Tarek Edelbi
Interview
I chose Dr. Raymond Otto as the subject for my interview. He is the new assistant professor of genetics in the Department of Molecular and Microbiology at George Mason University. Professor Otto is currently my Genetics 311 teacher as well. Throughout the course of the interview I was able to learn a lot about Dr. Otto’s career from his time as an undergraduate student up until now. For both his undergraduate and graduate years he attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In his undergraduate years he double majored in zoology and chemistry and as for his graduate years he majored in doctorial genetics.
Although he has dedicated about twenty years of his life to research under the subtopic of gene therapy, he has spent the last three years teaching. He spends approximately 90% of his time to teaching and 10% of his time conducting committee work. Dr. Otto interacts with hundreds of students daily and they change from semester to semester. He has the opportunity to familiarize himself with a multitude of personalities. One aspect of the student’s attitudes that surprised professor Otto was a significant sense of complacency. The Professor had expected students to rise to the challenge of more rigorous coursework. I then geared the interview questions towards my research topic, how chemicals in plastics may alter DNA or cell structure.
I raised the question to see if he may have had any prior experience or knowledge on the topic. He was aware of many of the general mutagens and stated that he has worked with viral safety and not so much with the chemical safety aspect. I proceeded to ask him if he has done any general research related to the topic. Although he has been involved in numerous significant research projects and initiatives, he hasn’t really touched this particular topic. I asked where he would start researching the topic, should he want to. He went on to say that he would need to do a lot of preliminary research on the subject, to familiarize himself with the topic and be able to assess what aspects of the problem to investigate first. While not being familiar with chemicals contained in plastics that cause mutations he stated that he is very knowledgeable on the various methods he would use to conduct his research, since he has done chemical testing on drugs and small molecule drugs.
When I asked him if this topic is a growing concern in genetics, he responded saying that although research is being conducted on the subject it is more of a growing concern to for the consumers than it is to geneticists. I went on to question him about further research he has been involved in. Dr. Otto is more attracted toward gene structure and regulation and how fluid it is. He discussed briefly in his previous work how he had cloned not only drosophila but also human genes. He has also worked in the field of cancer research and mutations in the genome. He has also been involved in FDA work for UNC in regulatory aspects of emerging technology. Dr. Otto has worked on everything from specialized research to the public safety policy on emerging technology.
When asked if there is anything else he would like to add to the interview he acknowledged the fact that most of the students he teaches are in the pre-medical or pre-dental field and haven’t even considered entering the emerging field of biotechnologies. He explained that a few students seek positions in this field as undergraduates. It’s a great opportunity since we are located in one of the countries four biotechnology hub. This interview went very well over all and I was a great experience.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
interview
Tarek Edelbi
Interview
I chose Dr. Raymond Otto as the subject for my interview. He is the new assistant professor of genetics in the Department of Molecular and Microbiology at George Mason University. Professor Otto is currently my Genetics 311 teacher as well. Throughout the course of the interview I was able to learn a lot about Dr. Otto’s career from his time as an undergraduate student up until now. For both his undergraduate and graduate years he attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In his undergraduate years he double majored in zoology and chemistry and as for his graduate years he majored in doctorial genetics.
Although he has dedicated about twenty years of his life to research under the subtopic of gene therapy, he has spent the last three years teaching. He spends approximately 90% of his time to teaching and 10% of his time conducting committee work. Dr. Otto interacts with hundreds of students daily and they change from semester to semester. He has the opportunity to familiarize himself with a multitude of personalities. One aspect of the student’s attitudes that surprised professor Otto was a significant sense of complacency. The Professor had expected students to rise to the challenge of more rigorous coursework. I then geared the interview questions towards my research topic, how chemicals in plastics may alter DNA or cell structure.
