Making biotech advances accessible

My background is in software engineering, which I got into because I couldn’t stand my university’s LMS software and figured I could build a better one myself. This ignited a burning desire to improve the way we learn, which eventually led to Newt Interactive, my website for interactive STEM explainers. Last year, feeling pretty stuck in my job and losing my natural curiosity, I decided to take a sabbatical to get my spark back and figure out what I wanted to do next. I dove into biology – a topic I had recently become obsessed with – and began making explainers on synthetic biology. In the process I discovered that what I really love is weaving compelling stories into technical topics. A recent highlight was co-authoring an interactive piece on the repressilator for Asimov Press. I hope to bring that same energy to this program to break down the fascinating worlds of cell and gene therapies, personalized medicine, and computational biology.

Always exploring

Over the last couple of years I’ve really gotten into Olympic Lifting. I’ve made a lot of progress over the last few months, which feels great. I love lots of things big and small: late night conversations with friends (even better if it’s during a long walk in a new city), trying different kinds of foods and cocktails (even the strange ones), live music, museum days, perusing a second-hand bookstore, making a witty comment that makes everyone laugh, a clean swing at the driving range (it’s rare). I once had a world ranking for U19 squash, although I don’t play much anymore. More recently, after a visit from friends, I’ve really gotten into biking around Toronto, which has unlocked – and I’m only slightly exaggerating here – previously inaccessible parts of the city. My short city rides have made me see the appeal of long-distance bike rides now, and I can see myself sliding down this slippery slope and making it a not insignificant part of my personality in the future.