Introduction

How many times have we helped another human being in their moment of need, and sickness, provided them with support and assisted them in any way we could? As a little girl, playing doctor with my sisters and friends, a career in medicine began to interest me. I would pretend to be a doctor, curing them of all their illnesses. In particular, my younger sister whom at the time had been suffering from various eye conditions, like astigmatism, severe myopia, strabismus and retinopathy being only 2 months old. I would tell her that I would cure her, take out my pretend stethoscope, and in a blink of an eye cure her, or at least I would believe I did. During our childhood, I would notice that she felt out of place. When I would talk to her she would tell me that the kids at school were making fun of her. I would then tell her that she should not feel sad, that she was unique and different from everyone else and that made her special, which put a smile on her face.


Disease has been a recurring theme in my life. In addition to my sister, both my grandfather and father were diagnosed with diabetes at an early age, one of my grandmothers passed away due to cancer, and I myself am a hypoglycemic. Being constantly reminded about the effects of an illness leads me to explore and learn more about the progression, treatment, and new advances. I find myself asking: “Where do we get all of this information from? How do we learn about these illnesses and how do we find new cures?” I found a lot of my answers once I started working in a biology research lab.