Graduating student pursuing medical career excels during two years at Montana State

BOZEMAN - From an early age, Bailey Mainolfi was so accustomed to family members requiring inpatient care that she began to envision herself working in a hospital someday. She made a plan to become a doctor, and when she graduates from Montana State University with a bachelor's degree in biochemistry on Friday, she will have passed a significant milestone on the way to reaching that goal.

"I grew up with exposure to medicine quite young, because my grandparents had a lot of complex health conditions," Mainolfi said. "As I've gotten older, I want to be able to reciprocate back to the community, so that's kind of where I belong. My heart is in medicine."

Mainolfi began her studies at MSU as a junior after transferring from Flathead Valley Community College in Kalispell, where she earned an Associate of Science degree. From the very beginning, though, she planned to become a Bobcat. She followed the course plan from MSU's Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry to ensure that all her credits would transfer seamlessly.

Mainolfi's organized approach has contributed to her noteworthy success, said her professor and research mentor Mary Cloninger. For her academic and research achievements, Mainolfi was named the Outstanding Graduating Biochemistry Student at the department's annual award ceremony last week.

"Bailey pays attention to the details in her course curriculum, and she has demonstrated her ability to relate subjects she learns in her coursework to her research projects on multiple occasions," Cloninger said. "She has made important contributions to my research group for the entirety of her time at MSU."

In Cloninger's group, Mainolfi worked to isolate the protein galectin-3 from various types of cancer cells. A main goal of the research was to learn more about the protein's involvement in cellular aggregation and tumor formation. Mainolfi and her undergraduate teammates also formulated a research procedure so that students who succeed them in the lab will be able to achieve consistent results.

"Our project has gone hand-in-hand with graduate student projects, so I really enjoyed the lab," Mainolfi said. "As opposed to one undergraduate working under one grad student for one project, we all worked together as one big happy family."

Finding that dynamic particularly rewarding, Mainolfi said she wants to work as part of a care team rather than as a sole practitioner once she finishes her medical training. At her hometown hospital, Logan Health Medical Center in Kalispell, she participated in the student observation program, shadowing doctors in specialties ranging from cardiology to anesthesia. When she was selected for Logan's Neuroscience and Spine Sorini and DeBartolo Internship last summer, she was able to closely observe team dynamics between physicians.

"For example, with neurosurgery, there's a certain number of neurosurgeons and they all work together," she said. "It's not just about you being able to treat patients - it's about being able to hear other ideas. I got to observe more of the relationships that go on behind the scenes versus just the patient-physician relationship."

At MSU, Mainolfi has pursued both academic and non-academic opportunities to work in team situations. She is a member of the student Pre-Med Club, Phi Kappa Phi honor society and Alpha Epsilon Delta, the national honor society for pre-professional health students. During her senior year, she served as a student ambassador for the College of Letters and Science, representing the college at orientation and recruitment events and working to build connection between the letters and science sides of the college.

"In the chem and biochem department, we're such a tight-knit family. But being a student ambassador, I got to meet a lot more people and be involved in the college. We plan a lot of different activities and ways to bring students together," she said.

Her mentors say she brings humor and kindness to all her interactions. Judi Haskins, assistant dean of the College of Letters and Science, said Mainolfi's work as a student ambassador has contributed directly to the success of the program.

"She willingly goes above and beyond to take time to connect with people, whether it be high school students and their families visiting campus, encouraging peers to be the best they can be or meeting with alumni on the CLS Advisory Council," Haskins said. "She is a true joy to have as a CLS ambassador, and she and her humor will be greatly missed when she graduates."

Rob Walker, head of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, said, "Bailey has been a pillar of our department for two years, and I'm both thrilled and saddened to see her graduate."

In her free time, Mainolfi indulges her artistic interests by drawing and playing piano and violin. She has illustrated three soon-to-be-published children's books by author Carla Chapin, who presents serious themes that help young children understand themselves and their place in the world through animal characters and human companions.

As Mainolfi has demonstrated, such understanding can inspire children to channel their talents for good.

"I've wanted to go into medicine ever since I was little," she said.

After graduation, Mainolfi plans to work in medicine for the next couple of years to gain more experience before applying to medical school.