Science Stories Series: Nabin Koirala
Director of the Brain Imaging Research Core
Hosted by the IBACS Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility (IDEA) Committee
Date/Time: Wednesday, September 23rd at 11am
Location: BOUS 161
Official Story: Nabin is the Director of the Brain Imaging Research Core (BIRC) at UConn. Prior to this, he was a research faculty at the Yale School of Medicine. He earned his PhD from Johannes Gutenberg University in Germany and subsequently moved to the USA for his postdoctoral research at the Haskins Laboratories in 2019. His research focuses on understanding network-level neural perturbations caused by various neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders. He employs multi-modal brain imaging and neuromodulation techniques, utilizing state-of-the-art frameworks of complex network algorithms and machine learning approaches.
Unofficial Story: Nabin is a brain scientist who grew up in a small village in Nepal and moved to Germany at 25 for graduate studies, with no plans of settling in the US. In 2019, after finishing his PhD, he and his then-girlfriend (now wife) moved to the US for what was supposed to be a two-year postdoc and a taste of life near New York. COVID happened, and seven years later, he is still here, with a career, wonderful friends and colleagues, and a life he never really planned for but has come to enjoy. When he isn’t answering emails or scrambling to meet yet another deadline, he enjoys watching soccer, working in the yard, building things, and attempting to fix things around the house, though most of the time poorly.
In this talk, he will share a journey shaped by unexpected turns, questionable decisions, good luck, and a few things simply working out along the way.
About the Science Stories Series: The goal of the “Science Stories” is to get to know the members of our community, to learn about each other’s lived experiences/identities, discuss obstacles/challenges faced, and learn about the varied paths we each take in science. These stories may be about life before UConn, how you got here, the ups and downs, successes and failures, lightbulb moments, or moments of regret. We welcome nominations from all members of the IBACS community and particularly welcome nominations by/for international community members, first-generation faculty/students, and individuals from underrepresented identities in the sciences.