I raised the question to see if he may have had any prior experience or knowledge on the topic. He was aware of many of the general mutagens and stated that he has worked with viral safety and not so much with the chemical safety aspect. I proceeded to ask him if he has done any general research related to the topic. Although he has been involved in numerous significant research projects and initiatives, he hasn’t really touched this particular topic. I asked where he would start researching the topic, should he want to. He went on to say that he would need to do a lot of preliminary research on the subject, to familiarize himself with the topic and be able to assess what aspects of the problem to investigate first. While not being familiar with chemicals contained in plastics that cause mutations he stated that he is very knowledgeable on the various methods he would use to conduct his research, since he has done chemical testing on drugs and small molecule drugs.
When I asked him if this topic is a growing concern in genetics, he responded saying that although research is being conducted on the subject it is more of a growing concern to for the consumers than it is to geneticists. I went on to question him about further research he has been involved in. Dr. Otto is more attracted toward gene structure and regulation and how fluid it is. He discussed briefly in his previous work how he had cloned not only drosophila but also human genes. He has also worked in the field of cancer research and mutations in the genome. He has also been involved in FDA work for UNC in regulatory aspects of emerging technology. Dr. Otto has worked on everything from specialized research to the public safety policy on emerging technology.
When asked if there is anything else he would like to add to the interview he acknowledged the fact that most of the students he teaches are in the pre-medical or pre-dental field and haven’t even considered entering the emerging field of biotechnologies. He explained that a few students seek positions in this field as undergraduates. It’s a great opportunity since we are located in one of the countries four biotechnology hub. This interview went very well over all and I was a great experience.
Interview
I chose Dr. Raymond Otto as the subject for my interview. He is the new assistant professor of genetics in the Department of Molecular and Microbiology at George Mason University. Professor Otto is currently my Genetics 311 teacher as well. Throughout the course of the interview I was able to learn a lot about Dr. Otto’s career from his time as an undergraduate student up until now. For both his undergraduate and graduate years he attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In his undergraduate years he double majored in zoology and chemistry and as for his graduate years he majored in doctorial genetics.
Although he has dedicated about twenty years of his life to research under the subtopic of gene therapy, he has spent the last three years teaching. He spends approximately 90% of his time to teaching and 10% of his time conducting committee work. Dr. Otto interacts with hundreds of students daily and they change from semester to semester. He has the opportunity to familiarize himself with a multitude of personalities. One aspect of the student’s attitudes that surprised professor Otto was a significant sense of complacency. The Professor had expected students to rise to the challenge of more rigorous coursework. I then geared the interview questions towards my research topic, how chemicals in plastics may alter DNA or cell structure.
I raised the question to see if he may have had any prior experience or knowledge on the topic. He was aware of many of the general mutagens and stated that he has worked with viral safety and not so much with the chemical safety aspect. I proceeded to ask him if he has done any general research related to the topic. Although he has been involved in numerous significant research projects and initiatives, he hasn’t really touched this particular topic. I asked where he would start researching the topic, should he want to. He went on to say that he would need to do a lot of preliminary research on the subject, to familiarize himself with the topic and be able to assess what aspects of the problem to investigate first. While not being familiar with chemicals contained in plastics that cause mutations he stated that he is very knowledgeable on the various methods he would use to conduct his research, since he has done chemical testing on drugs and small molecule drugs.
When I asked him if this topic is a growing concern in genetics, he responded saying that although research is being conducted on the subject it is more of a growing concern to for the consumers than it is to geneticists. I went on to question him about further research he has been involved in. Dr. Otto is more attracted toward gene structure and regulation and how fluid it is. He discussed briefly in his previous work how he had cloned not only drosophila but also human genes. He has also worked in the field of cancer research and mutations in the genome. He has also been involved in FDA work for UNC in regulatory aspects of emerging technology. Dr. Otto has worked on everything from specialized research to the public safety policy on emerging technology.
When asked if there is anything else he would like to add to the interview he acknowledged the fact that most of the students he teaches are in the pre-medical or pre-dental field and haven’t even considered entering the emerging field of biotechnologies. He explained that a few students seek positions in this field as undergraduates. It’s a great opportunity since we are located in one of the countries four biotechnology hub. This interview went very well over all and I was a great experience.
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