A great teacher/mentor has the transformative power to reshape the heart and soul! I am humbled in facing such tremendous responsibility and invigorated by the ever-changing challenges in molding the life-changing trajectory of young talents around me. Therefore, I view being a mentor as one of the highest-level intellectual endeavors. My goal in mentoring is far beyond the indoctrination of knowledge. Being a great professor is about delivering an impact on a student’s life-long aspirations through acquiring, analyzing, and utilizing knowledge. In short, shaping the perception of the world through critical thinking in pursuing the truth! It is my utmost responsibility to nurture the next generation of independent thinkers – the leaders, not followers.
During my time at the University of Notre Dame, I have been teaching Cell Biology and Cancer Biology. Cell biology is NOT a conglomerate of stagnant content, loaded with scientific jargon, BUT rather a compendium of amazingly dynamic, but highly organized biological processes! In teaching advanced graduate-level courses and daily research mentoring, my goal is to provide the student an overview of the whole process of conducting biomedical research – from reading primary literature, examining knowledge gaps, formulating a testable hypothesis, developing a research strategy to publishing research products in a timely manner while exploring intriguing uncharted field of research. The research trajectory is never linear, but don’t panic and enjoy the ride!
