Derek Britain

Derek Britain, Ph.D., was a brilliant, young soul whose warmth and adventurous spirit, brought joy to everyone who knew him. His sharp mind, his laughter, his wit, and his extreme kindness will always be remembered by family, friends, and colleagues.

Born June 6, 1991, Derek, the youngest of the Britain children, excelled academically, musically, and artistically from an early age. He could often be found playing video games with his dad and siblings – Secret of Mana was a favorite with his sister Elayne, reading a book, or picking out a tune on his guitar. Often quiet, Derek had an enormous heart and a gentle presence that drew others in, a trait which could be felt not just by his human family, but by animals too. The family’s many cats and dogs each claimed their own special bond with him, as if they all knew he was one of the good ones.

As Science Team captain of the Stanwood High School's Science Olympiad team, he was occupied building balsa wood bridges and competed in many other science events, earning him many regional, state, and national medals. He also earned many other state awards, competing on the high school’s Hi-Q (as state champions!) and Knowledge Bowl teams. He also played on the high school tennis and History Day teams. Another highlight was the summer trip he took to Germany with the high school German club and stayed in family homes.

Along with his friends Jimmy and Christy, Derek found a way to harness the energy of naturally occurring ocean waves off the coast of his Camano Island home, taking home the top Technology Challenge award in a science competition at Washington State University. They also earned a semi-finalist designation in the prestigious national Siemens Science Competition, the nation’s premier science research competition for high school students.

Graduating as Valedictorian for the class of 2010, Derek was accepted to many colleges, including the Ivy League, ultimately choosing to go to the University of Washington (Go Dawgs!!), for their robust science program, earning many scholarships, including the Washington NASA Space Grant.

At UW, Derek joined a Bioengineering lab under Dr. Deok-Ho Kim, where he created a novel cell culture device that combined a nano-patterned substrate with a microfluidic gradient system for the organization of stem cells into cardiac tissue grafts. His efforts resulted in his first published citation as a college freshman, which can still be found on the NIH PubMed website today.

From what he learned with his culture device, he became fascinated with how the stem cells were able to sense and respond to the substrate and chemotaxic gradient. Derek continued to pursue his interest, and at the start of his junior year, joined Dr. Roger Brent’s lab at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, where, using budding yeast as a model organism, Derek researched how cells gather information from their environment, how this information is processed by the cell, and how a cell makes a decision based on the results. He also investigated the role microtubule end binding proteins play in signal transmission and fidelity as well as mutant forms of these proteins found in the human population. This work earned Derek the Levinson Scholarship for the 2013-2014 school year. A prestige awarded to only seven students that year to support promising students who work on creative and sophisticated research projects in biosciences and related fields.

After Derek obtained double bachelor’s degrees in Biochemistry and Bioengineering & Biomedical Engineering, he took a gap year where he continued to work at Fred Hutichenson Cancer Research Center and took the time to pursue another passion: the great outdoors.

Derek loved nature and the physical pursuits of outdoor recreation, a trait he inherited from his mom, Susan. He also enjoyed fishing on the Columbia River and crabbing in Utsalady Bay with his dad, Jerry. You could always find him hiking and biking in the more favorable months, and snow skiing in the winter months. He often could be found biking to and from work, and rode twice with his mom in the annual Seattle-to-Portland (STP) bike ride event. His last summer before grad school, Derek solo-hiked much of the beautiful, Pacific Crest Trail, also known as the PCT. He would have hiked the entire Washington trail, if not for being waylaid by wildfires. He also solo-hiked across the Olympic Mountains. Derek also took many other day and overnight backpacking trips up into the Cascade mountains alone and with friends and roommates. He also visited Yellowstone National Park, Badlands National Park, Grand Tetons National Park, Black Hills National Park, and many others. In winter, he could be found skiing backcountry and the black-diamond runs, leaving his dad alone to run the bunny slopes. Stevens Pass, Mount Baker and South Lake Tahoe were some favorites. 

In 2017, Derek made his way south to the Bay Area to attend the University of California San Francisco, (UCSF), earning the Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS) Scholarship. Derek worked under his academic advisor, Orion Weiner, and was often found researching in his lab at the Cardiovascular Research Institute at UCSF. A master at juggling many responsibilities at a time, he often traveled many miles straight to the lab after family social gatherings, to “feed his pets” (i.e. his research cells). He also joined family Zoom calls on the weekend from the lab. During his graduate school tenure, he published many papers including in the prestigious Journal of Cell Biology. 

During his time as a graduate student, Derek met the love of his life, Shohini Sen, also a graduate student studying Chemistry. They married under the beautiful rotunda at San Francisco City Hall in January of 2018. 

Derek and Shohini shared a beautiful, fun life together, hiking, camping, skiing, and watching the Buffalo Bills on the couch at home. They enjoyed beer and wine tasting together and enjoyed exploring and sampling all that the viticulture of the East Bay has to offer.
 

Another passion of Derek’s was exploring the bold, vibrant flavors of Indian cuisine. However, the chefs at his local restaurants didn’t believe a Caucasian guy could handle the full five-star spices he craved. So, he often had to leave it to Shohini to place the order, as she had the credibility to get the proper heat level. Despite his best efforts to prove his spice tolerance, Derek was forever stuck with being pegged in the "bland-but-safe" category at his local restaurants!

Recently, Derek and Shohini opened their home to a new family member, a sweet kitty they named Bear! Bear unfortunately cannot see well, so Derek spent time engineering cat paths and kitty play toys that make noise so Bear can participate fully in feline life!

Derek also spent time watching sporting events, following the Buffalo Bills, the Seahawks, the University of Washington Huskies, and the San Jose Sharks. Whenever the Dawgs were in town, or the Sharks were in the playoff, you could find him cheering loudly with his sister, Nicole (UW ’07), from the sidelines! Even football was a joy. One year, he finished the STP with his mother in Portland, and immediately ran off from the finish line to see Germany win the World Cup Final!
 

Dr. Britain earned his Ph.D. in Biophysics from UCSF in the year 2021 (fondly known as Dr. Derek to his family), his thesis entitled, Kinetic Proofreading In T Cell Activation Is Distributed Across Multiple Membrane Proximal Signaling Complexes, can be read on escholarship.org. 

After completing his postdoctoral work at UCSF, Dr. Britain moved into the private medical industry. Most recently, he worked for a bio-pharmaceutical company, Renasant Bio, which had just emerged from “stealth” mode. There, he developed bespoke cell-based assays for drug screening and led company-wide data analysis and management. Promoted to senior scientist, Dr. Britain helped to design a revolutionary medication for polycystic kidney disease (PKD), a deadly genetic condition with few available treatments. 

In every cell he studied, in every discovery he contributed to, Derek left a mark that will continue to guide the hands and minds of researchers for years to come. His work lives on—not just in labs, journals, and treatments—but in the hope it brings to patients and families who may one day benefit from his life’s dedication.
 

His spirit now soars across the mountain ranges he once hiked, whispers in the wind along the Pacific Crest Trail, and is in every sunset like the ones he loved to watch during his adventures.