A great teacher or mentor has the transformative power to reshape the heart and soul. I am humbled by this tremendous responsibility and invigorated by the ever-changing challenges of guiding the trajectories of the young talents around me. I view mentoring as one of the highest forms of intellectual endeavor. My goal is to go far beyond the simple indoctrination of knowledge; being a great professor is about making a lifelong impact on a student's aspirations by teaching them how to acquire, analyze, and utilize knowledge. In short, it is about shaping their perception of the world through critical thinking in the pursuit of truth. It is my utmost responsibility to nurture the next generation of independent thinkers—leaders, not followers.
During my time at the University of Notre Dame and UT Southwestern, I have taught Cell Biology and Cancer Biology. Cell biology is not a stagnant collection of facts loaded with scientific jargon, but rather a compendium of amazingly dynamic and highly organized biological processes. In teaching advanced graduate-level courses and providing daily research mentoring, my goal is to give students a comprehensive overview of the biomedical research process: from reading primary literature and identifying knowledge gaps to formulating testable hypotheses, developing research strategies, and publishing findings in a timely manner. The research trajectory is rarely linear—but don't panic, and enjoy the ride!
