In this ongoing series, we talk to Yale professors about their fascinating research and discoveries in collaboration with the Yale Scientific Magazine and Yale Alumni Association Shared Interest Groups. About three to four times a year, we make a new episode and talk to a different Yale professor featured in the most recent Yale Scientific Magazine issue. If you want to be notified every time a new episode comes out, you can join our mailing list by signing up to become a YSEA member here. Membership fees are waived for the 2021 – 2022 school year, so there is no drawback to signing up! Alongside showing support for YSEA, you will get access to our mailing list.
Give our episodes a watch!
Meet the Profs!, Episode 7: Who Contributes to and Who Suffers from Air Pollution in India
February 2, 2022
In this installment of our Meet the Profs! Series, organized by the Yale Science and Engineering
Association (YSEA) and Yale Scientific Magazine (YSM), we hear from Narasimha Rao, associate professor of energy systems at the Yale School of the Environment and a senior research scholar at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis.
Rao discusses income-based contributions to air pollution in India, where his team uncovered vast socioeconomic disparities in pollution exposure with potentially deadly effects. He presents his research process, key findings, and the policy implications of his work. In his research, Rao examines energy systems, climate change and wellbeing. He is particularly interested in equity in energy transitions, and the impacts of climate change and its mitigation on poverty around the world. He is a contributing author to the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report. He was a recipient of the European Research Council Starting Grant for a project entitled Decent Living Energy–which examines the energy and climate impacts of poverty eradication in emerging economies. Moderating the program are Gail Reynolds ’78, ’81 MFS, YSEA Secretary and
board member; and YSM editors Isabella Li (Yale College, Class of 2022) and Maria
Fernanda Pacheco (Yale College, Class of 2023).
Meet the Profs!, Episode 6: The Origins of Life on Earth
May 5, 2021
In this installment of our Meet the Profs! Series, Yale Professor Jun Korenaga explored the origins of life on Earth with the Yale Science & Engineering Association and the Yale Scientific Magazine.
Currently, our most popular theories for abiogenesis holds that deep sea hydrothermal vents housed the first living beings. But a recent Nature Geosciences paper from the lab of Professor Korenaga challenged this picture, as geological modeling revealed that life, in fact, could have originated on land. Yale Scientific Magazine editors Cindy Kuang and Jenny Tan, along with Yale Science and Engineering Association representative Jeffrey Katz ’89, discussed this with Professor Korenaga alongside his slide presentation of the possible origins of life. The conversation delved into the research process, key findings, and implications for the field of abiogenesis.
This webinar was brought to the Yale community by the Yale Science and Engineering Association, co-sponsored by the Yale Scientific Magazine, and made possible by the YAA Shared Interest Groups.
Meet the Profs!, Episode 5: COVID-19’s Nsp-1 Protein: Research Findings and Future Treatment Implications
April 2, 2021
In this installment of our Meet the Profs! Series, we explored the virus that has upended our lives for the past year.
A recent Molecular Cell paper by a team of Yale researchers uncovered the role of SARS-CoV-2’s Nsp-1 protein and its key role in viral pathogenesis. We spoke to the first authors, Yale postdoctoral fellows Dr. Shuai Yuan and Dr. Lei Peng, along with senior author and Yale research scientist Dr. Ivan Lomakin. Our conversation, moderated by Yale Scientific News Editor Jenny Tan and Yale Science and Engineering Association representative Gail Reynolds, discussed the research process, key findings, and implications for future treatment.
This webinar was brought to the alumni community by the Yale Science & Engineering Association and the Yale Scientific Magazine, in partnership with the YAA Shared Interest Groups.
Meet the Profs!, Episode 4: To the Galaxy and Beyond! A Woman’s Journey in STEM Featuring Professor Meg Urry
December 4, 2020
In this installment of our Meet the Profs! Series, we talk with Professor Meg Urry about her journey as a woman in STEM.
Professor Meg Urry has been profiled in the Yale Scientific Magazine’s latest Women’s Issue. She is the Israel Munson Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Yale, the Director of the Yale Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, and a leader in the study of supermassive black holes and galaxies. YSM Editor Isabella Li interviewed Prof. Urry about her journey and leadership as a woman in STEM, in the context of her scientific work as well as advocacy of equality both in and out of academia.
This webinar was produced in partnership with the Yale Science and Engineering Association, the Yale Scientific Magazine, and the Yale Alumni Association Shared Interest Groups.
Meet the Profs!, Episode 3: Tracking Drugs, Treating Disease
April 29, 2020
In this installment of our Meet the Profs! Series, we talk with Professor Mark Saltzman, and postdoctoral fellows Alexandra Piotrowski-Daspit, Ph.D., and Laura Bracaglia, Ph.D. on their research that is helping to push forward COVID-19 drug innovation.
Yale researchers from the Department of Biomedical Engineering have developed a quantitative microscopy approach to efficiently measure circulation half-life of fluorescently tagged agents. With the power to detect subtle changes in concentrations for nanoparticles and antibodies, scientists may soon be able to rapidly screen a wide range of therapeutic agents for clinical trials. This research is proving useful for innovations moving forward COVID-19 drugs. This webinar was moderated by Elissa Levy ’09, President of the YSEA and a 9th Grade Physics Teacher in New York City, and Anna Sun ‘21, a current student and Managing Editor of the Yale Scientific Magazine.
Professor Mark Saltzman, an engineer and educator, presented on his body of research around drug delivery, biomaterials, nanobiotechnology, and tissue engineering. Professor Saltzman was joined by panelists Alexandra Piotrowski-Daspit, Ph.D., and Laura Bracaglia, Ph.D., who are both postdoctoral fellows working with him in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. Alex spoke about her experience developing polymeric vehicles for the delivery of therapeutic nucleic acids, while Laura shared her work using nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems to prevent immune-mediated injury in blood vessels.
This webinar was produced in partnership with the Yale Science and Engineering Association, the Yale Scientific Magazine, and the Yale Alumni Association Shared Interest Groups.
Meet the Profs!, Episode 2: Measuring the Color of a Single Photon
March 25, 2020
In this installment of our Meet the Profs! Series, we talk with Professor Hong Tang and graduate student Risheng Cheng about their work on an on-chip spectrophotometer. Get behind-the-scenes access to research that is spotlighted in Issue 92.4 of the Yale Scientific Magazine (YSM).
Check out the article and the original paper!
YSM Article: yalescientific.org/2020/01/harnessing...
Original Paper: nature.com/articles/s414…
This webinar was produced in partnership with the Yale Science and Engineering Association, the Yale Scientific Magazine, and the Yale Alumni Association Shared Interest Groups.
Meet the Profs!, Episode 1: Target-Directed MicroRNA Degradation
November 19, 2019
Co-sponsored by the Yale Scientific Magazine, the Yale Science & Engineering Association, the Yale Alumni Association Shared Interest Groups, and the Yale International Alliance, this is the inaugural webinar of the Meet the Profs series. Get behind-the-scenes access to research that is spotlighted in the next issue of the Yale Scientific Magazine. Editor Marcus Sak will interview Professor Joan Steitz and post doc Paulina Pawlica about their work on Target-Directed MicroRNA Degradation.
Read the article in the Yale Scientific Magazine by Raquel Sequeira here: http://www.yalescientific.org/2019/11…
Read the original research paper is here: https://www.cell.com/molecular-cell/f…