KINGSTON, R.I. – May 8, 2025 – James Gbaba is at home in the lab spaces of URI’s Center for Biotechnology and Life Sciences but says coming to the University of Rhode Island helped him find communities of another kind.

Gbaba will graduate this month with his bachelor’s degree in cell and molecular biology.

The Providence resident arrived at URI with an interest in medicine, but no set plans, starting as an undeclared health sciences major on a pre-med track.

Once he began taking classes, however, his own career path came into focus. After taking Integrative Microbiology his sophomore year, he decided to declare his major.

“I just liked it a lot,” he says. “That one class pushed me in this direction.”

Today, Gbaba is also considering industry and working in the biotech field, moving toward the research side of medicine.

Selecting URI

“Being a local kid, you hear about all of the local schools here in Rhode Island,” he recalls.

After a virtual tour because of the pandemic, Gbaba decided on URI, feeling it had more opportunities than any other local college: “I liked the campus and the opportunities. I knew people, family and classmates from high school, who had gone there and told me URI is a good place. You can make the most of things there. It was affordable, too, as an in-state student — so going was a no brainer.”

At the beginning of his first year, he said he was a little lost, “like everyone,” but URI 101 helped him step out of his comfort zone to discover ways to be involved and meet new people. He started to expand his circle. Joining Brothers On a New Direction, a unity organization for young men of color, that year was a positive first step, helping him find spaces, friends and motivation to get further involved, as well as joining other student groups. He says B.O.N.D. gave him the confidence to step up on campus and feel that he belonged here.

“Getting involved with B.O.N.D. helped,” he says. “It helped me find there were people here like me.”

Having been a three-sport athlete in high school, Gbaba also enjoyed the wide selection of intramural sports at URI and has participated in intramural soccer, flag football, basketball, and volleyball nearly every semester.

“I enjoyed the competition,” he says. “Intramural sports served as both a stress reliever after long days of classes and an opportunity to stay active and compete after high school.” His athletic efforts have also been quite successful, with 10 championship wins in volleyball and soccer.

Over time, he joined academic organizations and became more involved in the College of the Environment and Life Sciences.

“Seeds of Success also helped me believe I belong,” he says. “It helped me get close to people in my major and the college, opened a lot of research opportunities for me, and helped me find community in CELS.”

He also began to get involved in research, completing an undergraduate summer research fellowship and serving as an assistant researcher in the RI-INBRE SURF program. These academic opportunities introduced him to academic research, something he had never thought about before he came to URI.

“Research is not really talked about in high school; it’s not something students can easily picture,” Gbaba says. But getting exposure to research at URI showed Gbaba the opportunities available as a career option.

He went on to conduct research, working with Niall Howlett, studying DNA repair. In the Howlett Lab, he studied Fanconi Anemia, a human genetic disease caused by defective DNA repair and associated with increased risk for cancer and — in some cases — early-onset neurological decline. Gbaba specifically studied the role of the FANCD2 protein in neuronal differentiation. Motivated by a desire to transform scientific research and biological data into real-world health benefits, he worked with genomic data sets to analyze models of disease and says that faculty like Howlett have been helpful guides for him, welcoming him into the world of academic research. He also highlights a class with Neil Greene this spring, noting its interactive nature — “he makes you want to be there,” he comments.

He credits the URI community with helping him along the way.

“Aura Fajardo Grandidge has been such a help to me,” he says. “Her door is always open. She’s been like a mentor to me in my time at URI.”

Gbaba also wears other hats at URI. He’s been a resident assistant at Brookside, a role he took on in his senior year. The role has given him added community at the University and benefits he appreciates — “free housing!” — and the chance to take on a leadership role at the University.

“I’ve really enjoyed the person-to-person interactions,” he says.

A recipient of the Joseph W. Rock Memorial Scholarship at URI, Gbaba says he had not held leadership positions in high school but after coming to URI, saw that it was important to add, allowing him to brush up on people skills; he’s grown into leadership in recent years, also joining the executive board for Seeds of Success.

Gbaba comments that as he’s grown in his time at URI, the University has, too, and he’s been proud to witness that progress with URI named an R1 research institution this year.

“That proves how important URI is in Rhode Island and in this region,” he says. “URI is so much more than I thought it would be and it’s important for people in the state to see that. To students coming after me, I’d say take advantage of all the research happening here, the professors and student organizations, just all the opportunities. I’m grateful for what this University has meant for my own path.”