毕业生 | 杨安：从海洋生物到医学世界

杨安：从海洋生物到医学世界

从创建舞蹈社团，到将“国际遗传工程机器大赛”（iGEM）引入上海纽约大学，从赴纽约参与生物医学工程项目，到前往加纳阿克拉参加交流项目学习“文化与生殖健康”，2017届的杨安在上海纽约大学的这四年，过得丰富又充实。今年毕业后，她将前往剑桥大学攻读硕士学位。这位生物学专业的大四学生，与我们分享了她立志学医的动机，以及上海纽约大学如何培养了她的领导力。

大二在印尼瓦卡托比国家海洋公园做志愿者时目睹的一次事件，让原本打算在海洋生物学领域发展的杨安，转到了生物学专业（医学预科）的方向。

“我在海洋公园的诊所待得越久，就越崇拜那里的医生和产科大夫，”杨安回忆说，“有一天，我在岛上工作，几个孩子叫我赶快过去帮助一个受伤者，那位男士被狮子鱼的毒刺蛰伤。当时我很焦急，但心有余而力不足，不知怎么帮他。直到找到了一名医生，才展开施救。我仍然喜欢海洋生物学，但我希望学医，这能更直接地帮助人。”

现在，来自美国俄勒冈周波特兰的21岁的杨安，离这个目标更近了一步——她已获得剑桥大学转译生物医学研究的硕士项目录取通知书，这个专业结合了她的两个兴趣。

杨安说，海洋生物学领域在创造性上具有无限可能，需要大量的实用解决方案。大三在纽约进行海外学习时，那里的生物材料实验室可以3D打印骨移植物，可以研究珊瑚羟基磷灰石植入物,让杨安不断获得启发。“生物学一直给我们灵感，生物界不仅可以模仿人类，还能模仿自然界的各种精妙与神奇。”

海外学习期间，杨安还参与了一项改进术后监视过程的生物医学工程项目。“项目期间，我们有机会和纽约大学朗格尼医学中心的整形外科医生一起工作。我们的目标，是确保术后监控能更早地监测到流血并发症，降低打扰病人的频率，同时让病人更方便地呼叫外科医生。”

在实验室里，杨安耳濡目染了工程、医学和商业领域的有机结合。而这类创新实验室对她的启发，早在大一暑假就开始了。当时，人在纽约的杨安加入了一个名为“GenSpace”的社区生物实验室，该实验室为大众提供科学创新的开放空间。

这一经历让杨安获得灵感。回到上海纽约大学，她组织同学来了一次“趣味科学”探索之旅——发起上海纽约大学加入“国际遗传工程机器大赛”（iGEM）。这也是最让杨安感到骄傲的成绩之一。

上海纽约大学iGEM团队于2015年9月，参加了在波士顿举行的第12届iGEM大庆典（Giant Jamboree）。他们的项目将培养基上的细菌菌落加以改造，让它们产生不同的色彩与光亮，然后转化成有规律的声音，项目获得了银奖。团队还于2015年8月与其他7所大学参加了在上海科技馆举办的项目设计展示。

目前，团队正专注于研究合成生物学，并与其他大学联系接触，设计研究项目。他们计划在暑期对这些想法进行测试。 “我们的团队能拥有这份持之以恒的创造激情，真是了不起！”

杨安还参与创建了舞蹈社团并担任社团主席，她坦言，刚进学校时，不认为自己有任何领导才能。“舞蹈社团的工作让我开始相信自己具备领导力。在上海纽约大学，可以与来自全世界的同学沟通交流，你会发现，同学们的创造动力与激情非常有感染力。”

杨安说，作为Jonathan Kuhn教授微生物学课的唯一一位学生，能够与教授就生物科技初创公司展开讨论，以及在校园里和朋友们交流，这些都是毕业后她会深深怀念的。

“我喜欢上海纽约大学的国际化氛围，这里有着创新、开拓的精神。在这里，所有的梦想与渴望，都取决于你积极主动的努力和付出。”杨安说。

Ann Fan Yang: From Marine Biology to Medical Science

From leading the dance club and bringing the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition to NYU Shanghai, to studying biomedical engineering in New York and reproductive health in Accra, Ghana, Ann Fan Yang ’17 has spent the past four years making the most of her NYU Shanghai experience.As she looks forward to starting graduate studies at Cambridge University in the fall, the biology major shares what drove her to pursue medicine and how NYU Shanghai helped cultivate her leadership skills.

It was an incident during a volunteer placement at the Indonesian Wakatobi National Park in her sophomore year that shifted Ann’s career path from marine biology to a pre-med track.

“One day while I was working on the island, several children hurried me over to help a man who’d been stung by a poisonous lionfish. Unable to assist, I scrambled to find the local doctor, who knew right away how to treat him,” she recalls. “The more time I spent observing the clinic at the park, the more I found myself looking up to the doctors and midwives working there. I still love marine biology, but I knew I wanted to have a more direct impact on saving human lives.”

The 21-year-old from Portland, Oregon, is now a step closer to that aim after being accepted to a master’s program in Translational Biomedical Research at Cambridge University that combines both her passions.

Marine biology holds a realm of possibility for creative medical solutions, according to Yang. While studying away in New York, she was inspired by how a biomaterials lab was using coral to 3D print bone tissue. “Biology can continue to inspire us by mimicking not just humans but also other aspects of nature that do well in the medical field.”

During her junior year study-away semester, Ann also collaborated on a biomedical engineering project that aimed to improve the postoperative monitoring process.

“We had the opportunity to work with plastic surgeons from NYU Langone. The goal was to detect blood flow complications earlier on, reduce the need for hourly disturbances, and be more accessible to surgeons.”

The exposure to collaborative lab environments merging engineering, medicine and business dates back to the summer of Ann’s freshman year, when she joined Genspace, a community biolab in New York that provides an open learning space for science innovation at the grassroots level.

Ann returned to campus compelled to bring together a community of students “in the name of fun science.” That is how she decided to get NYU Shanghai involved in the global iGEM (international genetic engineering machine) competition--one of her proudest accomplishments.

Eventually, Ann and her teammates took home a silver medal at the 12th annual Giant iGem Jamboree in Boston in September 2015 for a project that translated the color and positions of bacteria colonies on a plate into sound composition. They also organized aniGEM show at the Shanghai Science and Technology Museumin August 2015, inviting seven other university teams to present projects.

Now, Ann and her colleagues are focusing on synthetic biology, reaching out to other universities, designing projects. Independent of Ann, the team plans to spend summer days in the lab to test out ideas. “The fact that we have a sustainable initiative is great,” she said.

On campus, Ann also found herself taking the lead as president of the dance club and confided that she never would have considered herself a leader coming in freshman year.

“Dance club was probably my first step into being comfortable with that idea. At NYU Shanghai, interacting with classmates from all over the world, I felt their momentum and energy to create was infectious.”

Ann said long conversations on biotech startups with ProfessorJonathan Kuhn, as his only Microbiology student, and constant run-ins with friends on campus are among what she will miss the most after graduating.

“I love NYU Shanghai’s international atmosphere as well its pioneering spirit. Everything you aspire to accomplish depends on your drive and initiative to work hard for it.”