This past week I had the pleasure of meeting one-on-one with my PI (primary investigator of the lab), Dr. Ferreira. During our meeting I got to learn about the events that have led him to where he is today.
Growing up, Dr. Ferreira was surrounded by physicians. From a young age, he loved science. He recalls being given a microscope to play with at 6 years old, and being fascinated by the sight of human cells up close. In school his favorite subject was always biology, but diseases especially intrigued him. Through this upbringing he noticed that many doctors didn’t always know the answers for why things happened in the body. His curious nature wouldn’t allow him to follow a regimen without questioning why, and for this reason research has suited him very well. When his friend died of cancer, he became further interested in studying how human diseases work in hopes of finding information that could be useful in the prevention or treatment of them.
Dr. Ferreira explained to me that growing up in Portugal, the education system was elite-based, with few going to college and even fewer earning degrees. With a revolution in science occurring (In the 70’s and 80’s microbiology was a hot new topic), Dr. Ferreira found it best to leave Portugal and come to the US. At 28 years old he made the big move and spent a summer researching at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in a program similar to the Howard Hughes Research Fellowship. This was a turning point for him in his decision to pursue research, and he credits his “really good mentors” with pushing him in this direction.
He went on to earn his PhD from Purdue University, and expresses that he enjoyed teaching premed classes during graduate school. To him, being a TA was refreshing because it gave him positive social interaction with the students and gave him practice transmitting knowledge through good communication.
When I prompted him the typical question, “What do you like about being a researcher?” he responded that along with the way it feeds his scientific curiosity, he loves the independent nature of his work. He loves that he cannot get too used to following one routine over and over, and advises me to never become complacent if I want to improve.
My favorite part of our conversation, though, was when he advised me outright, “Knowing too much can be bad.” I was surprised by this and asked him why. He explained that in science, a combination of naivety and ingenuity can sometimes be a recipe for success. He explained that since science is always changing, sometimes if you believe too strongly what you have been taught, your perspective might be based on false premises.
Now I understand why, at work, he constantly reminds me not to take for granted what I read and to keep an open mind. It is only two weeks into this program, and I am being taught not only good lab techniques, but perhaps more importantly, the mental attitude that will bring me success in a scientific career.
