Have You Had A Night Cap With Dr. Grant Shibuya?

By: Daniel McArdle-Jaimes

I think all of us have our favorite Grant Shibuya memory. Grant said, “No one is going to want to read about me.” I immediately disagreed. A lot of us remember him. I remember Grant being interesting to talk to, and unconventional in all of the right ways. And do you remember how he always had a long explanation for everything? But then again…didn’t we all when we were teenagers?

When we began our conversation, I could instantly recognize the tone of his voice. It’s still a calm and deep hum tone, and his facial expressions are still the same 15 years later. If you remember, Grant’s eyebrows perk up when he gets excited about the direction the conversation is heading in. He is still observant, cunning, and continues to use his eccentric sense of humor to add to the memory share we held last week.

In fact, his favorite memory of me was when I had “lost” my science book (I actually didn’t realize that I ever lost my science book). According to Grant, nearly half of Mrs. Reed’s 10^th Grade English class was “in on it” as they passed my textbook to the back of the class and put it by the garbage can (thanks Kim Hee, Stacy Miyasato and Randall Mukai—he called you three out specifically). He even recalled the next day when we got a long lecture about not stealing other people’s property from Mrs. Reed. 

I should note that Grant spent an hour and half with me on the phone—the longest “reunion-related” phone call I had to date. Since starting this process, he’s definitely the most unpredictable classmate I have encountered on this reconnection journey so far. I say that, because Grant had so many memories to share with me. I was having such a good time having him tell me about his memories that we decided to continue our conversation over a beer for good measure....and because we could!

1)  Catch us up, Dr. Shibuya. What has your educational journey been like?

After graduating Mid-Pacific, I went to Santa Clara University (SCU) as an undeclared science major. SCU is small with 400 people in my graduation class. In fact, Kara Tom and I shared a communication class together to fulfill a mandatory requirement.

As a freshman, I originally wanted to go into medicine. As I started taking the core science classes (bio and chemistry), I realized that chemistry was the path I should take. My advisor was an organic chemistry professor, and thought I should give it a shot. After going through the organic chemistry sequence, I spent an undergraduate summer doing research at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. In my time there, I realized that I was learning the most from the direct interaction I had with grad students. That experience inspired me to consider going to grad school.

After applying to grad schools, I decided to go to University of California at Irvine (UCI). After visiting the campus, I knew that I needed to find a professor/mentor for the next 4 to 7 years of my life. I took a risk and with the new assistant professor, Dr. Chris Vanderwal in fall 2005.

Grad school was brutal! There was a lot readings in text books, searching for the original source documents and reviewing journal articles. To help pay for grad school, I became a teacher’s assistant. After putting in 10-12 hour days, usually 6 days a week, I finished in five years and successful defended my Phd in 2010. At the time, I was working on a laborious research project, and we were racing against a group in Zurich to make this new molecule. After putting in countless long days, we were finally able to synthesize that molecule.

2)  Now that you are a doctor in chemistry, what does that mean and where are you headed?

When I had decided to go after my PhD, I had intended to work in academia. I have learned that becoming an academic requires more time by investing in a post-doc program, as very few professors are hired without having a post-doc experience under your belt. Having a postdoc demonstrates that you can do research under someone else’s watch with less supervision. So, I first went to Caltech in Pasadena (the Stoltz group).

Unfortunately, my funding at Caltech ran out. I was a year and a half into completing my post doc, and urgently needed to find a new opportunity. I found another postdoc at Stanford University (the Burns group). I started working there in July 2012, but I never had time to go to any of the football games, because I worked Saturdays. Just like in grad school, you are expected to work very hard, including weekends. After some months there, I had helped publish the first research paper for the group. But then that got me thinking about next steps. Since Mid-Pacific (15 years ago), 9 of those years had been spent in grad school. It wore on me. I was tired and jaded, so I redirected my career toward working in the industry.

Over the last year and a half, I’ve been working with a biotech start-up in San Francisco (SiteOne Therapeutics). A Stanford professor learned of me and encouraged me to consider working for his start-up in the Dogpatch neighborhood. Our company is seeking to find a pain treatment that is non-addictive. Most pain killers are addictive, and we are looking for a replacement for opioids. I’m happy with my work, and enjoy having my weekends back.

3) Clearly there is a lot of science influence in your journey. Are there any teachers that you’d like to credit?

Mr. Mersereau. It’s not an obvious choice. He was my Honors/AP physics teacher. I really like that his classes weren’t rigorously structured. There was an overall topic, but he presented problems to you. Those were fun. In addition, his labs involved collisions of objects to demonstrate physics.

Ms. Zeller. She was my homeroom teacher and 9th grade English teacher. I am actually a lousy English student, despite my mom being a community college English professor. I didn’t like reading, but now I enjoy it.

Mr. Vogel. I had him for 19th century literature. I heard he passed away a few years ago. I went to see him in 2002. I know a lot of people didn’t like his style of teaching, but I liked the books we read (Silas Marner and The House of The Seven Gables).

Dr. Northern. At the time, I didn’t enjoy her class. I didn’t learn to appreciate it until afterwards. She provided me a good foundation for college, and now I appreciate that and like her. I was able to do well in college because of that solid chemistry foundation she set for me.

I took biology from Mr. Chee, and really enjoyed his class. I also liked the honors English/History pairing from Mrs. Reed and Ms. Cook. I remember reading a lot of books. The only book I liked was Huck Finn, and for my entire time at Mid-Pacific, college, or grad school, her mid-term was the only exam that I ever flunked. That's right...I don’t remember the subject, but there were two essays. I spent the entire time on one essay, and left the second essay blank because I ran out of time! With Ms. Cook., I remember her AP U.S. History class being intense, but a good class.

4) What does alumni relations mean to you? Is it important or not?

We were privileged to go to Mid-Pacific, and we should feel obligated to help the students that currently go there. While I do not live in Hawaii, I know there are a lot of Hawaii-based activities.

I understand that the Class of 2001 will be undertaking an experimental mentorship program with the Class of 2017. I am looking forward to participating as a mentor to talk to and guide young scientists that are looking to pursue a career in science on the mainland.

5) What is your favorite high school memory?

There were a lot of good and bad memories. The good ones that I think about most, include hanging out with my friends – Gen Fujitani, Max Sato, Randall Mukai, Loren Nomura and Stuart Morishige. We would hang out at lunch or before/after classes.

6) Which classmate did you admire the most?

Adam Szalontai. I remember first meeting him in the 8th grade. He was shy at first. But then during graduation, he was actually quite funny and outspoken. He is filled with personality. I saw him two years ago, and heard he was pursuing a PhD. 

7) If you were going to the reunion, who would you most like to see?

Adam Szalontai. Max Sato. Kyle Yanbu. Adam and Max were my friends, but I haven’t seen them in a long time since they are far away, but Kyle is a cool guy! Kyle made AP U.S. History a lot of fun for all of us. He had a way of rattling Ms. Cook during lecture which was pretty entertaining. I told Kyle that I’d buy him an Orion beer the next time I see him. Can you tell him that the offer still stands?