The Postdoc Spotlight section features the monthly Postdoc to Postdoc (P2P) speaker. To be featured on the website and to volunteer to present at the P2P seminar series, please sign up here.
This month’s speaker, Dr. Landon Locke is a postdoctoral scholar in the Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Division. He holds a Doctorate in Biomedical Engineering from University of Virginia. Dr. Locke is an author on many high-impact publications and is the co-inventor on a patent filed last year. In addition, he has been actively involved in postdoctoral affairs. He currently serves as the President on the UPPDA board and has held this position since Jan 2013. He recently represented the UPPDA at the National Postdoctoral association (NPA) meeting , where the UPPDA poster won the poster competition!
Dr. Locke will be giving his talk titled ‘Multi-Scale and Multi-Modality Pulmonary Imaging for Therapeutic Advancement’ on Wednesday, April 16 2014 at noon in Room S123 BST.
What field is your PhD in? How did you specialize in your current field?
My PhD is in the field of Biomedical Engineering. I have always had a fascination with imaging technology. As an undergraduate I majored in physics in part to obtain a better understanding of how imaging systems work. Now my interest lies in how to utilize image technology to better understand and treat various diseases.
What is your current research project?
I am developing new imaging based techniques to measure important functions of the lung. My approach may offer a more sensitive assessment of lung physiology and drug response in patients with Cystic Fibrosis compared to currently used clinical measurements.
Tell us about a great experience or opportunity you’ve had in the past year?
I recently attended a national conference for postdocs. The message that often came up was that there are many challenges facing current postdocs, but overall the postdoc years are among the very best. So often we forget just how unique our situation is and how many untapped resources are surrounding us waiting to be explored.
What do you hope the next step in your career path will be?
My goal is to launch a lab of my own to fully pursue my ideas and be a mentor to the next generation of scientists.
If not a scientist, what would you be?
If I could not be a scientist I would love to be involved in the field of music composition.
Welcome to the UPPDA Executive Board for 2014!!
President: Landon Locke
Career Development Committee Chair: John Merriman
Advocacy Committee Chair: Natasha Baker
Communications and Networking Chair: Aparna Rao
International Committee Chair: Abu Gafar Hossion
Outreach Committee Chair: Tiffany Katz