Join us this month in Cambridge for five true, personal stories about road blocks in science! Full lineup to be announced soon.
Hosted by Ari Daniel and Christine Gentry.
Stories by:
Taj Azarian, PhD MPH, is currently a postdoctoral research fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics, working with Drs. Bill Hanage and Marc Lipsitch. His overarching research goals are to understand the epidemiology of bacterial pathogens through the application of phylogenetics and population genomics, with specific interest in the growing issue of antibiotic-resistance. Prior to pursing his doctoral work, Taj served as a fellow with the Florida Department of Health and later worked as a county epidemiologist, where he investigated cases of notifiable disease and facilitated the implementation of a statewide electronic health surveillance system.
Rachael Bonoan is a Ph.D. Candidate studying honey bee nutritional ecology in the Starks Lab at Tufts University. She is interested in how seasonal changes in the distribution and abundance of flowers (i.e. honey bee food!) affect honey bee health and behavior. Rachael is also the President of the Boston Area Beekeepers Association and enjoys communicating her research and the importance of pollinator health to scientists, beekeepers, garden clubs, and the general public.
Born in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico, Carlos Estrada came to the United States at age five with his parents. Living in a poor, multi-ethnic community, he observed a lack of basic health care and a general fear of healthcare providers. It struck him that these impeded immigrants' progress in society. As an undergraduate at the University of Washington, Carlos pursued degrees in bioengineering and biochemistry while working as a Medical Assistant in the Emergency Room at Harborview Medical Center. Currently, Carlos is studying toward an MD degree at Harvard Medical School and an MBA at Harvard Business School.
Prabarna Ganguly is one of the many Bostonian graduate students, studying neuroscience at Northeastern University. Her research focuses on how and why maternal care is necessary for the healthy development of infants. As an aspiring science writer, she is constantly looking for good science stories to share, and makes sure that her elevator pitches are always grandma-friendly. Comfortably Indian, she likes cricket, Pink Floyd, and enjoys simple frivolities. Also, having just dyed her hair red, she is quite excited about its possibilities.
Gabriela Serrato Marks is a PhD student in the MIT-WHOI Joint Program in Oceanography, where she works with stalagmites from Mexico. She fell in love with rocks and the ocean while getting her B.A. in Earth and Oceanographic Science from Bowdoin College. Her current research focuses on archives of past rainfall and climate change. Outside of research, she is interested in issues of diversity and inclusion in STEM, hanging out with her cat, and growing tiny squash in her parents’ garden.