Tag: north america
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...
Growing up in Science: Clinton Cave
Clinton Cave - "Protect your health, find mentorship, and help those around you. And just for the record, "You DO belong here."
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."
Crisis After Crisis During Pandemic Field Day Experiments
Catalina Mejia: "Whether to a friend, a colleague, or another graduate student, make the small efforts to reach out and ask for support if you are in need of it."
Fishing for Change: How Fish Tanks and Textbooks Taught Me to Fall in Love with Science (and Discover its Flaws)
Jeromy DiGiacomo: "I hope my story can highlight that in all its objectivity, the STEM community is not immune to prejudice or discrimination and that we have a lot of room to grow."
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."
How Getting Kicked Out of My Lab Kick-Started My Career
Kristen Vogt Veggeberg: "I could not have earned the distinction of [Impact Scholar] had I not started my career in graduate school, and I could not have started without that initial failure at hand."
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...
From Picking Grapes to Treating Cavities
Ramneek K. Batth: "I came to recognize the importance of research and it’s need to advance almost every, if not all, aspects of life."
Growing up in Science: Jane Willenbring
Jane Willenbring: "My Ph.D. on rates of glacial erosion in the Canadian Arctic and sub-Arctic seemed long and difficult. I thought about quitting many times, but I'm glad I didn't quit."
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."
Be your own Cartographer
Divya Shiroor: "I think of the IDP as a roadmap to the destination of your choice, with the difference being that you build your own road as you go along. It is a tool that helps assess which career you...
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...
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."
The Role of Cystic Fibrosis in my Life
Ella Balasa: "It’s always challenging, daunting, but the reward of feeling being understood through words is liberating, fulfilling, and worth it at the end. That’s why I do it."
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...
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...
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."
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...
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."
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."
Learning to Know Myself
Carol Shoshkes Reiss: "A few years ago, when three sequential grant applications went down in flames, and funds were exhausted, I made the decision to close my lab. I do not regret the decision."
Open Heart Surgery: Let Me Tell Y’all A Quick Story
Dr. Jenn Jackson - I grew up in Oakland, CA with my single mom. My dad was in and out of my life. Mostly out. We struggled a lot. My family struggled and continues to struggle.
My life in butterflies: How a childhood hobby shaped my career
Citizen scientists — as biologist Caren Cooper writes in her book, Citizen Science — can be anyone, often not trained as a scientist, who collaborates with trained researchers in “collective scientific endeavors.” It can be a way for people to develop hobbies, learn new...
The Journey Continues: Finding My Questions in Science
If it had not been for my friends and the little voice inside telling me to focus on why I had started research in the first place and to keep going, I would have almost certainly given up. - Yasmine...
I am a Neuroscientist in Training: Explore My Developing Neural Story
"My parents never finished college, so I know how privileged I am to study at a renowned institution like Harvard. Although I never saw becoming a scientist as a possibility, I now understand I have always had the curiosity, creativity,...
#PhDart — Flower Development Matters
Being a plant lover since I was little, I have always been fascinated by the enormous diversity of floral architectures. Now in the Kramer lab at Harvard University, I began to explore this diversity by asking how Aquilegia species build their flowers....