“I have an awesome quote. A book I read, it says ‘science never ends,’” said Dr. Moriah Beck, assistant professor of biochemistry.

Beck works in her lab and small corner office on the fourth floor of McKinley Hall, though the size of her workspace doesn’t compare to the size of her contributions to the world of biochemistry.

Beck has come a long way from her days as a forensic science major at Eastern Kentucky University. After realizing that forensic science would become very routine as a career, she decided to study biochemistry, receiving her doctorate from Washington University in St. Louis, Mo. Following that, she completed post-doctorate studies at the University of North Carolina.

“I never wanted to leave school,” she said. “I’m here again!”

At UNC, Dr. Beck collaborated with Dr. Carol Otey, professor and interim co-chair of the Department of Cell Biology and Physiology.

“She immediately made very rapid progress,” Otey said when describing her work with proteins. After UNC, Beck landed at WSU, where she has continued to explore the correlation between proteins and their role in the spread of cancer.

“Surviving cancer hinges greatly on whether the affected cells spread to other parts of the body or not,” said Ty Dille, a WSU student who works with Dr. Beck. “The research done in Dr. Beck’s lab at Wichita State continues to contribute to the ongoing effort to learn more about cancer so that treatments can ultimately be developed to save lives.”

“Right now, there are not many treatment options for patients whose cancer has metastasized,” said Dr. Otey. “So the real importance of Moriah’s work is that it may lay the foundation for therapies that could help a group of patients who really need better options.”

Beck’s work with protein relationships could mean change in the drug design process for cancer treatment. Beck and her team aim to present their research to drug designers. The hope is that new drugs can be made to stop cancerous growth.

Until then, Beck plans to keep doing what she’s doing.

“I think I like the atmosphere of the whole career, you know, constantly learning new things.”