Tackling chemical synthesis and advocacy

Azin Saebi was born and raised in Iran, emigrating to the U.S. together with her household at 18 after graduating from highschool. Now a fifth-year graduate pupil in chemistry, Saebi by no means supposed to remain completely; she initially anticipated to return to Iran to attend college. With that in thoughts, when leaving for the U.S., she solely packed a bag with sufficient belongings for a few months and had even booked a return flight.

Her plans modified, nonetheless, as she started to acknowledge the alternatives accessible to her at American schools, and that one of the best ways to enhance her English can be to remain within the U.S. Since she hadn’t taken the SAT or accomplished the necessities essential to enter a conventional four-year school, she enrolled in neighborhood school with a plan to review biology and neuroscience, earlier than transferring to UCLA.

In neighborhood school, Saebi found that she cherished her undergraduate chemistry programs, so she joined an inorganic chemistry lab. “I actually clicked extra with the day-to-day lab experiments in chemistry reasonably than biology. It was enjoyable and thrilling how I may take materials A and materials B, combine them collectively in a managed means and get this new molecule,” she says. To her, “biology appeared like extra of a black field. With chemistry, I may test the progress at each step alongside the best way.”

At MIT, Saebi is working on the intersection of chemistry and biology, designing novel methods to synthesize proteins and to conjugate proteins collectively. In the end, these methods have potential purposes as antimicrobial compounds. Along with her educational pursuits, she has devoted her time to advocating for range and inclusion initiatives and guaranteeing that college students really feel supported and heard throughout the chemistry division.

Lighting a “fireplace of chemistry”

When she began at Saddleback Group School, Saebi first selected to pursue a level in neuroscience, with the intention of changing into a doctor — a path influenced by watching “Gray’s Anatomy,” she jokes. Taking natural chemistry additionally sparked an curiosity within the interface between chemistry and biology. A biochemistry course at UCLA additional cemented this ardour, and he or she discovered that she excelled within the topic. “It was reasonably apparent that amongst neuroscience majors, [my reaction] to the category was an unusual one, because it was typically thought-about a reasonably irrelevant class to our core research,” she says.

Saebi determined to double main in neuroscience and biochemistry. An inspiring professor, Alexander Spokonyny, inspired her to affix his inorganic chemistry lab. “He was the person who lit this fireplace of chemistry in me,” she says. Beneath his steerage, she synthesized small-molecule inhibitors to review cocaine habit.

Within the fall of senior yr, Saebi knew that she “wished to pursue this analysis factor” and that her curiosity in medication had taken a again seat. She determined to enroll in UCLA’s 4+1 program to finish a grasp’s diploma in biochemistry earlier than making use of to graduate packages in chemistry. 

Unleashing novel proteins and “interior nerds”

When Saebi was admitted to MIT, she was decided to make the most of the chance. “Rising up in Iran, I by no means imagined I might have the chance to go to a world-renowned college comparable to MIT,” she says. Throughout the chemistry division’s go to weekend, the place admitted college students are invited to return to campus, she realized that college students right here “truly appeared like me” when it comes to the science they cherished and the actions they have been concerned with.

Since starting her PhD, Saebi’s purpose has been to transition from natural chemistry to chemical biology. “Regardless that I loved doing natural chemistry, I actually wished to pursue one thing with direct purposes,” she notes. With this in thoughts, she determined to affiliate collectively with the labs of professor of chemistry Bradley Pentelute, and with Stephen Buchwald, the Camille Dreyfus Professor of Chemistry. The Buchwald lab focuses extra on the natural chemistry strategies, whereas the Pentelute lab focuses on peptides and emphasizes organic purposes. “I actually loved making molecules, however I additionally knew that that alone wouldn’t preserve me glad through the 5 years of my PhD,” Saebi explains. “I wanted to ensure that I made one thing that I may apply to the biotechnology business or to human well being.” 

The general theme of Saebi’s work is creating novel chemical instruments to switch biomolecules, particularly proteins. Her analysis has developed in three distinct levels. First, she investigated a novel bioconjugation technique, a chemical approach used to couple two proteins collectively. Then she labored on a way of synthesizing proteins by way of chemical ligation of amino acids, counting on chemical strategies to affix the amino acids collectively as a substitute of organic protein synthesis equipment. Most not too long ago, Saebi has been combining these two instruments, bioconjugation and chemical protein synthesis, to make antimicrobial compounds that particularly goal and destroy Pseudomonas, a micro organism that may result in severe infections in hospital sufferers. 

Exterior of lab, Saebi has served as a educating assistant for course 5.07 (Introduction to Organic Chemistry). “It changed into a enjoyable expertise of serving to [undergraduate] college students unleash their interior nerd,” Saebi notes. “Provided that I had actually loved my biochemistry lessons again at UCLA, I actually wished to ensure that my college students had the identical expertise.” She needed to overcome her concern that, since English is her second language, college students wouldn’t perceive her explanations. Regardless of her preliminary hesitations, Saebi received the Division of Chemistry Excellent Instructing Award in 2018. For her, that was “the cherry on high” of a rewarding educating expertise.

Sparking change for graduate college students

Up to now two years, Saebi has develop into an advocate for range, inclusion, and talking up about challenges inside MIT, serving as a member of the chemistry division’s Range, Fairness and Inclusion Committee (DEIC) and co-president of Ladies+ in Chemistry (WIC+). Over time, Saebi has realized that one among her private strengths is speaking pupil wants, a ability she has leveraged in these management roles.

“Graduate college is tough, and nothing goes to make it an easy-breezy expertise as a result of science is inherently laborious. However, there are issues that may make graduate college a bit simpler and a extra pleasant expertise. … Typically we now have the perspective that we are going to simply endure by way of it simply because others earlier than us have suffered by way of it, and that’s an issue” she says. Saebi just isn’t content material to only endure by way of it; as a substitute, she is decided to be the spark for change.

She is most pleased with the holistic overview of graduate admissions practices drafted by DEIC and carried out in chemistry admissions this yr. The brand new practices consider candidates primarily based on alternatives accessible to them, and their potential for progress, in addition to their accomplishments. 

She additionally serves with Sources for Easing Friction and Stress within the Chemistry Division (ChemREFS), which affords college students an avenue to talk confidentially about their issues and to obtain assist. Studying about her friends’ struggles has knowledgeable her function within the DEIC, she says. “ChemREFS is useful to me to make sure that I’m truly representing the scholar physique and the range of voices and views.”

As she nears commencement, Saebi has been contemplating her subsequent steps. She needs to proceed fixing issues in human well being, and he or she understands that it may be a difficult and prolonged course of translating educational analysis to new remedies for sufferers. “I need to be someplace that I can see the influence of my work on sufferers’ lives and well being care extra instantly, and I’m grateful that my PhD at MIT has opened so many doorways for me to discover science past academia,” she says.