 |
|
|
 |
|
|
About Me
I guess in order for people to get anything out of my postings, a little bit of background about myself is in order to put this week in my life into context. My name is Jeff Margolis and I am currently finishing up my second year of my PhD working in the Department of Microbiology & Immunology here at the Stanford School of Medicine.
Ever since my first exposure to microbiology in high school at the Illinois Mathematic and Science Academy (very cool place), I knew that I wanted to pursue a career in infectious disease.
Originally I wanted to be a doctor but my queasiness over blood led me in another direction. I now desire to go into medical research and study how bacteria make people sick so new drugs that specifically attack the disease processes of these species, rather than bacteria in general, can be developed. After interning at Pfizer a few summers ago, I realized that this will be essential to addressing the antibiotic resistance that currently plagues the medical profession.
Besides being a graduate student, I would have to say my current defining characteristic is that I'm getting married in less than two months (gasp!). Pretty much everything I do outside of Stanford is either in preparation for, or procrastinating from, wedding related stuff.
I met my fiance Lacey in high school and we've been together ever since. We attended Northwestern University together where I majored in biology and she majored in economics and statistics. She is a year younger than I am and so I've had to move twice without her, but she's always followed. It helps that I gave her input each time. You can learn more about our history together and our wedding.
|
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Here are pictures of Lacey and I together:
At Stanford, I am doing my thesis work in the lab of Dr. Stanley Falkow. I work with Dr. Denise Monack researching Francisella tularensis, the bacterium that causes tularemia aka Rabbit Fever. This species can cause very severe disease with only a few bacteria, much like plague or anthrax.
Even with this severe outcome, very little is known about how Francisella causes disease. Over the past 50+ years, both the US and Russia had developed this bacterium into a biological weapon and so today, in the age of bioterrorism, it is crucial to learn as much as possible about how Francisella lives outside of humans and how it causes disease once inside of them.
Outside of school, I enjoy doing things outdoors, making San Francisco an improvement in locale from Chicago. I've also played hockey and baseball since I was five. When I have time, I enjoy reading mystery/action novels such as John Grisham and Dan Brown novels.
My favorite past time is traveling, but I haven't had much time to do that recently with many trips back to Chicago to do wedding planning. It will be nice to be able to go somewhere new. For our anniversary a few years ago, I bought Lacey and framed map of the world and we mark everywhere we've been on it. There's still a lot of blank space that we need to fill in.
After finishing my PhD, I plan to continue doing infectious disease research. Currently, I'm undecided about whether to do so as a professor at a university or with the government or a pharmaceutical company.
Posted at 03:16 PM
