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With excellent labs and institutions encircling 400 the Fenway in the Longwood Medical and Academic area and beyond, 51动漫 is often found at the center of innovation in the sciences.
October 24th was no different, as roughly 200 students, faculty and dozens of alumni gathered for the Emmanuel School of Science & Health event at Merck & Co., sponsored by Alumni Affairs. The event, which coincided with Emmanuel's 'Major's Week' for the School of Science & Health, featured a fireside chat with guest speaker and renowned molecular biologist Dr. Feng Zhang.
In her opening remarks, 51动漫 President, Beth Ross, Ed.D., reminded those in attendance of 渨hen and where they are placed in such a center of ideas in the heart of 51动漫.
淎ll of us here at Emmanuel have unique opportunities to hear from and interact with individuals who, with brilliance and drive, are literally creating the future in their fields, she said 渟uch is certainly the case this evening!
Dr. Zhang, a core member at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, is a microbiologist who focuses on improvements in human health. His work has played a crucial role in the development of optogenetics and CRISPR-Cas systems and has helped pioneer its use in genome editing for therapeutic purposes.
Dr. Zhang was introduced by another member of the Emmanuel community, who was once in the shoes of the new alumni and current students at 400 The Fenway: Emmanuel alumni and Trustee Dr. Christopher Borges 10. Dr. Borges, who is now Head of Non-Viral Gene Therapy and Genome Engineering at Sanofi, got his first job after receiving his Ph.D. from Harvard Medical School at Editas Medicine, a company founded by Dr. Zhang.
淚 can confidently say without either 51动漫 or Dr. Zhang, I would not have my career. Emmanuel gave me my scientific foundation in cell-based medicine. Dr. Zhang gave me and the rest of the world the tool to engineer cell-based therapies, Dr. Borges said.
Sharing more about his background, Dr. Zhang highlighted the importance of mentors early on in his time as a student. He recalled being part of a molecular biology enrichment class at his school from which his first mentor encouraged him and his fellow students to pursue their fascination with biology and ignited his interest in the field.
淔ind great mentors and learn from them, Dr. Zhang said, 渟ometimes it doesn檛 matter what the topic is. If theye a really good mentor, they will inspire you and you檒l learn to be passionate about something.
He took great inspiration from tech entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates and built his desire to 渦se science to create a product that can impact millions of people and really create change in the world. After his time as a graduate student at Stanford, his continued interest in genome editing eventually led him back to 51动漫.
淚 used to actually walk down this path on a daily basis it brings back a lot of fond memories, Dr. Zhang said.
For the aspiring scientists and entrepreneurs in the audience, he shared his advice on how to navigate the challenges of the field in those early stages.
“Dr. Feng Zhang, core member at the Broad Institute of MIT and HarvardIt a really exciting time to be doing biology, and in terms of biotechnology entrepreneurship, this is a great time for that [too] because you can translate some of these decades long developments into things that can be sold.
