Interview with Dr. Young Complete

My interview with Dr. Young, neuroscientist at Rutgers University, was an extremely rewarding experience. I was fascinated to learn of his accomplishments throughout his career, as well as his perspective on science research. I would highly suggest anyone interested in the field of neuroscience or spinal cord injury to visit the W.M. Keck Center For Collaborative Neuroscience on Busch Campus. A conversation with Dr. Young or any of his students is sure to inspire any student interested in neuroscience. Below is a segment of the interview between Dr. Young and I.

When dealing with a major issue like spinal cord injury treatment, it is essential that all possible approaches to discovering a cure be considered. I was initially interested in learning about what motivated Dr. Young to pursue his research into finding a cure for people suffering from spinal cord injury, as well as his approach toward research. While Dr. Young was an intern at Bellevue Hospital in 1978, he took care of a seventeen-year-old wrestler who had broken his neck in a wrestling accident. Young, a former wrestler, found it hard to tell the young man’s parents there was nothing that could be done to treat him at the time. “ It always has been the people with spinal cord injury that has driven me to do this research,” Young explains. Considering himself a problem solver, Dr. Young believes instead of specializing in one particular facet of science, it is best to incorporate knowledge from all aspects of science and apply this knowledge toward a particular problem. Dr. Young reminisces of a saying his friend Andrew Blight, a fellow neuroscientist, once said, “ If the only tool you have is a hammer, the only problems you solve are nails. As you can see in our lab, we use microscopy, cell culture, engineering, molecular biology, surgery, etc. We use every technique available to us to solve the problem [of spinal cord injury].” As a teacher, Wise feels it is necessary to teach his students that every problem has multiple solutions, and it is fundamental to learn how to quickly come up with a variety of solutions in order to conduct the best science research. Comfort dealing with a wide variety of research tools allows scientists to apply all facets of science knowledge into formulating a possible solution. Young’s approach toward scientific research incorporates all parts of the spectrum, part of the reason he has been so successful within his field.