The back-story When I was in college, happily trekking down my pre-med program, I happened to attend a talk by a guest speaker from Albert Einstein College of Medicine graduate school program. Two things from her talk have stuck with me through the years. First, and likely the more important, is the fact that her... Continue Reading →
Pushing the envelope in science AND art
"Thinking outside the box" has become a bit of a cliché. But in science it is more important than ever. As the base of human knowledge propels ahead with lightning speed, it takes a special set of skills and knowledge to be on the cutting edge of innovation. When I was in graduate school, there... Continue Reading →
Pushing the envelope – Part I
"Thinking outside the box" has become a bit of a cliché. But in science it is more important than ever. As the base of human knowledge propels ahead with lightning speed, it takes a special set of skills and knowledge to be on the cutting edge of innovation. When I was in graduate school, there... Continue Reading →
Why we have cells in the living room
When I was in college, happily trekking down my pre-med program, I happened to attend a talk by a guest speaker from Albert Einstein College of Medicine graduate school program. Two things from her talk have stuck with me through the years. First, and likely the more important, is the fact that her talk served... Continue Reading →
The water maze
Yesterday I attended a talk by one of my colleagues. He was giving an update on a project we are both heavily involved in. The key difference is that he works on animal models (in vivo), mainly asking "what" type of questions; whereas I work at the cellular level (in vitro) focusing on the "why"... Continue Reading →
Original work
We live in a modern world where everything has been said and done. There are so many great minds and creative people that it can often be tough to be original. I have written in my previous posts about how I have always found art to be my oasis. During my childhood and teenage years,... Continue Reading →
When you have a passion…
Work and chores get done because the world needs them to be done. Art gets done because there is an internal need for it to happen. Karen This comment was posted in response to one of my recent posts on"Facts and Data." My first internal response was: "Absolutely!" But then I paused for a second.... Continue Reading →
“Anatomy of a Breakthrough”
In my previous post I have referred to Laura Vanderkam's book "168 Hours". One of the chapters is called "Anatomy of a Breakthrough". It begins by telling a story about a woman, Leah Ingram, who wanted to publish a book, and succeeded by what appeared to be a string of lucky coincidences. Only that wasn't... Continue Reading →
Facts and Data
I am a scientist. I live for data. I love testing new hypotheses. In any conversation, work related or not, I look for hard facts rather than impressions. While this may serve me well in some instances, particularly in the lab, in other parts of my life it sometimes leads to some obsessive and neurotic tendencies.... Continue Reading →
The onion effect
The first time I went to San Francisco, I was probably about 17 years old. My parents and I decided to finally venture out to California for a family vacation. I was impatiently waiting to see the Fog City, after hearing so many great things about it. When we arrived, there was certainly no shortage... Continue Reading →
