by Amy Beth Prager

I am extremely fortunate to be spending summer 2012 in Cambridge. After coming here astonishingly frequently for conferences and mathematics contests, I have finally gotten the chance to live here! It is my pleasure to share with my readers my impressions of the city that I have come to love so dearly.

There are two main regions of the city, the Kendall Square by MIT and the Harvard Square by, well…Harvard. I spend most of my days in Kendall Square, quite understandably. One interesting fact about this area is the people you meet. They come from all over the world and have had amazingly diverse experiences.

It is a wonderful experience to run into someone on the street and to casually start learning about their life experiences. What you learn might surprise you. I have met formerly homeless people who worked hard in high school, went through hard times and are now engineers at MIT.

by Shaira Bhanji

“[India is] like a wave; resist and you go under, ride it out and you arrive at the other side.”--The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.


6:30 AM, Saturday, June 23rd: 
After a three-hour car ride, we awake to find ourselves at the entrance of Mysore Palace. With its fairytale-like architecture and fake-looking green gardens, it could be Disneyland. We lose ourselves in bold colors, high ceilings, and intricate architecture that saturate the former residence of the Mysore Kingdom’s Wodeyar family. I daydreamed about getting married in the
Wedding Hall; the beauty of its stained glass dome ceiling surrounded by gold and turquoise pillars is enough to make even the plainest bride look stunning. After a casual play date with the ground’s elephants and camels, we arrive at Chamundi Hills to find monkeys enjoying orange soda. A lavish temple and bird’s-eye view of majestic Mysore await at the top of the rocky hill. 

* * *

8:00 PM, Friday, June 29th:
I drift in and out of sleep between road bumps, the itch of bug bites, or blaring Bollywood music at rest stops en route to India’s east coast. We’re in the rural outskirts of Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu when I wake up for the last time eight hours later—sticky from the bus’ lack of AC. We watch the sun by the boardwalk overlooking the Bay of Bengal; enjoy pancakes India-style at a fan-cooled, tropical rooftop restaurant; and stroll along the French-named streets lined with fruit stands and Parisian-style buildings. The city is surprisingly calm as it awaits the arrival of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

by Rabeea Ahmed

Recently I had the opportunity to speak to Dr. Janice Lee – an astronomer at the STScI (Space
Telescope Science Institute) – about her ventures into astronomy and why she chose a career in science. Most of our discussion was based on her journey into astronomy.

The most important aspect of the discussion was Janice's emphasis on exploring different career paths before settling down with one. I found this quite similar to my undergraduate exploration of courses because I studied a very wide selection of courses and participated in a plethora of
different activities until I finally realized that my ultimate fascination was with astrophysics and computer science.

by Pin-Wen Wang

At work, I belong to the optics group, working generally with, well optics. Right now the main areas of research in our team are LEDs and nanoparticle photoluminescence. I’m working on the latter, but I’ve dabbed a little in LED making as well. My supervisor, and Ph.D. candidate, Daniel, is perhaps the best supervisor anyone could ask for. Having studied in England, his English is
almost perfect and carries a signature British feel to it. It must be the accent or something, but he has a real knack for teaching lab techniques. Although he is usually busy on a day to day basis, be it preparing for a conference or helping others think of new ways to do their experiments, he somehow always has time for me. After teaching me the basics of the lab, how to use the lasers, and how to analyze data, he was quick to let me run free, and I love it. He gave me all the tools I needed to start doing research, creating experiments, and thinking about the data, but he stepped back to really make me feel like I was in control of the research. I respect him so much for his knowledge, but I respect him even more for his character and patience.

by Juliet Snyder

At times I feel like I have to compare my lab to a small British car. I say British car because our PI, or Principle Investigator, is a very British man. The car comes from the fact that my lab is focused on Diabetic neuropathy, with each lab member focused on a different facet like the different components of a car engine. The lab is composed of four main members– undergraduates (that’s me!), graduate students, post-docs and lab technicians. Typically each graduate student, post doc and lab technician has their own projects that they work on, working together with the PI to come up with a plan for testing in order to try out a new treatment or test a new theory. The undergraduates are then liberally sprinkled around the lab as the minions of those heading the various projects. 

Associate Professor, St. John's Research Institute at St. John's National Academy of Health Sciences in Bangalore, India

by Shaira Bhanji

1. Describe your role at St. John’s National Academy of Health Sciences.
I have three faculty positions: one in the medical college, one in the research institute, and the other in the hospital. At the medical college, I am an Associate Professor in the Nutrition Division, where I teach classes. At the research institute, I focus on nutrition research, and in the hospital, I head the Clinical Nutrition Unit. In addition, I oversee the cafeteria at the institute.

2. What does your current research involve? What do you love most about your research?
Mainly, my research in pediatric obesity—finding out the determinants and risk factors of it. Being a nutritionist, I understand that childhood is the most important phase for growing. I also do a lot of body composition and energy expenditure studies of both adults and children. 

3. Have you lived in India your whole life?
Yes. All my schooling was in Chennai, Tamil Nadu and then in Bangalore, Karnataka.

by Stephanie Wang

As an undergraduate, one of the best things that a lab can give you is good mentorship, whether it is from a principal investigator (PI), a graduate student, or a postdoctoral fellow.  After joining the Wagers Lab, I was lucky enough to be paired with Juhyun (Julie) Oh. Julie is currently a rising G4, meaning she’ll be entering her fourth year of graduate school this upcoming academic year.  Julie is in the Biological and Biomedical Sciences (BBS) program through Harvard Medical School and specializes in the subfield of Translational Medicine. 

The undergraduates in the Wagers Lab joke that our PI, Amy Wagers, is an incredible
matchmaker.  Each match between grad student/postdoctoral fellow and undergraduate has gone exceedingly well, and I can’t say any less about my match with Julie!

This past week, I was able to interview Julie about her experiences.  I found her responses to be both encouraging and enlightening, and hope you may glean some kernels of wisdom from them as well!

by Nzuekoh Nchinda

Having a great mentor is key to getting the most out of an undergraduate research opportunity. At Sarah Fortune’s lab, it’s been such a wonderful experience working under Richa Gawande, a fourth year graduate student in the Biological Sciences in Public Health (BPH) program at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH). She was kind enough to sit with me and share the experiences that have led her to where she is today.

Why the Fortune lab?
“[It] gives a good balance of excitement and rigor. Straddling the basic science and translational global health line is really important to me,” Richa said. 

She stressed that the Fortune lab gives her a good balance between basic science, great energy in the lab, diversity of projects and translational research.  Translational research is a key part of her interests because it is a way of conducting research that makes findings applicable to the population that is under study, and it encourages multi-disciplinary collaboration. 

Richa’s motivation for coming to HSPH is to acquire the skills to become part of a sustainable research community focused on developing settings.