{"329731":{"#nid":"329731","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Mohamad Ali Najia: Choosing Internships for Future Success","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAccording to his 160-character bio on Twitter, undergraduate researcher Mohamad Ali Najia dreams of one day becoming the director of the National Institutes of Health. As an Amgen Scholar at UC Berkeley, Najia\u2019s trek along what he describes as his \u201cnon-linear path\u201d to achieving his goal is well underway. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ENajia is set to graduate from Georgia Tech\u2019s Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering this December, which will put the finishing touch on a long resume of successful research ventures in his undergraduate career. Since he was a freshman, Najia has been working in Dr. Todd McDevitt\u2019s Engineering Stem Cell Technologies Lab to learn more about engineering the microenvironment in which stem cells live.\u003Cbr \/\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u201cThis research has real-world implications in developing stem cell-based therapeutics,\u201d Najia explains. \u201cStem cells, like any other raw material, must be processed in order to realize their potential. My job is to investigate and design the platforms necessary to manufacture these stem cells on a large scale.\u201d\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIn the summer of 2013, Najia worked with Dr. Alexander Gimelbrant at Harvard Medical School to investigate how cells become functionally distinct, and the epigenetic mechanisms that govern embryonic development. In October of that year, his work was published in the journal Biotechnology and Bioengineering. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThis past summer Najia continued on his quest to further understand embryonic development, albeit on the other side of the country.\u003Cbr \/\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u201cI spent the summer working in Dr. Michael Eisen\u2019s lab at UC Berkeley, investigating the fundamental biological mechanisms that dictate the cadence of embryogenesis,\u201d Najia said. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u201cAfter graduation, I hope to continue to pursue this field of research in graduate school to earn my Ph.D. in biomedical engineering.\u201d\u003Cbr \/\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003EFrom his early school years growing up on the North Shore of Massachusetts, Najia has been interested in engineering\u2013though not the kind that currently fills his days.\u003Cbr \/\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u201cI dreamed of becoming a civil engineer, because I loved to build things with Legos and wood,\u201d Najia remembers. \u003Cbr \/\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003EIt wasn\u2019t until his sophomore year of high school that he began to take an interest in biomedical engineering and its implications. Najia studied Nobel prize-winning scientist Shinya Yamanaka and his revolutionary work reprogramming human skin cells to stem cells.\u003Cbr \/\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u201cIt was truly fascinating to me, and the more I learned about the subject, the more my hunger for knowledge grew,\u201d Najia said. \u201cThe teachers, professors and mentors I\u2019ve had in the years since then have helped guide and shape my interest in a career in biomedical research.\u201d\u003Cbr \/\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003ENajia credits his time spent as a teaching assistant at Georgia Tech with helping him fine-tune his career goals. For the past three years he\u2019s guided other students through the notoriously difficult Computing for Engineers, which has proved a rewarding opportunity to see his field in a new light. \u003Cbr \/\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u201cI think I may have learned more as a teaching assistant than as a student, because teaching forces you to think creatively and fundamentally about the subject matter,\u201d Najia said. \u201cThe ability to play a role in a student\u2019s exploration of a subject and see their growth firsthand is extremely satisfying.\u201d\u003Cbr \/\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003EIt\u2019s why\u2013in addition to goal of becoming the principal investigator in his own laboratory\u2013Najia aspires to continue teaching. \u003Cbr \/\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003ENajia maintains a prominent leadership role on campus, as editor-in-chief of the Tower undergraduate research journal. He says it\u2019s a challenging but important task to translate science findings into a format the general public can understand, and believes all scientists should place a larger emphasis on communicating their findings and shaping science policy in the U.S. Hence, his mission to work at the NIH. \u003Cbr \/\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u201cThe responsibility falls on all of us in the sciences to effectively explain our research, and not just in technical journals,\u201d Najia said. \u201cIt\u2019s up to us to convey why our research matters and inspire the next generation of scientists who will advance on the building blocks we leave for them.\u201d\u003Cbr \/\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003ENajia may be a young researcher himself, but he already possesses valuable wisdom to impart to newer BME students. Exploring as many interests as possible, he says, is the best way to not only nail down your career goals but to keep your mind sharp. \u003Cbr \/\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u201cEven if you have an idea of what it is you want to do, experiencing new things and meeting as many supportive mentors as possible will help you along your unique path to success,\u201d he said. \u201cMy various research internships along with the talented faculty and staff at Georgia Tech have helped me immensely, and have no doubt pointed me in a direction to achieve my goals.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/mnajia3\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EConnect with Mohamad Ali Najia on LinkedIn\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/twitter.com\/MohamadNajia\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EFollow Mohamad Ali Najia on Twitter\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;Written by Chris Calleri\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"According to his 160-character bio on Twitter, undergraduate researcher Mohamad Ali Najia dreams of one day becoming the director of the National Institutes of Health."}],"uid":"27960","created_gmt":"2014-09-29 22:59:27","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:17:11","author":"Chris Calleri","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-09-29T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2014-09-29T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"329721":{"id":"329721","type":"image","title":"Mohamad Ali Najia","body":null,"created":"1449245090","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:04:50","changed":"1475895041","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:50:41","alt":"Mohamad Ali Najia","file":{"fid":"200320","name":"mohamad.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mohamad_1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mohamad_1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":6186424,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/mohamad_1.jpg?itok=MdIIqD7e"}}},"media_ids":["329721"],"groups":[{"id":"1254","name":"Wallace H. Coulter Dept. of Biomedical Engineering"}],"categories":[{"id":"42911","name":"Education"},{"id":"42941","name":"Art Research"},{"id":"8862","name":"Student Research"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1612","name":"BME"},{"id":"365","name":"Research"},{"id":"167058","name":"Student"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EChris Calleri\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications Manager\u003Cbr \/\u003EWallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering\u003Cbr \/\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology \u0026amp; Emory School of Medicine\u003Cbr \/\u003E313 Ferst Drive, Suite 2120\u003Cbr \/\u003EAtlanta, GA 30332-0535\u003Cbr \/\u003EPhone: 404.385.2416\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}