Brian Aguado
Why did you choose Northwestern?
I was immediately sold on Northwestern's commitment to graduate student success. The Biomedical Engineering department's commitment to research and diversity was an immediate draw, as I knew I would be pursuing cutting-edge research while having access to a supportive community.
How would you describe your research and/or work to a non-academic audience? What was it then and/or what it is now?
My future lab at UC San Diego (the Aguado iBiomaterials Research Group) will develop personalized biomaterial technologies to investigate biological mechanisms governing sex differences in cardiovascular disorders. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in both men and women, yet our mechanistic knowledge of the sex-specific molecular and cellular mechanisms that guide cardiovascular disease progression, particularly in women, remains poorly characterized. Studies evaluating disease mechanisms rarely state the sex of cells used for in vitro studies or are performed primarily in male animal models, causing our wide gap in knowledge. I hypothesize that precision biomaterials can be used as in vitro and in vivo tools to dissect mechanisms that contribute to sexual dimorphisms in cardiovascular diseases, specifically aortic valve stenosis and cardiac remodeling after a heart attack.
What are you most proud of in your career to date?
I am proud of my heritage as a Colombian American, and I have consistently used my role in academia as an undergraduate student, graduate student, and postdoctoral fellow to ensure every student I encounter from historically excluded backgrounds feels welcome in the scientific community. Most recently, I co-founded LatinXinBME, a new social media initiative dedicated to building a diverse and inclusive community of Latinx biomedical engineers and scientists to support each other personally and professionally as we pursue our careers. We launched LatinXinBME on Twitter and Slack, where our community members have active conversation threads about career transitions (e.g., “undergrad to grad”, “postdoc to PI”), work-life balance, advocacy issues, and career highs-and-lows. Our online platform allows us to build community despite geographic distance, which helps our community members at all levels feel part of a like-minded network. We were recently invited to write a perspective article about how we launched LatinXinBME.
What advice would you give your younger self or someone considering a similar path?
Realize that everyone is going through the same struggles that you are in academia - you are not an imposter. Find supportive mentors that care about your well-being, and challenge yourself by pursuing science that excites you, even though you may not have the background knowledge immediately.