Why

I am a first-generation Korean immigrant scientist. During a break from college I completed my mandatory military service as an infantry Marine in the Republic of Korea and did community service with the UNESCO student association, alongside people whose backgrounds differed from mine in nearly every way. In 2003 I spent a year in Ireland studying English, where I was the foreigner, and in 2008 I came to the United States for my PhD, where for years I was the only person in my class from my background. 

What I learned along the way is that the most basic need any trainee has is to be heard and seen, and that it does not happen by default. It is built, deliberately, and it is the first thing I am responsible for in my own lab. Nurturing the next generation of scientists, who will go on to serve their own communities, is the part of this work I take most seriously.