Pardis Sabeti
Developing All of You
Pardis Sabeti, an Iranian born scientist and rock star, wants to demonstrate that you really can be all the things you want to be. Bursting with energy and a great sense of fun, Pardis is a lively and inspiring young woman. At 32, Pardis is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University and an associate member of the Broad Institute in Cambridge, Mass., where she specializes in evolutionary genetics. She earned her Ph.D. in biological anthropology at the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar in 2002 and obtained an M.D. from Harvard Medical School in 2006, becoming the third woman to graduate with highest honors from the program. Pulling a typical all-nighter in med school, Pardis achieved a not-so-typical feat — she confirmed the effects of genetics on the evolution of human diseases. By inputting different DNA sequences into an algorithm she created, she was able to find genes still linked to their neighbors — suggesting that their success within the gene pool is due to natural selection, not pure chance.
Currently, she is studying the effect of natural selection on the human genome and the genomes of other organisms to uncover how humans and other species have adapted to their surroundings over time. Her work already has earned her a spot on a "top 100 living geniuses" list compiled by Creators Synectics, a global consulting firm. Pardis now plans on using her algorithm to deconstruct the malaria parasite. By seeing how the parasite has evolved to develop drug resistances, she hopes to detect genetic vulnerabilities in malaria's makeup. If she's successful, future cures will be designed to attack those weaknesses.
On the music side, she is lead singer with the well-reviewed alternative rock band Thousand Days, which recently won an honorable mention in Billboard's World Songwriting Contest for the track "Headlight Waves". Thousand Days has released three albums. Pardis is also creating a series of music videos to spark young people's interest in science.
Obviously, she isn't your typical lab rat nerd. Google her to find tons of video an lots of fun facts.
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