Experience Science Through Art
A Closer Look: Winner
Orchestrating Repair: An Immune Concert
Immune cells gather around a small injury in a mouse’s skin. By studying immune dynamics at different stages of wound healing, we aim to understand how these cells work to fight germs and create new tissue.
Submitter: Anika Wadhera
Get To Know Anika!
About My Research
Tissue injury triggers immune responses that are crucial for repair but can also, under certain conditions, promote tumorigenesis. Our work seeks to understand the mechanisms driving this context-dependent interplay to illuminate how immune signals can shift from protective to pathological.
- Favorite Food? Dahi papdi chaat! (Indian street food)
- Where Can We Find You on a Sunday Afternoon? Exploring one of Boston's beautiful green spaces, whether it's the Arboretum or Middlesex Fells
- Morning Bird or Night Owl? I try to be a morning person 🙂
- Tea or Coffee? Coffee, especially a pistachio latte
- Favorite Season? Summer!
- Favorite Destination? As a hiking enthusiast, I'd love to explore Iceland.
Science as Art: Winner
The Hearts of Breast Gland
Stained with IL-4 Receptor-α(green) and CD117(marker for luminal progenitors, red), a few normal human breast glands exhibit the shape of 'heart' in the cluster by chance.
Submitter: Xutu Zhao, MD
Get To Know Xutu!
About my Research
I worked as a surgeon focusing on treating malignant breast tumors in China. In Demehri lab, I am now investigating the role of immune system in regulating the development of breast cancer.
- Favorite Food? Hotpot!
- Where Can We Find You on a Sunday Afternoon? Theater or Café
- Morning Bird or Night Owl? Night owl
- Tea or Coffee? Coffee
- Favorite Season? Summer in Boston!
- Favorite Destination? Oslo, Norway
Humans of MGRI: Winner
Miracle of Science
This is an image of my 10-week-old fetus, captured by my reproductive endocrinologist Shruthi Mahalingaiah, MD, MS.
After four miscarriages and two failed embryo transfers, I credit her commitment to research and openness to trying new methods with finally making it this far on a very long road of infertility.
Submitter: Meg Butler Smith
Get To Know Meg!
Favorite Food? Lasagna (this is so hard, but if I had to choose one, that wins!)- Where Can We Find You on a Sunday Afternoon? Reading a book on the couch under a blanket in the winter; at the beach in the summer!
- Morning Bird or Night Owl? Night owl
- Tea or Coffee? Both! Coffee in the morning, herbal tea in the evenings
- Favorite Season? Summer – except for Christmas, which is my favorite holiday
- Favorite Destination? St. John, USVI – the most amazing place! I have only been once but dream of returning.
Friends et. al: Winner
Envisioning Time
This composite image is derived from fluoroscopy of the brain taken while a radio-opaque dye was injected into the internal carotid artery. These images can help detect problems in blood flow or vascular structure.
Submitter: Sarah Frisken, PhD
Get To Know Sarah!
About my research!
I’m a research scientist with a background in computer graphics and medical image processing. My aim is to provide tools that improve precision during brain surgery and interventional neuroradiology. The image I submitted was generated to help us understand the timing of blood flowing through arteries in the brain.
- Favorite Food? Fresh strawberries right out of the garden
- Where Can We Find You on a Sunday Afternoon? Hiking in the Middlesex Fells or the White Mountains.
- Morning Bird or Night Owl? Definitely a morning person.
- Tea or Coffee? Tea
- Favorite Season? My favorite season is spring. I love the promise it brings.
- Favorite Destination? Somewhere in the woods or mountains.
Video: Winner
Axes of Axons
This animation shows streaks of light tracing the white matter pathways of the human brain, modeled using diffusion MRI data. The color of each streamline is determined by its three-dimensional orientation, resulting in an awe-inspiring visualization of how electrical signals can flow across the Brain. Music: Chopin Préludes, Op. 28.
Submitter: Alexander Atalay
Get To Know Alexander!
About my research!
I am a Data Analyst in the Laboratory for Neuroimaging of Coma and Consciousness (NICC), where we work to advance knowledge about the physiology of consciousness and improve care for patients with disorders of consciousness. My role involves project design, data management, and computational pipeline development across various imaging modalities, including MRI, EEG, and histology.
- Favorite Food? Lasagna
- Where Can We Find You on a Sunday Afternoon? Probably watching football, learning guitar, or doing laundry
- Morning Bird or Night Owl? Morning bird
- Tea or Coffee? Coffee
- Favorite Season? Winter
- Favorite Destination? Mo'orea
Mixed Media: Winner
Yawkey 8A
As a clinical research coordinator who works with cancer patients, the infusion center is where much of our patient recruitment for research occurs. Each time I see this view, I am always stunned. It serves as a reminder that despite how devastating cancer can be, there still exists such beauty in the world.
Submitter: Andrew Cao
Get To Know Andrew!
About my research!
The project I work on the most involves patients receiving checkpoint inhibitors and how checkpoint inhibitors affect kidney function. My work as a coordinator primarily involved with enrolling patients for this study.
- Favorite Food? Salmon/Eel Avocado Roll
- Where Can We Find You on a Sunday Afternoon? At the climbing gym or studying in my apartment
- Morning Bird or Night Owl? More of a night person, but recently a morning person
- Tea or Coffee? Tea
- Favorite Season? Summer
- Favorite Destination? Kyoto, Japan
Golden Rosado Award: Winner
An Ode to Hidden Threads: Collagen Fibers
This image captures the intricate, fibrous structure of collagen, a key protein that gives strength and flexibility to our skin, bones, and tissues.
Submitter: Maxwell Roth, MD, PhD
Get To Know Maxwell!
About my research!
We are the Diagnostic Electron Microscopy Unit at MGH. We use a TEM to look at patient biopsies (and occasional research samples) at the ultrastructural level allowing us to visualize cellular substructure (mitochondria, Golgi apparatus, endoplasmic reticulum, viral particles etc.).
- Favorite Food? Right now in the depths of winter, I am really into anything soup! Recently, we made kimchi soup at home and it was beyond delicious!
- Where Can We Find You on a Sunday Afternoon? Sunday afternoons, my wife and I are cooking for friends and having people over for dinner.
- Morning Bird or Night Owl? Peak time for me is right around 10 am! Does this make me a morning person? I do tend to go to bed on the early side.
- Tea or Coffee? Coffee – for sure! Though was recently introduced to Earl Grey Bergamot and its growing on me steadily!
- Favorite Season? I prefer Fall! Winter is too cold, and summer is too hot!
- Favorite Destination? I still have not been to Yellowstone, so this is a big ticket destination for me! Hopefully, when I graduate, we will have time to go!
About the Mass General Research Institute
Research at Massachusetts General Hospital is interwoven through more than 30 different departments, centers and institutes. The goal of our research is to better understand human health and disease and to identify new strategies for prevention, diagnosis and treatment. Your support will help us pursue new and unproven areas of research that could lead to the next game-changing breakthroughs.
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