{"663852":{"#nid":"663852","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Balancing Parenthood and the Pursuit of a Ph.D. ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EDefending a 120-page dissertation on immunology and biomaterials may be a daunting task for most on its own, but in the final year of her biomedical engineering Ph.D. program, Midori Wasielewski\u0026rsquo;s mornings began when her daughter woke up and ended in the late hours of the evening, with a full day\u0026rsquo;s work at the lab in between.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhile the challenges of being a new mom and the interruption of a pandemic may have presented obstacles, Wasielewski never wavered on her path to graduation. Reflecting on a piece of advice that stuck with her throughout her time on campus, she chose actor and author Sean Patrick Flanery\u0026rsquo;s message to \u0026ldquo;do something today that your future self will thank you for.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhen her daughter was born in 2021, Wasielewski knew that the hard work was not only for her future self but also for her growing family. \u0026ldquo;Even though it was extremely hard working around the clock and not getting a lot of sleep, I was very driven to complete the program at that point and also to set a good example for my baby,\u0026rdquo; she said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EUnlike her research in engineering a DNA-based biomaterial to aid doctors and clinicians in identifying patients at high risk for autoimmune diseases, raising a child is not an exact science. Along with the support of her husband, Andrew, there is a place on campus that will forever hold a special place in Wasielewski\u0026rsquo;s heart \u0026mdash;\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/hr.gatech.edu\/childcare\u0022\u003Ethe Children\u0026rsquo;s Campus at Georgia Tech\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;None of this could have happened without the Children\u0026#39;s Campus. I was very lucky that they opened their doors to me and my daughter. Without day care being a five-minute walk from my lab, this would not have happened. Georgia Tech was awesome in supporting me as a mom and as a Ph.D. student,\u0026rdquo; she said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWasielewski arrived at Tech in 2017 alongside her advisor \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/microfluidics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EShuichi Takayama\u003C\/a\u003E, whose lab she joined after earning her master\u0026rsquo;s in macromolecular engineering at the University of Michigan. Having become a father while earning his Ph.D., Takayama \u0026mdash; professor, GRA Eminent Scholar, and Price Gilbert Jr. Chair in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/bme.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EWallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E \u0026mdash; served as an inspiration to Wasielewski as she navigated the early days of parenthood.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;When I was exhausted and delirious, I would just think to myself, \u0026lsquo;Tomorrow, I\u0026rsquo;ll be thankful if I just write for 30 minutes or if I just plan this experiment.\u0026rsquo; When I did sit down and do that, it usually turned into one or two hours. All those small efforts built into this huge thing, and looking back, I can\u0026#39;t believe I actually finished,\u0026rdquo; she said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe only thing that could keep Wasielewski away from her research was Covid-19. Out of the lab for two months, she dealt with the uncertainty by pouring all of her efforts into her dissertation, which has now been successfully defended after a full-on sprint to the finish line.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;One of the affirmations you learn during pregnancy and as a mom is that you can do anything for five minutes or for a short amount of time, and I applied that to me,\u0026rdquo; she said. \u0026ldquo;It was a period of sacrifice \u0026mdash; completely unsustainable \u0026mdash; but we knew we could do this.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENext, Wasielewski intends to pursue research and development opportunities in the biotech industry, but not before taking some well-earned time off to spend with her family.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMidori Wasielewski dreamed of earning her Ph.D. ever since she was a child. Friday, she\u0026rsquo;ll share that moment with her husband, family and young daughter.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Midori Wasielewski dreamed of earning her Ph.D. ever since she was a child. Friday, she\u2019ll share that moment with her husband, family and young daughter. "}],"uid":"36418","created_gmt":"2022-12-13 21:58:14","changed_gmt":"2022-12-14 20:08:41","author":"sgagliano3","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2022-12-13T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2022-12-13T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"663848":{"id":"663848","type":"image","title":"Midori Wasielewski at nine months pregnant working in the lab. ","body":null,"created":"1670968436","gmt_created":"2022-12-13 21:53:56","changed":"1671036063","gmt_changed":"2022-12-14 16:41:03","alt":"Midori Wasielewski at nine months pregnant working in the lab.\u00a0","file":{"fid":"251288","name":"Lab_Sep2021.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Lab_Sep2021.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Lab_Sep2021.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":273979,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Lab_Sep2021.jpg?itok=xqBt-BAP"}},"663850":{"id":"663850","type":"image","title":"Midori Wasielewski along with her daughter and staff members at the Children\u0027s Campus at Georgia Tech ","body":null,"created":"1670968540","gmt_created":"2022-12-13 21:55:40","changed":"1670968540","gmt_changed":"2022-12-13 21:55:40","alt":"Midori Wasielewski along with her daughter and staff members at the Children\u0027s Campus at Georgia Tech\u00a0","file":{"fid":"251290","name":"TheChildrensCampus_LilysTeachers.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/TheChildrensCampus_LilysTeachers.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/TheChildrensCampus_LilysTeachers.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":598585,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/TheChildrensCampus_LilysTeachers.jpg?itok=kWcG_UuO"}},"663849":{"id":"663849","type":"image","title":"Midori Wasielewski and her husband, Andrew, on their wedding day","body":null,"created":"1670968484","gmt_created":"2022-12-13 21:54:44","changed":"1670968484","gmt_changed":"2022-12-13 21:54:44","alt":"Midori Wasielewski and her husband, Andrew, on their wedding day","file":{"fid":"251289","name":"IMG_6128.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/IMG_6128.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/IMG_6128.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":505472,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/IMG_6128.jpg?itok=hFBH3llG"}},"663847":{"id":"663847","type":"image","title":"Midori Wasielewski with her husband, Andrew, and their daughter","body":null,"created":"1670968381","gmt_created":"2022-12-13 21:53:01","changed":"1670968381","gmt_changed":"2022-12-13 21:53:01","alt":"","file":{"fid":"251287","name":"PhDdefenseDate_Oct25.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/PhDdefenseDate_Oct25.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/PhDdefenseDate_Oct25.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1364243,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/PhDdefenseDate_Oct25.jpg?itok=_3f4RUz9"}}},"media_ids":["663848","663850","663849","663847"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/commencement.gatech.edu","title":"Georgia Tech Commencement"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"109","name":"Georgia Tech"},{"id":"1096","name":"Ph.D."},{"id":"1613","name":"Biomedical Engieering"},{"id":"73811","name":"The Children\u0027s Campus"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:Steven.gagliano@gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESteven Gagliano - Communications Officer\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EInstitute Communications\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["Steven.gagliano@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}