced something of a shift. He happened to see a video of Dr. Aubrey de Grey, a biomedical gerontologist. That video and his subsequent correspondence with Dr. DeGrey convinced Gary that his future was in medical research. By unlocking the secrets of the human genome, he and other researchers could create life expectancies up to, and possibly exceeding, 1,000 years. He wanted to get into medical research so much that he studied biology at the University of Florida and became a medical researcher as soon as he could. He worked in his first research lab while still a teen. One sumner, he even went to San Francisco, to work as an intern for Genentech. Working in their Translational Oncology Department, Gary Cantor was part of a critical research team looking into a groundbreaking treatment for breast cancer. After Florida, Gary Cantor made Durham his home, when he was accepted into the Biological and Biomedical Sciences Program (BBSP) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he also joined the university's Genetics and Molecular Biology Department. It’s hard to believe he is still just 26 because Gary Cantor, Durham researcher, is now a Ph.D. candidate. He believes his medical research career is just beginning. He has a long way to go. Still only in his 20s, Gary Cantor, Durham researcher is now a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate who wants to help move medical science forward for a long time. At his age, one would think he was just getting started, but he’s been interested in medical research for some time. He always wanted a career in medicine, but at the age of 13 he came upon a YouTube video of Dr. Aubrey de Grey, a biomedical gerontologist who believed that medical research could make humans live for 1,000 years.
Gary Cantor corresponded with Dr. DeGrey for a while and decided that the field of medical research was where he should be. He was still a teen when he began working as a medical researcher at the University of Florida. After completing his studies at Florida, Cantor was accepted into the Biological and Biomedical Sciences Program (BBSP) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which is why, for Gary Cantor, Durham is how home. It’s right down the road and where he wants to be. When Gary Cantor, Durham, North Carolina medical professional, was a young man, he stumbled upon a Youtube video of Dr. Aubrey de Grey. It was in watching this video that he discovered the world of Biomedical Gerontology. This discovery helped narrow his field in order to pursue a career that would give people hope for longer, healthier lives not just through surgery, his current field at the time, but through research as well. Gary Cantor was later accepted into the Biological and Biomedical Sciences Program (also known as BBSP) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and then went on to join the Genetics and Molecular Biology department where he is currently a fourth year PH. D. candidate in the Durham, North Carolina area.
From the time he was a young boy in Coral Springs, Florida, and Gary Cantor was fascinated by “Trauma: Life in the ER,” a medical TV reality show, he knew medicine was a calling. At first, he wanted to be a surgeon because they seemed to be the coolest doctors in any hospital. However, that dream changed when he was searching YouTube and came upon a video from Dr. Aubrey de Grey. Dr. de Grey is a biomedical gerontologist, and he seems certain that medical research could create life expectancies as high as 1,000 years.
For a while, Gary Cantor conducted a correspondence with Dr. de Grey and decided that medical research was the field. When the time came, he studied biology at the University of Florida and became a medical researcher early on, working in his first lab while he was still just a teenager. He also completed a four-month internship with Genentech, in their Translational Oncology department in San Francisco, where he worked with a research team that was working on a very important treatment for breast cancer. Following his studies at the University of Florida, Cantor was accepted into the Biological and Biomedical Sciences Program (BBSP) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which was an exciting development for him. There, he also joined the university's Genetics and Molecular Biology Department. That is why, these days, as far as he is concerned, to Gary Cantor, Durham is home. Currently a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate at the tender age of 26, Gary is likely to be moving medical science forward for decades to come. Gary Cantor studied biology at the University of Florida and he became a medical researcher early on. He started working with his first lab when he was still a teenager. While he studied at the University of Florida, he went to San Francisco for four months, where he worked as an intern for Genentech in their Translational Oncology department, where he worked on a very important treatment for breast cancer.
All of this seems natural looking back. Even as a young boy in Coral Springs, Florida, where he was born and raised, Gary Cantor wanted a career in medicine. At first, he used to watch a medical reality show on TV and admired the doctors who worked so hard to save people's lives and it made him realize that he wanted to do the same thing when he grew up. Gary Cantor's dream of being a great surgeon took a bit of a shift when he was 13, however, when he saw a YouTube video of Dr. Aubrey de Grey, a biomedical gerontologist who believed that medical research could create life expectancies of as much as 1,000 years. He corresponded with Dr. de Grey and learned that he wanted to do such research. He now sees the human body as an advanced computer and believes that anyone with knowledge of its instruction manual (genome), can possibly make the computer run forever. After completing his studies at Florida, Cantor was accepted into the Biological and Biomedical Sciences Program (BBSP) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he also joined the university's Genetics and Molecular Biology Department. Still only 26 and a Ph.D. candidate, Gary Cantor is just starting to move medical science forward. |