Rachel Stein: Into the unknown, on purpose

Enzymes and brains and labs, oh my!

Stein has always felt a predisposition for science. After exploring the intersection of several different disciplines — general chemistry, biology, organic chemistry — she will graduate in December with a biochemistry and molecular biology major on the pre-medicine track. She flirted with other areas of science, such as medicinal chemistry and pharmacy, but it didn’t serve her passion for connection.

“I just like people too much,” Stein says with a laugh.

So, she fused together a career path that fulfills equal parts love of science and need for new human connection.

Her love affair with science came first in research alongside Dr. Tyler Doyon, assistant professor or chemistry and biochemistry, studying biocatalysis with old yellow enzymes, which, she says, can be a way to break down materials into others. She found that work incredible, but through it she discovered her scientific interests lay elsewhere.

Stein was later selected to be a participant in the 2024 summer UW-Eau Claire – Mayo Clinic Regenerative Neuroscience Scholars Program. Led by Dr. Brad Carter, associate professor of biology at UW-Eau Claire, and Dr. Isobel Scarisbrick, professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Mayo Clinic, the program facilitates UW-Eau Claire student participation in regenerative neuroscience research at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. The experience was eye-opening for Stein.

“It was very formative in the way that I felt like I did not know what I was doing. You kind of get that imposter syndrome of ‘why am I here?’”

Quickly, she found she did in fact belong — and to a circle much larger and more diverse than she ever imagined. Working on a project studying the metabolic effects of a small molecule drug called CP2, she collaborated with world-class scientists from around the world, including Russia, Syria, Vietnam, Chile, Canada and South Korea.

“We just had so many people from all over,” Stein explains. “It was really cool getting to see that the world of science is so much bigger than Eau Claire.”

Stein presented her team’s findings at multiple conferences, including the Midbrains Midwest Regional Neuroscience Conference in Green Bay and the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minoritized Scientists in Pittsburgh.

Following the yellow-enzyme road

Like any scientist will tell you, discovery is not linear — a fact doubly true of college students. “I think sometimes coming in, you think you should know what you need to do, but I think it's just as valuable to figure out what you don't want to do.”

As formative as the ReNS program was for Stein, and as important as Doyon’s old yellow enzyme work has been for her love of science, both experiences were even more crucial in narrowing her future goals.

“You are, in a way, thrown to the wolves, but that is the only way to grow. It made me realize I do enjoy the lab work, and research is so important, but I couldn't always be in a lab. It was such a great experience to apply the skills I've learned, and it helped me discover that this is maybe not what I want to do.”

Stein felt a new calling after, to explore the world she had heard so much about from her colleagues at Mayo Clinic. So she spent the spring 2025 semester studying abroad in Bilbao, Spain.

As someone with minimal experience with the Spanish language, Stein dove headfirst into the culture. Looking back, she is incredibly proud of her determination.

“I feel like it is such a testament to yourself to travel outside of your comfort zone,” she explains. “The amount of growth you gain from putting yourself in uncomfortable situations is just astronomical.”

Stein made memories and friendships that will last a lifetime — and she learned more about herself personally and professionally, she thinks, than she ever could have in a familiar place.

“It was very formative for me being able to leave for a semester then come back and still be able to say ‘I am more confident in myself, and I know now that I'm on the right path.’”

That path is to medicine. Stein’s Spanish for health professions minor led her to return to Europe this past summer, when she embarked on the Camino de Santiago, a faculty-led international immersion experience. Exploring Spain, France and Portugal, Stein revisited places from her semester abroad and discovered new wonders — while perfecting her Spanish.

Med school over the rainbow

Stein notes that she’s especially cherished her time in the Mark Stephen Cosby Honors College at UW-Eau Claire. She has worked as a student academic apprentice for an honors class and as an Honors 410 mentor during the summer Catalyst program. In both, she helped new honors students acclimate to, and even feel excited by, the fact that they’re not in Kansas anymore.

“As a Catalyst mentor, seeing all the freshmen coming in and come out of their shell. I feel like it's really helped me come out of my shell.”

Stein also mentioned a variety of classes in a variety of disciplines she had access to through the honors catalog, which expanded her knowledge beyond and, sometimes, deeper into the world of science.

“I really appreciated the opportunity to go beyond what is your cookie-cutter college experience,” Stein explains. “You get to go beyond what you would expect of just like a degree in biochemistry and become really well-rounded.”

That complement to her scientific experience is important in the next step of her career: medical school applications. During a gap year after graduation, she plans to take the Medical College Admissions Test, work part time and satisfy her love of travel. Long term, she aspires to be a physician. She’s dreaming of general surgery. Or anesthesiology. Or cardiology.

“I do really like surgery. But I've shadowed cardiology here through the MedEx program three times now. The other time, I was shadowing anesthesiology during an open heart surgery. And I got to be in the OR, standing on a little stool behind the patient.”

It’s hard to miss that Stein is always on the lookout for new perspectives.

“Seeing someone's heart for the first time like, beating, and then get stopped. It's kind of like watching arts and crafts. You're sewing! Applying these skills that I use in knitting and might use in an honors class. Watching them come full circle was really cool.”

The interdisciplinary adventure is part of her love of both science and medicine. But, for Stein, what she learned of herself at UW-Eau Claire is that it’s about the people.

“I really like people, and I like caring for people. And I like the idea of being there for someone on their worst day.”

Written by Cami Hoth, a third-year senior studying business communication and marketing at UW-Eau Claire. She is from Stewartville, Minnesota.