Tag: featured
It takes a village: Creating engineered regulatory T cells to induce immune tolerance
Leonardo Ferreira: "What if we could avoid the need for HLA matching for successful organ transplantation without severely impairing the recipient’s immune system? Better even, what if we could use a mismatched HLA molecule present in the donor but not...
Finding a Passion for Physics and Virtual Reality Headsets
Haxhi Pantina: "To this day, I still like reading about stars and the universe, but quantum mechanics, quantum optics, and quantum information contain the largest part of my daily routine."
Sleeping Astrocytes: Failures and Successes on the Journey to Publication
Laura Bojarskaite: "I want to be honest and tell you the story of how science actually happened for me and not how science should have happened according to all the rules, supposed-to’s, and textbooks."
Limits to Perfection: Searching For Order in Chaos
Kumaresh Krishnan: "Understanding when the details of a model are satisfactory for the research questions being asked is one of the most critical steps in my work."
Flickering Lights in the Darkness: How Microscopy Shaped My Scientific Path
Natalie Nannas: "Watching those flickering green dots shuttling around the cell convinced me that my future was in research."
A Long and Winding Road: One Disabled Scientist’s Story
Katie Stofer: "Mine is a story of [social and financial] supports, and how I am able to do my research not only because of them but in spite of my chronic illness, which I’ve just recently come to recognize as...
I Thought Only Neurologists Could Study the Brain
Kathryn Bonnen: "The realization that I was not alone put me on a path to recovery that has allowed me to truly enjoy science again."
This Is Not The Way Beyoncé Made It Look
Bianca Jones Marlin: "I came to realize that my connection with my daughter, who’s now two-and-a-half years old, isn’t punctuated moments of oxytocin release. It’s our life together."
Fraternizing with Failure
Divya Shiroor: "I stepped up on stage, looked into the audience and for the first time ever, completely drew a blank. I tried to find my focus, somehow stumbled though my speech, leaving a big part of it out and...
The Spirit of the Inca
Aiza Kabeer: "When we are not aware of the achievements of civilizations such as the Inca, we are unable to see the breadth of cultures that made outstanding scientific progress."
Growing Up in Science: David M. Schneider
David Schneider: "When I finished my masters, I applied to 11 PhD programs and was rejected by all of them. The next obvious step (to me) was to cold-call the director of graduate studies at Columbia (where I had just...
Becoming a parent in academia – when science fails you
B. Muehlroth: "Although I managed to continue devoting a major part of my life to my PhD, my life with infertility made me aware of my own boundaries and forced me to overstep them many times. I was never sure...
How Much Poop Does a Worm Make When They Only Eat Zuccchhiinnniii?
Vivekanand Pandey Vimal
Building Self-Confidence Through Science
Lauren Tereshko: "I realized I had stopped putting positive energy into myself, and grew angry and restless. Ashamed of my stagnation, in a moment of catharsis, I made the decision to apply for grad school."
Bringing the Bench to Life
Steven J. Del Signore: "As a basic cell biologist who uses fruit flies as a model organism to investigate the causes of neurological disease, the gap between my science and its potential impact on human health at times feels very...
Take A Chance
Inna Nechipurenko: "I switched model organisms and shifted the focus of my research to cilia – microscopic signaling “beacons” of our cells. Specifically, I wanted to understand how they form and function in specialized sensory neurons."
Finding My Way into the Sandbox
Bulbul Chakraborty: "Looking back, I think I was always attracted to what challenged me. It could be a mathematical puzzle, a song I was told wasn’t easy to sing, a book I was told I shouldn’t attempt to read because...
An Unexpected Path: Discovering my Passion for Science Outreach and Administration
Heather McKellar: I have been lucky to follow in the footsteps of strong mentors and lean a supportive network of peers. They have all taught me to step outside of my comfort zone and take advantage of the opportunities to...
The Journey Never Ends
Heather Metallides: I felt a great sense of pride that although I was told I couldn’t “do science,” I did it. Not only did I do it, but I did it well.
Finding a Direction in Science
Staci Amburgey: "I might have liked animals from a young age, but I tried a lot of different ways to study animals before I got to where I am now."
Wandering Across Fields in Science
Irv Epstein: "Reluctant to accept the result of an undergraduate’s accident over the published wisdom of senior investigators, I told him to redo the experiment under controlled conditions. He did so, and returned to tell me that he had obtained...
Paying it Forward Matters
Dr. Avital Rodal: "There are many reasons to pour your heart into helping and supporting others, including the knowledge that you are doing the right thing, and the appreciation and gratitude that it brings back to you. I discovered that...
Finally Found My Lowest-Hanging Fruit
Liz Specht: "I didn’t want to discover something fundamentally brand new if it meant that my work wouldn’t create tangible change in the world for another fifty years. The greatest thrill, for me, is to make something that works, and...
Discovering Zoology Through My Passion for Birdwatching II: Is There a Final Word in Research?
Abdul Jamil Urfi: "I still have some years left before I retire. But the clock has started ticking and I can hear it loud and clear."
From Volleyball to Neuroscience
Nicolas Tritsch: "I might have not sought a postdoc if it weren’t for my thesis advisor, Dwight Bergles, who (kindly) pushed me out of the lab after 6 years."
The Uncertainties of Life
Jaqueline A. Picache: "One of my few regrets is not standing up for myself back then. Instead, I found other people to stand up for – specifically, the rare disease community through my research. I advocated for the underdog because...
Finding My Own Way in Science
Milka Kostic: "I was making discoveries. I was publishing my research results. I was enjoying research. But somewhere along the way, I lost my passion for doing science, and I found myself facing a real conundrum."
If You Give An Artist A Data Sheet…
Maya Sokolow: "What I began to understand that day on St. John was that science needs to be experienced, lived, and felt. For those who do not have the opportunity to have feet on the field or in the classroom,...