Al-Amn Magazine

international meetings for the American Association for Cancer Research. He also presented at the BYU Cancer Symposium alongside the BYU Simmons Center for Cancer Research, where he spoke about his journey into cancer research. No stranger to a full schedule, Ewell volunteered at Utah Valley Hospital as part of his MD-PhD preparation, where he worked in wound care, the emergency department, and operating rooms. Last summer, he also completed an internship at Tolero Pharmaceuticals in Lehi, where he focused on identifying a particular protein that facilitated the development of cancer cells. The research required intense and precise work that was also incredibly rewarding. While cancer research is Ewell’s primary field of study, he has many interests and will also graduate with a minor in music. Ewell has played the piano since he was three and a half years old and the organ since he was 14. He played the organ during a student devotional with Elder Bednar and has also played the piano with local jazz performing groups. When he is not playing music or busy with school, Ewell enjoys hiking, reading, and cooking with his wife. After graduation, Ewell will continue working in cancer research with a local pharmaceutical start-up while he applies for MD-PhD programs. He hopes that one day he will become an immuno-oncologist where he can use and modify the immune system to treat cancer. Ewell reflects fondly on his experience at BYU as one that was spiritually uplifting and intellectually enlarging. He appreciates many of his professors who helped him learn he was not just understanding science on its own: “The things we do in the lab give us insight into how God works too.” Zach is excited to continue exploring the building blocks of life. “When you look at the sheer complexity of the cell, how intricate mechanisms all work together, then you can see how everything comes together on a bigger scale,” he says. lifesciences.byu.edu