Vince Thoms originally pursued a degree in physics, but after losing his father, uncle and grandfather to cancer, he switched majors to biology in hopes of one day working in cancer research. While attending the University of Oregon, Vince worked for four years in Raghu Parthasarathy's biophysics lab studying lipid membrane diffusion.

Most recently, Vince worked as a research assistant in OHSU's biolibrary, serving as a liaison between research and pathology.