Dr. Smith Goes to Washington

Lorenzo Smith takes his passion for science all the way to Capitol Hill

PhD candidate Lorenzo Smith recently experienced his first Hill Day with the Endocrine Society’s advocacy team and discusses what the lawmakers shared with him about the importance of scientific research, as well as the heartfelt reason he first became interested in a career devoted to creating therapies to help others.

Lorenzo Smith attributes part of his early-career success to the many teachers and mentors who encouraged him to pursue a life in science or research. And as one of the Endocrine Society’s most dedicated advocates on Capitol Hill, he now makes it his mission to pay it forward to help others benefit from the research discoveries of scientists like him.

Smith, who is a fifth-year PhD candidate at Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, was recently chosen as a 2024 Howard Garrison Advocacy Fellow of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB). Endocrine News spoke with Smith to learn more about his early research career goals and what motivates him to walk the halls of Capitol Hill.

Endocrine News: How did endocrinology become your area of research study?

Smith: My undergraduate training at the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point was actually in biochemistry. So, I did a lot of chemistry research as an undergrad, and I was hoping to begin to better understand how I could use my chemistry research background and intersect that with biological research. That led me to these biomedical umbrella programs throughout the United States for PhD students.

I was accepted into the biomedical PhD program here in Utah, and one of my first-year rotations was in the lab of Katie Basham, PhD, who is now my advisor. She had an interesting project looking at the effects of aging biology on the development of adrenal cancer, and I was really excited about the project. That’s when my endocrine journey really began.

“I think many scientists should think about how valuable they are, how valuable it is for them to be in the positions they are in today, and how they should utilize their platform to give back. To me, it only makes sense to use my educational training and pay it forward in any way I can.” —  Lorenzo Smith, PhD candidate, Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah

EN: Was it that early research project that sparked the research you’re working on now?

Smith: In Dr. Basham’s research group, we’re interested in understanding adrenocortical carcinoma, or ACC, which is a type of cancer that arises in the adrenal gland.ACC is quite poorly understood, and current strategies to treat patients with advanced ACC are largely ineffective. So, looking at my project specifically, I’m investigating how the biology of aging contributes to the development of the disease, and something to point out is, like other cancers, the likelihood of developing ACC increases with advancing age. Yet, intriguingly, we still grapple with understanding how the biology of aging supports tumor development and progression, especially in under-studied cancers like ACC.

EN: Let’s talk about your other interest.You also do quite a bit of advocacy work on Capitol Hill. What are the chief issues that spurred you to start advocacy work on behalf of the Endocrine Society?

Smith: I’ve always been drawn to service and have always felt a need to give back. I grew up as a first-generation student in a low-income household, and I understand how easy it could have been for me to not attend college and not be the scientist I am today.Without the teachers and mentors who believed in me, I wouldn’t have had the confidence, or even the basic understanding of to how to pursue science or research, and even more so without educational scholarships or training programs.

I think many scientists should think about how valuable they are, how valuable it is for them to be in the positions they are in today, and how they should utilize their platform to give back. To me, it only makes sense to use my educational training and pay it forward in any way I can.

I think my biggest motivation for pursuing scientific training is because I thought I could utilize and leverage my scientific training to help people. Perhaps one of the hardest things I’ve experienced was watching my older sister develop schizophrenia. I think for people who are familiar with how schizophrenia works, I feel like I had lost my sister who was really my childhood best friend, to a disease that dramatically changed her personality. So, for reasons like this, I understand how difficult diseases are to deal with, not only for an individual, but also for the family. And as an undergrad, this motivated me to pursue a research career in sciences, because I thought I could at least help initiate progress in preventing the ability for diseases to end or dramatically change the close relationships that we have in our life.

I think something we really need to think about as scientists, we put so much time and work into trying to establish new treatments, but if those treatments cannot be accessed by the majority of people who could benefit the most, then really, what’s the point of the work we do?

EN: When you contact our representatives in Congress, are they receptive to listening to scientists like yourself?

Smith: Absolutely! In September, I attended the Rally for Medical Research on Capitol Hill [Hill Day] and met with the teams of my state representatives to discuss the importance of scientific research.Our big ask was for them to try to promote higher budget appropriations for NIH funding to support more research. The resounding message from all the teams was “Yes, scientific research is so important for our society.”

“I think something we really need to think about as scientists, we put so much time and work into trying to establish new treatments, but if those treatments cannot be accessed by the majority of people who could benefit the most, then really, what’s the point of the work we do?”  —  Lorenzo Smith, PhD candidate, Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah

EN: How does the 10-month Howard Garrison Advocacy Fellowship dovetail in your long-term career goals?

Smith: I wasn’t aware of the FASEB Fellowship until the policy team at the Endocrine Society told me about the opportunity. They’ve been exceptional for providing me with opportunities like the day on Capitol Hill, and then also sharing opportunities like this that I can apply for. The program begins with introductory coursework into science policy and how government systems operate, and we also are trained in our policy-writing skills, by writing a science policy memo to a science agency in the federal government. I feel really lucky to be a part of the program. It has really opened my eyes to the many comprehensive ways policy is constructed, especially for science.

-Shaw is a freelance writer based in Carmel, Ind. She’s regular contributor to Endocrine News and author of Laboratory Notes.