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Pardis Sabeti

Assistant Professor, Harvard University; Musician

Rhodes scholar Pardis Sabeti graduated with her medical degree from Harvard Medical School in 2006, earning the school's highest honor - the third woman ever to do so. She's also the lead singer and songwriter of the band, Thousand Days, who uses her music to make science appealing to children, especially, girls. As a graduate student at Oxford University in England, Sabeti developed a way to detect natural selection at the level of individual genes. In Eric Lander's lab at the Broad Institute, she scanned the entire human genome to figure out which genes have changed within the last 10,000 years and which have spread rapidly in the human gene pool due to natural selection. With these tools, geneticists can study how cultural and environmental changes have affected the evolution of the human genome. Now Sabeti is applying this technique to her true passion: understanding the interplay between humans and the pathogens that cause diseases like malaria, tuberculosis, and leprosy. Her work - published in December 2007 - revealed genes involved in drug resistance and in evading the immune system, giving researchers potential targets for new therapies and vaccines.

What do you do and why?

Solving puzzles is fun, and that’s what I do, says Pardis.

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7 min

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First Science Experiment

I’m living proof that you can be a terrible young scientist and still have a career, says Pardis.

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4 min

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The Wonder of Science

Many people don’t see how fantastic science is, and that’s unfortunate, says Pardis.

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3 min

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Pardis Sabeti Reveals the Future of Genomics

Harvard genomics professor Pardis Sabeti on the revolution happening in your body.

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4 min

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Women in Science

“I enjoy being a woman in science but there are challenges,” says Pardis.

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4 min

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From Research to Rock and Roll

Pardis Sabeti is not only a Rhodes scholar, PHD and an MD, she is also lead singer of “Thousand Days“, a critically acclaimed alternative rock band.

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5 min

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Inspiration and the Scientific Research Process

The process is important, though it’s painstaking, says Pardis.

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6 min

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The Human Genome an Imperative Discovery Tool

The Human Genome reveals a great deal about pathogens and the evolutionary history of humans.

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6 min

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Studying Malaria

For Pardis, the work she is doing has taken her back to what she was doing at age 6 – though it’s more urgent.

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4 min

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How do you deal with the frustrations of scientific research?

You have to learn whatever you do, the failures as much as the successes, as there will probably be more failures than successes.

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2 min

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Genetics and the Human Genome

It’s the right mix of what I love, says Pardis.

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3 min

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