The Mass General Research Institute (MGRI) is home to a research community of 9,500+ individuals working to understand disease and develop solutions to medicine’s most pressing challenges.

But who are they and what do they do when they’re not conducting research? Learn more about them in this new series, #HumansOfMGRI.

From clinical research coordinators to postdoctoral fellows, research technicians, graduate students and principal investigators—they are all part of the Mass General Research Institute.

Our next guest in the series is Emily Makowski, MS

What lab/department do you work in?

I’m the Communication Specialist at the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, which focuses on immunology and infectious disease research. I started in January.

I write content for our website, create social media posts, serve as a liaison between the Ragon and other institutions on press releases, and write institute-wide internal emails that go out to our employees.

I’m part of the Ragon’s Office of Strategic Initiatives, so I also help with communications geared toward donors to the institute.

When and why did you get interested in the work that you are doing? 

I studied biology in college and assumed I would go on to do a PhD, but when it was time to apply to grad school programs, I just didn’t feel like it was the right path for me.

I had always loved writing and read a lot of science news, and during my senior year of college I realized I could combine my interests by becoming a science writer. For a while I worked as a research technician while writing on the side.

Then I got a master’s degree in science writing from MIT and have been working in communications full-time ever since. I really enjoy making complex concepts easier to understand for a wider audience.

What do you like to do outside of work? 

I have a side job as a science news article fact-checker that I almost consider a hobby. It’s a lot of fun for me and lets me learn about many different areas of science.

I also like to cook, draw and sing. I’m in the MIT Women’s Chorale, which has mostly been meeting over Zoom during the pandemic.

What is your favorite TV show, podcast, book, or movie? 

One of my favorite books from the last few years is the novel My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh.

It’s about a woman in early-2000s NYC who decides to spend most of a year sleeping to try to escape her life. It’s a polarizing and darkly funny look at depression and privilege.

A fun fact about yourself

I didn’t go on a plane until I was 21, and that year, I saw both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans for the first time! There are many, many places I’d like to visit in the future when COVID is less of a concern.

About the Mass General Research Institute
Research at Massachusetts General Hospital is interwoven through more than 30 different departments, centers and institutes. Our research includes fundamental, lab-based science; clinical trials to test new drugs, devices and diagnostic tools; and community and population-based research to improve health outcomes across populations and eliminate disparities in care.
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