Program: Experimental Medicine
Year in program: 5th year
Hometown: Freiburg, Germany
What inspired you to pursue your program?
The prospect of pursuing a doctoral degree at a renowned university located between the mountains and sea. I intend to combine my passion for communication, teaching and research in a non-traditional thesis, for which experimental medicine is a great fit.
What are you looking forward to most this upcoming year?
Personally, I am very excited for the arrival of my second son this summer. Professionally, I look forward to amazing learning opportunities through conducting my first focus groups and developing an online survey. As a trained wet-lab researcher, these approaches are new challenges for me. I am particularly excited about the opportunity to learn about the impact of inflammatory bowel disease through interactions with people affected by the disease. As a laboratory researcher, I had no interaction with the community. I am grateful to my supervisor, Ted Steiner, my graduate program, experimental medicine, and my funding sources, Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships and the UBC Public Scholars Initiative, which will support me in my quest.
What’s one thing we might be surprised to learn about you?
I recently started reading psychological and educational literature and have learned about many pieces of research that had a real impact on my life. Two books I’d like to recommend are Daniel Gilbert’s “Stumbling on Happiness” and Carol Dweck’s “Mindset”. Both books have profoundly changed the way I experience the world and approach challenges.
Best piece of advice:
As a father, I learned not to glance over advice and listen to the shared experience. Then, I would find insights that I can apply to my own life. One experience I like to share is how I navigated a gridlocked situation that seemed impossible to overcome without drawbacks. I talked to people I trusted, shared my goals and aspirations and believed in myself to take on new challenges, rather than following the well-travelled path. Now, I feel more motivated and thrive in my program.
What superpower do you wish you had?
Having superpowers would help me be really good at one thing and I might do that thing over and over again. That would deprive me of the tremendous learning opportunities that life offers every day. I’d rather continue my path than acquiring superpowers.
Where in the world would you like to get lost?
I really love nature, the mountains and the sea. I lived in Europe, the Caribbean and in British Columbia, and have travelled to many more places. I would love to go on an extended (multi-year) bike trip with my family, living day to day and getting lost in the process. Travelling by bike is slow enough to experience the surroundings while fast enough to learn new things every day.