What is your academic background? What research experience did you have before grad school?

 

I majored in Math/Statistics. Before grad school I worked on engineering plants to be more resistant to disease and climate change using a mix of experimental and computational approaches.

 

What is your research area and why is it exciting?

 

Proteins are the building blocks of life and have a wide array of industrial and therapeutic uses. I work on developing general frameworks for protein engineering, including thinking about ways machine learning can help the design process. I’m particularly interested in discovering and improving genome editing enzymes for industrial, agronomic, and therapeutic purposes.

 

Why did you choose BIG?

 

I wanted to be in a program that offered solid training in computational biology, while offering the freedom to explore my interests in synthetic biology.

 

What was your favorite class and why?

 

"Commercializing Science" at Harvard Business School. It was eye-opening to think about my work as something that could one day be a company and have an impact in a way that’s different than publishing a paper. I hadn’t had that exposure before. It also gave me another lens with which to look at and choose projects. Asking "which of these projects could be a company one day?" often gave me a different answer to "which of these projects could be a good paper one day?", and having that ability to value ideas in those two different ways has been game changing for me.

 

How do you like living in Boston? What do you do when you are not working?

 

I love Boston and the Biotech culture and community. When I’m not working, I’m usually hanging out with my girlfriend and our dog or playing poker.

 

What advice would you give to college students who are interested in a PhD in genomics/bioinformatics?

 

Be open to growing as an individual, not just a scientist. There’s a lot less structure on your time in grad school, which means it’s important to learn/define your core values so that you know what’s important for you to be spending your time on.