My great-grandfather was a scientist. After undergoing an invasive procedure for suspected normal-pressure hydrocephalus, he was unsettled by its risks — and went on to develop a safer, non-invasive way to measure intracranial pressure. He taught me early that progress comes from questioning established practice and taking responsibility for improving it.
Early in medical school I sustained a cartilage injury in my hip, with a real possibility of progressing to osteoarthritis. A physician mentioned that stem-cell therapies might one day offer options for cases like mine. That is where this began.
Since then my work has followed two questions: how do we repair damaged tissue, and how do we keep it from being damaged in the first place?