- Hello and congratulations
on your acceptance
to Macalester College.
My name is Devavani Chatterjea
and I'm a professor of
biology here at the college.
At this time to stay safe
and to take care of
ourselves and one another,
we can't travel.
But if you were able to
travel to campus right now
and visit the biology department,
you would find a vibrant community,
caring faculty and staff,
and students from all over the
United States and the world
who are drawn to the study of life.
I'm an immunologist.
And I study the ways
in which our bodies respond to encounters
with infectious diseases,
with environmental pollution,
with stress, to name just a few.
And I explore these
topics with my students
in the courses that I
teach in cell biology,
various immunology courses,
including neuroimmunology
and cancer immunology.
My research lab studies
how allergies to common
household preservatives
can be linked with the later
development of chronic pain.
Now, this is not the happiest of topics.
But I can tell you that figuring this out
has been one of the most
fun and joyful experiences
of my 15 years at Macalester.
And it is because I've had the privilege
of doing this with my students.
Over 100 of whom have worked
with me in my laboratory
over these years, shoulder to shoulder
as my research collaborators.
And many of them have been my coauthors
in about the dozen papers
that we've published
on this subject.
My interest in environmental health
also comes from my training
in environmental epidemiology
and public health.
And about 12 years ago,
together with a number
of faculty colleagues
from psychology, anthropology,
geography, statistics,
a bunch of us came together to create
a multidisciplinary
concentration in public health.
We call it Community and
Global Health here on campus,
and it has been a remarkably
successful program
drawing lots of students
from all across campus
with regular course
offerings in the sciences,
computer science,
mathematics and statistics,
geography, anthropology,
psychology, and social sciences,
and the humanities.
The energy of students and
the energy of this program
has also shaped and reshaped
some of the courses I teach.
So some of the first year
courses that I have developed
have been directly
linked to global health.
I've taught one on global pandemics.
And I have taught a course
called Bodies on Fire
on inflammation, inflammatory
health conditions.
And that course was built upon narratives.
Personal memoirs or professional memoirs,
professional narratives
of those who lived with
and worked with these conditions.
And one that I taught recently,
Health in the Anthropocene,
considered the ways in which
the scale of human activities
have reshaped the planet, its climate,
and therefore the health of our species
and that of many other species.
If you are interested in health,
the health sciences, or
the health professions,
the biology department
offers a wealth of courses
and research opportunities
in microbiology,
in neuroscience, in developmental biology,
and research opportunities in these fields
as well as in regenerative medicine.
We are also located really close
to some fantastic neighbors,
the University of Minnesota,
and the Minnesota Department of Health.
And students often seek out
health-related research
opportunities these places.
For those of you who might be interested
in more hands-on work, more clinical work,
our location again in
Minneapolis and St. Paul,
and our really great infrastructure
for career exploration
helps connect students with
internship opportunities
and volunteer opportunities
at many community health organizations.
Macalester is a liberal arts college.
And the foundational
principle of liberal arts
is connection and connectivity.
It's built upon the idea
that to understand the world
and to solve any of the big problems
that we would like to solve,
we need to use all the tools
in our collective toolkit.
The scientific, artistic,
analytical, computational,
all of them.
And that we need to do this work together.
There are no solo players,
so we need to be able to
communicate with one another,
respect each other's methods
and ways of looking at a problem,
and see our work as contribution
alongside that of others.
So this kind of collaborative,
problem-solving,
interdisciplinary approach to health,
health sciences, and health professions
is something that you
will find at Macalester.
Whether you already know that
you want to study biology
and you're passionate
about biomedical research
and working in health
professions in that way,
then we are a good place for you.
If you are thinking
about preparing yourself
and building your
capacities and your training
for work in a health-related field
and you want to do this
alongside your passions
for art or music or languages,
then Macalester and the biology department
would be a great place
for you to do that work.
I wish that we could have welcomed you
here on campus for a visit.
But I hope that I've been
able to tell you a little bit
about the work in biology
and especially how it intersects
with those of you who might be interested
in studying and preparing for work
in health sciences or health professions.
If you have any other questions,
I know that our admissions office
and the biology department would
happily connect you with me
and with any other faculty member
or staff member for whom
you might have questions.
So I'll say goodbye for now.
And I hope that you stay well, stay safe,
take care of yourselves
and of those you love.
And I look forward to saying
hello to you in person
on campus this fall.
Goodbye.
