Skip to main content (Press Enter).
 News
    
        Photos

    Week in Photos

    Air Force TV

    Commentaries

    Features

    Art

    About Us
    
        Air Force Senior Leaders
    
        SECAF

    CSAF

    CMSAF

    Biographies

    Fact Sheets

    SECAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library
    
        CSAF Leadership Library 2022

    CSAF Leadership Library 2021

    CSAF Reading List Pre-2020 Archive
    
        2018 CSAF Reading List

    2017 CSAF Reading List

    2016 CSAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library 2023

    CMSAF Leadership Library

    50 Years of the CMSAF

    Adjunct Professors

    Air Force Strategic Documents

    Arctic Strategy

    Empowered Airmen

    State Licensure Portability

    Careers

    AF Federal Advisory Committees

    AF 75th Anniversary

    Policy Updates

    AF Content Management

    Contact Us

    AF Sites
    
        Site RegistrationU.S. Air Force LogoAir Force

        Policy UpdatesNewsroomReoptimizationBIOGRAPHIESAF Senior Leaders      NAEarthworms and Air Force produce university researcher
                        
                        
                        Master Sgt. Michael Guderyon, assigned to the 307th Maintenance Squadron, checks the maintenance log of a B-52 Stratofortress at Barksdale Air Force Base, La., March 3, 2018. As a Reserve Airman, he serves as a structural maintenance mechanic and on the civilian side, Guderyon is a doctoral student doing research using stem cells to find cures for more than 25 different diseases. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Ted Daigle)
                
                Photo Details /
                        Download Hi-Res
        


        NAEarthworms and Air Force produce university researcher
                        
                        
                        Master Sgt. Michael Guderyon, studies a lab sample in San Antonio, Texas, March 20, 2018. As a Reserve Airmen with the 307th Maintenance Squadron, he has leveraged his military background to become a doctoral student at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. (Courtesy photo by Charlotte Anthony)
                
                Photo Details /
                        Download Hi-Res
        


        NAEarthworms and Air Force produce university researcher
                        
                        
                        Master Sgt. Michael Guderyon conducts research using stem cells in San Antonio, Texas, March 20, 2018. A Reserve Airman with the 307th Maintenance Squadron, Guderyon is also a doctoral student studying methods to conduct bone marrow transplants in a less invasive manner. The research is designed to help cure a host of diseases and extend the life of patients. (Courtesy photo by Charlotte Anthony)
                
                Photo Details /
                        Download Hi-Res

Earthworms and Air Force produce university researcherPublished March 22, 2018
                    
                    By Master Sgt. Ted Daigle
                    
                    
                    307th Bomb Wing
            **BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La.(AFNS)  --**Think earthworms aren’t important?  Don’t tell that to Master Sgt. Michael Guderyon.  The slimy, little earth-dwellers, along with some help from the Air Force Reserve, literally changed the trajectory of his life. 
Growing up in the small town of Mamou, Louisiana, Guderyon lacked ambition, direction and drive.  Uninterested in school, he seemed to be on a fast-track to nowhere. 
Not many in Guderyon’s family had graduated high school and few people in his small town could see the potential that would one day allow Guderyon to become a doctoral student conducting stem cell research on incurable diseases, especially one serving as a senior non-commissioned officer in the Air Force Reserve.
  
“The importance of academics were never really stressed to me growing up,” Guderyon said, who now possesses a master’s degree in in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.  “My plan was to drop out of high school and just sort of see where life took me.” 
Those plans changed suddenly one day when his high school Biology teacher showed Guderyon an article on how scientists actually extended the life span of earthworms from a couple of weeks to several months.
   
Guderyon asked the teacher why the same could not be done in humans.  His teacher shocked the young student, first by admitting he didn’t know the answer, and then by challenging him to go to college and find out. 
Suddenly excited about the prospect of going to college, he still struggled with two major obstacles, a lack of discipline and the necessary funds to further his education. 
A visit to an Air Force Reserve recruiter solved both those issues by introducing Guderyon to whole new way of thinking.
   
