I have admired Professor David’s work on nutrition and the gut microbiome since the beginning of freshman year, so I was very excited for his talk. In my “Exploration of Genetics and Genomics” FOCUS cluster, I took a course on the genomics of symbiosis. One of the papers we read was one of Professor David’s on how diet can alter the human gut microbiome. I’ve always been fascinated by how symbiotic microbiota impact essential functions within their hosts, such as food digestion, immune defense regulation, and vitamin synthesis, so I took an interest in his work.
Professor David studied microbial ecology and evolution in graduate school, and he was particularly interested in how to engineer the microbiome + study how what people eat impacts the structure and composition of the human gut microbiome. He still conducts microbiological research, but he also works on FoodSeq, a technique that involves extracting plant and animal DNA from human stool to obtain information about the food the person has consumed. This project involves curating a reference database of DNA sequences from foods eaten worldwide!
What stood out to me about Professor David’s talk, however, is his emphasis on the aspects people don’t really hear about professorship. He explained how being a professor is like being a small business owner and showed us what goes into a lab’s budget. He also explained to us how his day ends at five! He sets boundaries on his schedule to maintain his work-life balance, especially since he has a family. I think this is important for my peers and me to hear, as many of us are considering graduate school and/or a career in academia. Above all, it was great to see his passion for the people in the lab and his family – thank you, Professor David!
Awesome! Yes, Dr. David’s science is so cool and he was also so generous to share some of the “day to day” realities of working in academia.