Science Starts Here: Eduard Y. Chekmenev
Eduard Y. Chekmenev.
Name
Eduard Y. Chekmenev.
Age
29.
Current position
Senior Research Scientist, Huntington Medical Research Institutes; Visiting Associate, California Institute of Technology.
Time at the Mag Lab
August 2003 - December 2005.
Role
Postdoctoral associate with Tim Cross in the NMR program.
Current work
"I do biomedical research, which utilizes my education and experience of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR). In particular, we design methods to increase the signal that we can obtain in NMR by several orders of magnitude, using chemical synthesis. Applications of this approach are truly limitless. With the level of sensitivity gained, we are now able to perform metabolic imaging with unpredicted spatial and temporal resolution. Specifically, we are interested in diagnosing cancer. We estimate that we will be able to detect tumors as small as 2x2x2 mm, as well as identify malignancy and track response to treatment. Moreover, this can be done during 1-2 minute scan procedure, which is only a small fraction of time and cost of a typical MRI scan procedure nowadays."
Experience in the Magnet Lab helped me to learn how the research community works.
How do you think your experience at the lab has shaped your scientific career?
"The Magnet Lab shaped my career in many positive ways. I met a good number of interesting scientists and we started several very fruitful collaborations. Besides meeting great people and, obviously, having access to the best instrumentation in the world, experience in the Magnet Lab helped me to learn how the research community works, the importance of publications, funding and the ways to obtain funding from government sources to be successful in science."
What’s the most important lesson you’ve taken away from the Magnet Lab?
"The most important lesson that I learned from the Magnet Lab is how to establish healthy research collaborations and how to avoid traps. Collaborations are very powerful tools in a scientific career, but they can also do a lot of harm if the environment is not right. I will value this lesson in my future scientific career greatly."
Describe someone you met whom you consider a mentor.
"I consider Prof. Timothy Cross my mentor during my time at the Magnet Lab. I really liked his work style and learned a lot from him. The most important value that he inspired was freedom in research, not only with project execution, but also in deciding which topic to work on, making conclusions and publicizing results. He promoted a broader perception of science and how it impacts people’s lives. Dr. Cross mentored several scientific publications in premier peer-reviewed journals, where we presented our work and work with our collaborators. The collaborative work was greatly supported and inspired by Dr. Cross and I think we all benefited from this."
How does NHMFL differ other educational/research experiences you’ve had?
"The research experience at the Magnet Lab is different from the normal university setting, primarily in terms of much better access to the cutting-edge equipment and technical support. I now work in similar environment, a research institute, with the primary focus on research. The Magnet Lab, in my opinion, is the best of its kind simply because it is not a profit-driven environment. The focus on pure science is very high."
Published in the Winter 2007 issue of Mag Lab Reports (Download this issue in
PDF format, 10 MB).
