Random Walks

In this episode, I converse with Yangyang Cheng, a Postdoctoral Fellow at Yale Law School's Paul Tsai China Center. Before joining Yale, she worked on the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) for over a decade and was a postdoctoral research associate at Cornell University and an LHC Physics Center Distinguished Researcher at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. Yangyang received her Ph.D. in physics from the University of Chicago in 2015, and her Bachelor’s in Science from the University of Science and Technology of China’s School for the Gifted Young. Yangyang is a regular columnist for SupChina and her writings have also appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, Los Angeles Review of Books, VICE World News, Foreign Policy, MIT Technology Review, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, ChinaFile, and other publications. 

Yangyang currently studies the ethics and governance of science in China and their global implications. We indulge in a splendid conversation on her extremely interesting and riveting journey through science and life; early fascinations about the fundamental questions of the universe and abstractions; pursuing Physics in a manner akin to a world-class athlete; her time on the ATLAS and CMS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC); exceptional mentors who inspired her; navigating rejections in life; diving into China studies straight from particle physics; future of fundamental curiosity-driven research; and many more things!!

In this episode, I converse with Luis Soenksen, a Venture Builder at MIT. Luis completed his PhD in Mechanical Engineering at MIT and he also holds a BSc in Biomedical Engineering from the Monterrey Institute of Technology in Mexico City, and an MSc from Johns Hopkins University Bioengineering CBID-BME program. Luis currently oversees the emergence of new ventures at the intersection of AI and Healthcare, along a full lifecycle: from the discovery of ideas and resources within the MIT community; exploration of the problem-solution space; a methodical de-risking process; and building “Proto Ventures” that demonstrates the viability of the business and the robustness of the technology.

Luis' research focuses on the intersection of engineering, computing, and biology. We indulge in a terrific conversation on his incredible journey; growing up in a single-parent household with his profoundly inspirational mother; foraying into biomedical engineering; dabbling in startups before heading back into academia; brilliant mentors and influences in familial and professional spheres; overcoming rejections in academia and the true essence of science; the great importance of diversity and inclusion; ethical implications of ones work; and many more things!!

In this episode, I converse with Dr. Wendy Bohon, a Geologist and Senior Science Communication Specialist for the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS), who studies earthquakes and works to improve the communication of hazard and risk before, during and after rapid onset geologic hazards. Wendy is an AAAS If/Then Ambassador and has served on the Executive Leadership Board of 500 Women Scientists. She has worked on many tectonics-related projects in her career, including the B4 LiDAR project in Southern California, climate and tectonics studies in Northwestern Argentina, GPS deployment projects in Bolivia, thrust fault studies in Argentina, and the tectonic evolution of the southwestern margin of the Tibetan Plateau in India.

In this episode, I converse with Kara Rodby, who's currently a Graduate Student in the Department of Chemical Engineering at MIT. Kara received her B.S. in Environmental Engineering with high honours from Northwestern University in 2017 where her undergraduate thesis was on the microbial uptake of mercury in aquatic systems. At MIT alongside her PhD, she has also worked extensively in the industrial setting as part of the MIT Chemical Engineering Practice School Program. Kara also serves on the Graduate Student Advisory Board and is the co-founder of MIT Graduate Women in Chem.E. 

Kara's research is both experimental and computational, focusing on systems-level engineering and techno-economic analysis of aqueous redox flow battery chemistries for long-duration grid storage. We indulge in a wide-ranging conversation about her fascinating path to science and academia; her groundbreaking research and its potentially revolutionary impact on the world; pioneering student activism and actively combating bias and discrimination in science through terrific endeavours to foster a more welcoming environment for underrepresented groups; science as a collaborative enterprise and disputing the notion of male white genius' revolutionising it; and many more things!!

In this episode, I converse with Meghana Ranganathan, a fourth-year Ph.D student in Climate Science at the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences at MIT. Meghana completed her undergraduate education at Swarthmore College and received a B.A. in mathematics, with a specialization in applied mathematics. Her past research has been on eclectic areas of interest, including focuses on El Nino-Southern Oscillation forecasting, statistical paleontology, and building queuing theory models for emergency rooms to identify bottlenecks in the intake process. Meghana is also passionate about diversity, equity, justice, and inclusion in STEM and has been actively involved in education and activism around issues of racism and colonialism in the geosciences. 

Meghana's current research focuses on the dynamics and energetics of ice streams in West Antarctica, illuminating processes on the micro-scale and connecting micro-scale processes with macro-scale dynamics. We indulge in a fascinating conversation on her terrific journey in science; naturally discovering maths in college and flaws with mathematical pedagogy in schools; applying a mathematical lens to solving the pressing challenge of the day - climate change; grad school and confronting the ubiquitous imposter syndrome; the importance of lucid science communication; breathtaking research on glaciology; engaging communities on the ground; forays into writing and the storytelling aspect of science; and many more things!!

