Although every lab is directed by principle investigator, most lab have a wide variety of graduate students and post graduates. During my time in the Luftig Lab, Joanne Dai, a PhD candidate in the Molecular Genetics and Microbiology (MGM) department, has supervised my project and served as my scientific mentor.
Born in Gainesville, Florida, Joanne spent much of her life moving around the country. After settling down in California for high school, Joanne attended the University of California – Berkley where she majored in Molecular and Cell Biology. During her time in Berkley, Joanne worked in the Werb Lab at University of California – San Francisco studying lung cancer in mouse models.
For Joanne, science is all about communication. Beyond the allure of interesting questions, science offers a unique opportunity to share and learn from others’ experiences. While experiments offer data, oftentimes conversations can provide valuable insight into previous research and future directions. And while sometimes the time-consuming experiments can be a grind, ultimately the joy of discovery makes it all worth it.
