A research paper headed up by James Dahlman, Taylor’s lab supervisor at MIT, was recently published in Nature Nano. Taylor is one of the many authors on the paper. This makes her a published researcher and I am very proud of her. After talking about it with a physician here, who was amazed, it apparently is a real accomplishment and even more so considering she is just a sophomore. Here is a link to the paper:
http://www.nature.com/nnano/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nnano.2014.84.html
Mentioning this here is bitter sweet because it brings me back to when I first learned this news. It was around the second or third week after the cardiac arrest. James came into the hospital to check on Taylor and told me he just learned that the paper was going to be published. It was a real mix of emotions. On the one hand I was happy and proud of Taylor. On the other I wondered “is this the last time I get to feel this way about Taylor?”
Luckily it was not. I feel this way about Taylor, and my son Nathan, nearly every day. Thank you all for your prayers, positivity and kindness. Thinking of the journey from when I first heard this news to now seeing it published, makes me know that those three things can make anything happen!
Congratulations to James and all the authors who worked on the paper.
Such great research – well done! Providing an understanding of how we can manipulate cell function is such a great step towards conquering many diseases and helping so many people in the future. We are so proud of Taylor’s accomplishments and look forward to many more publications. (For the record I was in my thirties before I was first published)
Dear Taylor, I’m also in over my head with your article. And I didn’t even realize when you looked up when you heard Kit’s voice on the video, that awhile back that would have been the biggest news of the day, and it didn’t even get a notice now. You keep moving the goalposts! Sending love from Santa Monica.
Congratulations on this amazing accomplishment! It is incredibly impressive and another testament to how Taylor is Perfect!! Shine on!!!!!!!! 🙂
I have no doubt Taylor will resume her research and writing eventually. Kudos on the published piece!
Hey John,
That was a great post. If I may, I’d love to provide an extra comment. First, I can’t overstate just how important Taylor’s work was on this paper. You can see it reflected by her high placement in the author list. As a matter of fact, if you list the authors by their level of education it goes like this…
PhD student MIT/Harvard, Professional Scientist (PhD UC Berkeley + Post-doc Harvard), Post-doc MIT, Post-doc Harvard, Post-Doc MIT, 19 year old…
That speaks for itself, and Taylor should be so proud. I’d also like to add that with respect to her work at MIT so far, Taylor’s impact is far from over. She’ll be on a number of papers that are being submitted right now. It’s really incredible. And again, I can’t overstate this to all those reading this blog: what Taylor did during her time researching at MIT is not typical, even for a highly talented MIT student. Taylor was hired because it was obvious that she is an intellectual and analytical star. She exceeded those high expectations each day in a (hopefully fun) but very competitive field.
I am convinced that you are so right when you say that Taylor and Nathan will continue to make you proud each day. I haven’t meet Nathan, but Taylor would talk about him all the time when she and I were performing experiments together. She was proud of him, and loved him.
I know that I probably speak for many people when I say that I am overwhelmed with joy when I hear that Taylor continues to improve. I probably watch that video of Taylor walking two or three times each day. It makes me so happy to see her getting better.
Yiping hit it on the head earlier: one day, the three of us will have donuts together again. It will be incredible. I look forward to it every day, and am so so so so proud of Taylor. We love her, and appreciate how hard she’s fighting to get better. She continues to be a star, and a real and true inspiration.
This is fantastic! It is such a fulfilling feeling to be published. It shows that people are interested in the many talents you have to offer. Just keep thinking about those talents. You are appreciated and loved.
In my opinion this is a valuable research area. Your work and work like yours may one day impact my life and others with GI-NET. The lipid type of iRNA has shown benefit in a couple of GI-NET patients in early studies by Takeda. One showed stabilization and one had partial response (I am assuming that means regression). It is interesting how we are all intertwined in life. This is way cool. And I totally congratulate you on the accomplishment!
#proud #representin’ #Dahlmanlabgroup yeahhh. We’re all incredibly proud of you here, T-money! <3 You own at everything — from lab to life. That paper is only the very beginning of your research career, I'm sure! With your smarts, I can't wait to see all the amazing things you discover/create/code/etc. for humanity in your future. You keep on working hard at Craig and recovering at your own pace okay?
There isn't a day that goes by when we don't think about you here. I've been spending a lot of time in lab this past month, and literally everything reminds me of you (your beautifully labeled tubes especially). I miss having you around to joke around with though. Heck, the coffee doesn't even taste as good without you here. And don't even start on donuts. I can't ever eat donuts in lab until you come back. Did you know the food court at Kendall shut down this semester? Because of that, I've been eating at Chipotle constantly and whenever I eat their overpriced guacamole, I think about you. I also went to 1369 and had the Vietnamnese iced coffee and it was pretty good =). Also, there's a huge Asian supermarket that opened recently in Central called H Mart! When you come back, we have to go there together and continue to help find your Asian roots by eating all the weird Asian snacks.
I hope you are eating yummy (+ healthy) foods these days! Okay tl;dr WE LOVE YOU!! And are so incredibly proud of you!!! <3 <3
Wow, a publication is a big deal! But I know there will many more equally big accomplishments. Sadly, I did not understand little of the abstract – too bad it’s not in my own field.