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University of St. Thomas Student To Graduate Among First Class of Bioinformatics Majors
5/5/2008
 Future dental patients may have the chance to receive progressive procedures and treatments, all because Kayleigh Eaves, a University of St. Thomas graduate and aspiring dentist, took a chance on being one of the first students in the new degree field of bioinformatics.
Eaves will graduate on May 17, with a class of 350 undergraduate students and 425 graduate students. She will be among the first class to graduate with a degree in bioinformatics. She plans to continue her education and achieve her goal of becoming a dentist at Columbia University. As a bioinformatics major, chemistry and philosophy minor, Eaves cultivated an aptitude and love for research. Her research on the whitefly earned the respect of her peers and professors.
“Kayleigh Eaves is one of the best students that I have had the privilege to teach,” said Dr. Rosemarie Rosell, professor of biology. “As my research student, Kayleigh developed such excellent research skills in bioinformatics that she functioned as an independent researcher for the last year. She plans to use her research skills to advance the field of dentistry. I am blessed to have known her as a student and as a research collaborator. She is one of UST’s brightest stars.”
Eaves was the recipient of the Dr. Elizabeth Ann Peavy Endowed Scholarship in Biology for the 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 school years. The late Dr. Elizabeth Ann Peavy, daughter of Odis and Carol Peavy, graduated from UST in 1980. Peavy practiced dentistry for 10 years before her death in 1994.
Introduced at UST in 2004, bioinformatics is a fast growing, and newly emerging, field in the life sciences which combines advanced skills from biology, computer science and mathematics to allow graduates to analyze data generated by genome and proteome research. UST was among the first universities nationwide to offer bioinformatics as a major at the undergraduate level.
“I chose to major in bioinformatics because I was more interested in molecular biology and genomic studies than traditional biology. It was more chemistry-based and mathematically challenging, and I wanted to maximize on that,” Eaves said.
In addition to bioinformatics and her research, Eaves was also in the pre-dental program. Over the past four years, UST graduates have had a 71 percent acceptance rate to dental school.
In high school, Eaves knew she wanted to pursue a career in the medical field.
“I thought I wanted to be a doctor, but I did a summer program at the University of Texas Medical School, and I knew I didn’t want that lifestyle.” After “shadowing,” or observing her family dentist and numerous other dentists, Eaves found her calling.
“Dentistry is a very hands-on field where I can establish long-lasting relationships with people. It’s challenging, because every person is different, and everybody has different needs. One of the reasons I want to go to Columbia is because I want to specialize, possibly in prosthodontics, or working with complex prosthetics and restorative dental medicine,” Eaves said.
Her ultimate goal, however, is to teach at a dental school. While at UST, Eaves worked at the Learning and Writing Center and at Kaplan.
“To me, teaching is one of the most fulfilling aspects of my life. My goal is to couple my love for helping people through dentistry and teaching in order to truly achieve a fulfilling life, personally and professionally,” she said.
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