In this episode, I converse with Prof. Sujit Datta, an Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Princeton University. Sujit earned a BA in Mathematics and Physics, and an MS in Physics, in 2008 from the University of Pennsylvania. He earned his PhD in Physics in 2013 from Harvard, where he studied fluid dynamics and instabilities in porous media and colloidal microcapsules with David Weitz after which he finished a postdoc in Chemical Engineering at Caltech, where he studied the biophysics of the gut with Rustem Ismagilov. He joined the faculty at Princeton in 2017 and been the recipient of multiple awards like the NSF CAREER Award, AIChE 35 Under 35 Award, ACS Unilever Award, APS Andreas Acrivos Award in Fluid Dynamics.

Sujit's lab studies soft and living materials in complex settings, motivated by challenges like water remediation, carbon sequestration, oil/gas recovery, and targeted drug delivery, and their work integrates microscopy, microfluidics, soft materials chemistry, and biophysical characterisation. We indulge in an ebullient conversation on his wonderful journey through science and life; from early fascinations with economics and philosophy to pivoting to maths and physics; fascination with science and the fundamental role of curiosity-driven basic science research in helping shape the world; his terrific set of mentors; kickboxing the stress out of his life; the importance of diversity and inclusion in all walks of life; and many more things!!

In this episode, I converse with the legendary geneticist, an outstanding scientist, terrific engineer, inimitable mentor, and fantastic innovator Prof. George Church of Harvard and MIT. Church is a Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School and Professor of Health Sciences and Technology at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He has received multiple awards including the Bower Award and Prize for Achievement in Science from the Franklin Institute and election to the coveted National Academy of Sciences and Engineering for his pioneering contributions to science. He has co-authored over 600 publications, holds more than 150 patents, and published a book titled “Regenesis: How Synthetic Biology Will Reinvent Nature and Ourselves”, with more than 70 billion copies published.

Church's lab researches at the frontiers of science and helped develop the methods for the first genome sequencing, and their subsequent work brought down the price of sequencing over 10-million-fold. His was one of the two groups that first got CRISPR-Cas9, subject of the latest Nobel Prize in Chemistry, to work for precise gene editing in human cells by a homologous recombination, and he has been behind countless other scientific innovations and disruptions, specifically in the world of precision genome sequencing. We indulge in an extremely riveting conversation on his absolutely stellar and thoroughly inspiring journey through science; early childhood inspirations and building his first computer in conjunction with an electrician family friend; foraying into biological sciences armed with strong physical and computational science skills right at the cusp of revolution; fascinating grad school experience, from flunking out of Duke to make giant strides at Harvard; inspirational mentors like Gail Martin, Wally Gilbert, and Sung-Hou Kim; disappointment with the Human Genome Project; breathtaking research that has hugely impacted the world; combating failures and rejections; the prospect of creating an actual living and breathing Jurassic Park; and many more things!!

In this episode, I converse with Dr. Avanti Shrikumar, a Ram and Vijay Shriram Data Science Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford Data Science, where she works with Prof. Karen Casciotti in the Department of Earth System Science at Stanford, Avanti completed her B.S. in Computer Science and Molecular Biology from MIT in 2013 and took a gap year to work on the healthcare team of Palantir Technologies before beginning her graduate studies in the Computer Science department at Stanford under the aegis of Prof. Anshul Kundaje.

Avanti's current research focuses on developing and applying data science techniques to improve our understanding of oceanic nutrient cycling and during her PhD she helped develop machine learning methods, with a focus on deep learning, model interpretation, and applications to regulatory genomics. We indulge in a terrific conversation on her fantastic journey in science; early familial influences and childhood initiations into science; combating biases and dealing with the ubiquitous imposter syndrome; her brilliant research and the fantastic mentors who inspired her; the globally pressing challenge of climate change and the urgent need to combat it to prevent the doomsday scenario of spraying sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere; and many more things!!

*Disclaimer: This episode was recorded early this year in the month of January but is being released now due to some extraneous reasons!

In this episode, I converse with Dr. Yilin Wang, a distinguished C.L.E. Moore Instructor in Mathematics at MIT. Yilin obtained her Ph.D. advised by the Fields Medalist Wendelin Werner at ETH Zurich and before that, she studied at Ecole Normale Supérieure de Paris and University Paris-Sud (Paris-Saclay) for her bachelor's. Beginning in January 2022, Yilin will be a Strauch Postdoctoral Fellow at Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI), Berkeley.

In this episode, I converse with Jackie Valeri, a Graduate Student in the Department of Biological Engineering at MIT where she's advised by the legendary Prof. Jim Collins. Jackie graduated with an undergraduate and masters degree in biological engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, and leads the MITxHarvard Women in Artificial Intelligence initiative, and was a BE Data Lab Fellow.

Jackie's research focuses on developing machine learning tools for synthetic biology components such as toehold switches and aid computationally assisted discovery and design of new antibiotics. We indulge in a fantastic chat on her incredible journey in science; the fun of dry computational work and her fascinating research; her terrific mentors who have inspired and guided her; battling lyme disease and unwarranted skepticism; being energized by opportunities to mentor as well as promote inclusive environments; the importance of communicating science to the general public; and many more things!!