Last week I had the opportunity to participate in the SEAS R&D Showcase, where I presented everything I’ve been working on for almost two years. Poster presentations are almost always the same. You stand by your poster for hours hoping someone finds your work interesting enough to stop and ask you to explain it to them. Most of the time they say something along the lines “Good work!” or “Interesting...” and move on. If you’re lucky, they’ll stay and ask a few questions. However, this time things were a bit different.
A man come up to me who sought out my poster specifically and enthusiastically asked me to explain my project. He then shared his own experience with corneal disease and how his condition has been misdiagnosed several times ultimately leading to multiple corneal transplants. He had experienced many of the issues my project aims to eliminate and had even been misdiagnosed once with the disease I work with. Before leaving, he told me how incredible this research is and encouraged me to keep up with it so it can be used clinically one day.
It was amazing to see the direct impact of my research. When running experiments for hours on end, it becomes easy to feel disconnected from the issues at hand and their impact on real people. People often get into biomedical research with the intent to improve the world. Getting wrapped up in all the technical details of your work can diminish that drive. But being able to interact with someone whose life can be changed by my field brought back that connection to improving people’s lives. It was a powerful exchange that won’t leave my mind as I continue my research.