Thomas Chiulli is an alumnus of Brunswick County Early College High School and Graduated from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. He has now found a striving career in the biomedical field with hopes to further his research in the future.
“I felt more ahead in college” Chiulli states when asked how high school shaped him for college. In the interview, Chiulli states how life at BCECHS helped him to prepare for college with the help of many great teachers and peers. As Chiulli stepped into his junior and senior years of high school, he started to follow the path of biochemistry and engineering working with prosthetics.
Chiulli is currently working as a bioengineer in the department of clinical trials as an assistant for IMR which stands for the Institution for Medical Research. Right now his group is partnered with the VA mainly focusing on veterans but they are not limited to that.
Recently he and his team have been conducting lung cancer research. Chiulli stated “There is only so much I can disclose but in short we are hoping to have a minimally invasive way to detect cancer through a simple blood draw. At the very least be able to determine a patient’s disposition for that particular type of cancer based on the biomarkers we are able to collect from their blood.”
Doctors have to go through an entire technological process that takes time but with this innovation, the process could become a lot easier for the doctors and the patients.
As Chiulli’s career moves forward he has hopes to step up from the research department and advance to focus on more industrial-based positions. This position will be more hands-on and involve 3D modeling which is also known as Computer Automated Design known as CAD.
Chiulli says “I was adopted as a baby when my situation did not look good. My birth mother did drugs and I was born very sick.” This hardship did not stop him from achieving his goals. “Yet here I am doing what I’m doing and having done so many sports and extracurriculars,” Chiulli states.
Chiulli has had three main mentors in his life who helped him get to the point in his life that he has achieved today. The first mentor’s name is Gabe. He was an electrical engineer who helped Chiulli when he was first getting started in the robotics field during high school.
Chiulli’s second mentor was Ralph O’Brian who is now retired but still has an active PhD in biostatistics. Chiulli and O’Brian first met while Chiulli was working at a golf course over the summer. O’Brian was a big helping hand when Chiulli was in the early years of becoming a scientist.
On a more personal level, O’Brian helped Chiulli convince his parents to let his college essay stay private. He also was able to help Chiulli’s parents better understand what he was going through in the process of applying and of starting college. O’Brian also used personal connections to better Chiulli’s understanding of his first-pick colleges and become more practical in the process.
Dr. Gamble was also one of Chiulli’s great mentors. They met in college and Gamble began to tutor Chiulli and invite him to conferences to learn more about his studies. Gamble enlightened Chiulli on the ways of the world and black culture through the years.
All three of these mentors were key attributes in Chiulli’s personal and career life. Chiulli is on to great things for himself and the world and we’ll just have to wait and see where life takes him.
