At 15, when she won a youth science competition Netra said “It's my life-long goal to be a cancer researcher.” Our conversation helped uncover a bit of what led to this self-empowerment in her career and life. We began with her experience conducting genomics research in high school, leading her to the Engineering Science program at U of T, leading the enormous growth of the Club for Undergraduate Biomedical Engineering (CUBE) and conducting research across borders. Knowing her enabling goal was always to be on the pathway of earning a PhD, we also realize the importance of asking insightful questions (and how this is often half the job) in graduate school, and how differences in agency have changed her perspective of graduate school versus undergrad. Newly introduced in this episode is a lightning ground of questions where we explore Netra’s alternate profession, her biggest mistake, what drives her, and the small pleasures in life she appreciates.
Introducing Netra Unni Rajesh (EngSci 1T9 + PEY, Current PhD Candidate in Bioengineering & Biomedical Engineering @ Stanford 2020 - 2025)
Netra Unni Rajesh graduated from Engineering Science in 2020 from the Biomedical Systems option and completed her PEY at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as a Research Assistant.
She has conducted research at the University of Toronto, at California Institute of Technology (Caltech), and the National University of Singapore (NUS). She found her passion for research at 15 while conducting cancer research at Sunnybrook.
Currently, she is a Bioengineering PhD Student at Stanford researching the development of biomaterials for medical applications including vaccines and cancer therapy at Dr. Joseph DeSimone’s lab. She was awarded the Knight-Hennessy Scholarship, a graduate-level scholarship program which prepares students for global leadership. While at U of T, she was named 1 of 10 3M National Student Fellows for her outstanding leadership and remarkable innovation both within and beyond higher education.
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This podcast is generously supported by the Hart House Good Ideas Fund.
Music By : Zen Man