Class of 2026: William Thomas explores biology, medicine and his own disease

William Thomas' emerging career in biology began with a moment of kindness. His high school biology teacher in Stafford County planned to lead a class lesson about sickle cell disease, but she reached out first to Thomas and his family.

Thomas has the disease, and his teacher wanted to make sure her student was prepared to learn about it in class.

"I was like, OK, that's really cool," said Thomas, a biology major and chemistry minor who graduates this spring from Virginia Commonwealth University's College of Humanities and Sciences. "That got me even more connected with biology, even though what she did wasn't really scientific. It was an emotional connection in a way."

Thomas went on to serve as a biology class assistant for that same teacher, and he took AP Biology with her during his junior year. His interest in the field extended to VCU, and he saw medical school in his future. He still hopes to become a medical doctor, but Thomas has also dived into research - including the pursuit of a cure for his own condition, which has tested him along the way.

During freshman year, Thomas was hospitalized with complications from sickle cell disease. That challenge, he said, pushed him to cultivate a more positive mindset, which he believes has helped him manage his disease in the years since.

"That hospital experience taught me more about myself, and how having an open mindset can really help my condition," he said.

Afterward, Thomas' research journey took off. His first experience came through a National Institutes of Health research training program, led at VCU by Sarah Golding, Ph.D., from the Office of the Provost, and Carlos Escalante, Ph.D., a professor in the School of Medicine. The summer after his sophomore year, he started work in the lab of Martin Safo, Ph.D., in the School of Pharmacy's Department of Medicinal Chemistry, researching how to best stabilize a sickle cell disease drug developed by the lab.

"Prior to this, I had no idea that sickle cell research was even going on at VCU," said Thomas, who continued working in the Safo lab throughout his junior year. "I got to learn more about myself, more about my condition and also how research works. Dr. Safo was an excellent mentor for teaching me how scientists critically think."

Last summer, Thomas participated in a research program aimed at potential joint M.D./Ph.D. degree applicants at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, where Thomas is originally from and where much of his extended family still lives. In that program, he researched how white blood cells can fight cancers like lymphoma.

That experience led Thomas, during his senior year at VCU, to study the progression and metastasis of small cell lung cancer with S. Patrick Nana-Sinkam, M.D., of the School of Medicine's Department of Internal Medicine.

Outside the lab, Thomas has also helped others find their own research experiences and mentors. He has served on the outreach committee of VCU P.R.I.M.E., which supports students with nontraditional backgrounds as they prepare for and apply to medical school, and is a member of VCU's Black Men in Medicine.

Thomas did find time at VCU to forge fun connections with his fellow Rams. His favorite experiences, he said, have been the three summers he served as a group leader and student director of Ram Camp, VCU's summer orientation program for incoming freshmen.

"It was nice just seeing how the students grew out of their shells," he said. "I was able to give them the ins and outs of everything because I've been in their shoes."

After graduation, Thomas will return to St. Louis to work in the same lab where he completed his summer research. He then plans to apply to joint M.D./Ph.D. programs, buoyed by the support of his family and VCU mentors - and inspired to uplift others.

"I'm really interested in giving back, because I've had mentors throughout my life that have given to me," Thomas said. "And I wouldn't be in the position that I'm in right now, had I not had that help."