“Growing up in a small town, I thought small,” he said. “Everything in the Air Force was just the opposite of that mindset and it gave me the discipline and the responsibility to overcome character flaws that held me back earlier in life.” 
Armed with a new outlook on life, Guderyon entered a local community college, earning an Associate’s degree in Science before moving on to study mechanical engineering at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
   
In the Air Force Reserve, Guderyon had grown to love his work as a structural maintenance mechanic, but found himself bored with his mechanical engineering studies in college.  He thought back to his conversation with his former high school teacher, and began pursuing a course of study on aging research, hoping that one day he could help people live longer, more productive lives.
  
“There weren’t many mentors in the area of aging research at Louisiana-Lafayette and I wasn’t sure if I should pursue a biology route or a chemistry route, so I did both,” he said. 
Guderyon is now a doctoral student at University of Texas Health –San Antonio doing aging research on a new method of conducting bone marrow transplants with stem cells.  The research is designed to make the procedure open to more patients and heal more diseases.  In spite of the academic workload, Guderyon still managed to deploy twice with the 307th Bomb Wing while earning his degrees.  
“The military comes first,” he said. “Even with the deployments, the Air Force Reserve still gives me the flexibility to contribute to my country and still pursue my education.” 
Currently, bone-marrow transplants are only available for a few types of diseases due to the highly toxic nature of the procedure.  It requires heavy doses of radiation and chemotherapy, which is very traumatic for the patient. So, the procedure is limited to patients whose condition is life-threatening. 
Using stem cells, Guderyon and a team of researchers have discovered how to perform the same bone marrow transplant using a simple intravenous procedure using much safer reagents, all of which are FDA approved. By only using an IV, bone marrow transplant procedures can be open to patients with serious, but not necessarily life threatening diseases. 
“In theory, we can potentially cure or treat over twenty-five different diseases including Parkinson’s, sickle-cell anemia and HIV,” he said.
  
Guderyon plans to get his doctorate and bring the new procedure out of the lab and into hospitals where it can begin helping patients. In the meantime, he plans to continue serving his country in the Air Force Reserve. He also hopes to combine his desire to serve with his passion for aging research.Air Force 



Air Force Reserve 



AF 



science 



transplant 



earthworms 



bone-marrow 



AFRC 



10th Air Force 



307th Bomb Wing 



307th BW Featured News
        Senior Leader Priorities
                DAF leaders talk budget, reoptimizing the force
                    
                    DAF leaders speak at National Character and Leadership Symposium
                    
                    DAF members recognized during BEYA STEM awards
                    
                    DAF senior enlisted advisors discuss Airmen, Guardians in the fight
                    
                    SecAF Kendall AFA Warfare Symposium Q&A: Reoptimizing for Great Power CompetitionInnovation
                AFWERX director discusses role of tech startups, quick innovation in Great Power Competition
                    
                    DAF delivers lethality at the speed of data during Project Convergence Capstone 4
                    
                    DAF welcomes industry partners to HQ development program
                    
                    DAF announces Spark Tank 2024 finalists
                    
                    Chief Digital, Artificial Intelligence Office to host hackathon in HawaiiMAJCOM News
                Safety enterprise announces new mission, vision, goals in 2024 strategic plan
                    
                    Air Combat Command welcomes new commander
                    
                    USAFE-AFAFRICA commander discusses Integrated Air, Missile Defense during Munich Security Conference
                    
                    Flosi to AFMC family: Embrace change, make every day count
                    
                    AMC rises to increasing global tension
 Quick Links
AccessibilityContact UsEqual OpportunityFOIA | Privacy | Section 508Information QualityInspector GeneralJAG Court-Martial DocketLink DisclaimerNo FEAR ActOpen GovernmentOSI Tip LinePlain LanguageQuestionsResilienceRSSSite MapVeterans Crisis LineCareers
Join the Air ForceAir Force BenefitsAir Force CareersAir Force ReserveAir National GuardCivilian ServiceConnect
            Get Social with Us
            
            Official United States Air Force Website
    Hosted by Defense Media Activity - WEB.mil