From Blog to Boston
The turn of events that lead me to travel, from sunny Portugal across the Atlantic to chilly New England, is intricate and is also proof that if you stick your mind to things and work hard, you can go the extra mile. In my case, 3200 miles!
I sit here at my desk in an apartment in Cambridge, MA, thinking how all this has come to be…
In the early Summer of 2006, after years of just commenting on the blogs of others, I decided to start my own: My Biotech Life. It started off with the typical corny posts written just to fill up the homepage but soon gained some outreach (I think!!)
Soon after, I was establishing contact with very people whose blogs I’d previously commented on. One of those people I maintained contact with is Hsien-Hsien Lei from Eye on DNA (previously blogging at another genetics related site).
At some point, after swapping some ideas via email, we decided to create an aggregator of blogs related to genetics, genomics and DNA, currently known as the DNA Network.
The network grew (and is still growing!) slowly but steadily with new members joining from all over the globe. From Hungary to New York, our members include doctors, scientists, students and more.
My contact with the members of the network opened way to a fruitful relationship, both educational and professional. With my (amateur) graphic design skills I was able to help a few members and friends which would later pay back double fold with an opportunity of a life time.
Hsien Hsien Lei, who has been incredibly helpful and friendly since day one, had put me in contact with a great guy named Jason Bobe. Yes, the Jason Bobe from The Personal Genome.
Well, by some cosmic circumstances, Jason Bobe hooked me up for an interview with the very kind folks at OpenWetWare who happened to be looking for someone with my profile and to make an already long story shorter, I am now working at OWW at MIT in none other than Drew Endy’s lab.
Therefore, I must say that starting my blog in the summer of 2006 was definitely a marking moment that sparked a chain reaction of events that led me to where I am now.
Thanks guys and above all, thanks Bá for your support and patience.
Related posts:
- Quote of the Day - Neil Saunders
- It’s been 2 great years…
- Riding the open wave…
- Here’s my biotech life
- bio::blogs #2 is out!
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Welcome to Genome America, Ricardo!
Congratulations Ricardo, the OWW folks are real nerds in their chosen topic. Hopefully you can blog about them and your work in the spirit of the “Open” prefix. What type of job do you have? A postdoc?
I’ll certainly blog about my work and all the new developments here at OWW. Should be getting my MSc by the end of the year. Postdoc is still a bit further away :)
This is only the beginning of great things to come, Rick! Your persistence and work ethic will surely carry you far. Even in that slum called America. ;)
Fantastic story, Ricardo! Have a great time in the US and inform us about everything!
Bemvindo! Deves conseguir inscrever-te na Portuguese American Post-Graduate Society: http://www.papsonline.org que tambem esta ai em Boston.
Congratulations for all you have been done until now!
I´ll be always at your side! :)
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