(Left to right) Kathryn Sandretto '01, Cynthia Bruno '01, and Rachel Fink, associate professor of biological sciences, view Bruno's video of a two-headed hydra. Photo by Paul Schnaitacher.

Kathryn “Katie” Sandretto '01 took a computer science course her first semester at Mount Holyoke “for practical reasons.” To her surprise, she became “absolutely addicted.” Biology and chemistry were her first loves, however, and she doubted that the wired world of computer chips could ever match the mesmerizing magic of living cells and chemicals.

Never say never. Now in her final year at the College, Sandretto, has found the perfect merging of her passions. A biology major minoring in chemistry, she has managed to make computer science an integral part of her work. Vertex Pharmaceutical, a company in Cambridge, Massachusetts, known for using computer modeling in drug design and improvement, has hired Sandretto for a position that combines science and technology. Sandretto was first introduced to Vertex during an internship last summer and will now spend her spring semester in the company's Cambridge lab working on her MHC thesis. Her official full-time position as assistant scientist will commence in the summer.

Sandretto's work at Vertex, and the focus of her thesis, will involve identifying which drugs bind with which protein complexes in the human body. The ultimate goal of this work is to discover pharmaceutical cures. “It's like finding a needle in a haystack,” says Sandretto. With the aid of molecular models on the computer, however, the process is being streamlined. At Vertex, she will be helping to improve efficiency in one area of this cutting-edge process.

At Mount Holyoke, Sandretto found ample opportunity to develop her computer skills, through “tech jobs.” She worked as a teacher's assistant for Computer Science 101 and as a technology consultant at Dwight Hall. While these positions helped her gain confidence on the computer, she first witnessed the exciting effects of combining technology and science in a biology course with Rachel Fink, associate professor of biological sciences. The course, The Cellular and Molecular Basis for Development, gave Sandretto a unique opportunity to work as the class Web technologist in the creation of Web movies that capture cellular processes. These time-lapse motion pictures are made by attaching a video camera to a microscope. Sandretto mastered the process of converting the video footage for the Web.

In preparation for her film work, and in collaboration with Fink, she attended training sessions funded by an Andrew Mellon Foundation grant intended to encourage the development of Web-based curriculum projects. Sandretto was able to “get Rachel set up in her office, so she wouldn't have to make the long trek to Dwight” to convert the film. For Fink, a specialist in video microscopy, it was a dream come true. For Sandretto, it helped sow the seeds for a future in the high-tech, hybrid field of molecular modeling. “It's like doing two fields at once,” she says. “The work with Rachel Fink made me think I wanted to do more of that—to use technology to better understand science. I really enjoy it, and Vertex got me very excited.”

While Sandretto's passionate commitment to her work is palpable, she is also candid about her fears. She expects the transition from college life to professional life will be hard at first. “It's so scary,” she says. “I'm going to miss Mount Holyoke. I really love it here.” In the spring, Sandretto will present her thesis, unofficially titled “Combining Predictors of Protein-Ligand Binding Energy,” at the MHC Science Symposium. Graduate school, she says, may be in her future, “but only after I have worked several years.”