Expert Spotlight: Jonathan Garlick

Ever been curious what happens when you combine a passion for science and a love of Grandmaster Flash? Look no further than Dr. Jonathan Garlick.  Dr. Garlick was trained as a dentist and a pathologist, and currently conducts stem cell research at Tufts University.

Dr. Garlick's research focuses mainly on the study of induced pluripotent stem cells, (iPSCs) which are a type of stem cell that can be directly generated from adult cells and give rise to every other type of cell in the body.  Not only do iPSCs bypass the need for embryonic stem cells, they can also be made in a patient specific manner, which carries great potential for adults to have their own ‘reserve’ of cells that drastically reduce the risk of immune rejection during the organ transplant process.

To inspire passion for the science of stem cells within his students, Dr. Garlick raps about everything from the moral controversies surrounding stem cell research to the methods used to create tissues and organs.  Since Dr. Garlick spends many of his teaching hours rapping lessons to his students, we thought we’d try and tap into his lyrical genius by creating a rap about his life. Keep the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme song in mind as you read:

In Medford, Mass, where he starts to amaze

In a classroom, is where he spends most of his days

Geeking out, teachin’, researchin’ all cool

While laying down sick beats, inside of the school

When a couple of cells, ‘stem’ from skin tissue

Started to divide and then to self-renew

He uses embryos now, but he wants to see

If he can get the same results through pluripotency.

By taking cells from an adult, and rebooting their drive

He can induce cellular processes to come alive

If anything, we could say that this type of work is rare

To grow tissue and organs, seemingly out of thin air

When you say to Dr. G, “I’d like to talk stem cell.”

He says, “Come down to my lab, I like to show, not tell.”

We’ll look at my kingdom, through a microscope,

I want to have this discourse, I ain’t no misanthrope.

- Lee Stephenson, Production Associate

Check out this amazing video and article about the “Stem Cell Rapper” from the Boston Globe:http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/02/03/tufts-stem-cell-scientist-jonathan-garlick-uses-rap-reach-students/s9XtcLQzzyFfLyUYj7f2OP/story.html

For more on Dr. Garlick’s research: http://sackler.tufts.edu/Faculty-and-Research/Faculty-Research-Pages/Jonathan-Garlick

Expert Spotlight: Pardis Sabeti

What do you get when you cross a scientist, a rock star, and a rollerblading enthusiast? Nope, it’s not the protagonist from an 80s rom-com. The answer is this week's guest Dr. Pardis Sabeti. Smithsonian Magazine called her the “Rollerblading, Rock Star Scientist of Harvard.”

Dr. Sabeti is a world renowned physician and geneticist, famous for her work applying computational models to the study of evolution and public health. As if that weren't enough to demonstrate a predisposition to success, she's also the lead singer in a rock band called Thousand Days, and frequently rollerblades to and from her lab at Harvard. Early in her career, Dr. Sabeti became convinced that if she could identify recent changes in the human genome, it would lead to breakthrough methods for fighting infectious diseases. To accomplish this, Dr. Sabeti is engaged in a continuous effort to determine if a specific gene variation in a given neighborhood of genes recently conferred a genetic advantage (such as a resistance to disease) on particular population. One of her collaborators at MIT described her as Gretzky-esque in her approach to evolutionary genetics, preferring to skate to where the puck (or in this case, advantageous gene variation) is going to be, rather than where it currently is.

More recently, Dr. Sabeti has directed her investigative mind toward the Lassa virus, a deadly hemorrhagic fever that first emerged in the Nigerian town of Lassa in the late 1960s.  Just how dangerous is the Lassa virus? The US Center for Disease Control identifies the Lassa virus as Biosafety level 4 (the highest possible risk).

Currently, Dr. Sabeti and her team are putting themselves directly in the disease's path by studying and treating victims of the deadly Ebola outbreak in West Africa. This deadly strain of the virus has already caused over 700 deaths, Peace Corp to pull all its volunteers, and pan-African airlines to halt travel to that western region. Though the risk of the infection spreading among travelers is low, since the disease is transmitted through contact with bodily fluids, health care professionals like Dr. Sabeti and her team are among those at greatest risk for infection. 

Dr. Sabeti is not a figment of 80s pop culture imagination-she’s the real deal. For more on Dr. Sabeti's astounding work, please see: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/pardis-sabeti-the-rollerblading-rock-star-scientist-of-harvard-135532753/?no-ist

Read more of her academic publications here: http://sabetilab.org/people/pardis-sabeti

-Lee Stephenson, Production Associate

Seen in NY: You're the Expert

We're thrilled to announce that You're the Expert was featured on the latest episode of Seen in NY  from EdLab at Teachers College, Columbia University. 

Seen in NY is a series of videos "on subjects ranging from monks and mathematics to boat-building to citizen science." They focus on projects that are "innovative and forward thinking" and we're honored to be featured!

Check out the You're the Expert video here:

And then check out some of their other videos here:

Maker Faire

American Museum of Natural History

The Laundromat Project