Care and questions at the beginning of life
Liza Konnikova cares for newborns and leads research on early immune development at Yale. She describes how seeing premature babies become suddenly very ill has shaped questions about why this happens, how it might be predicted and how care could improve. Her laboratory studies several aspects of development, including intestinal immunity and communication between maternal and fetal immune cells.
Being clear about what remains unknown
Asked whether a treatment for one devastating intestinal condition is close, Konnikova says it is not. She also describes being honest with families about what remains unknown while explaining what care can offer now. Research hopes and the decisions facing families today operate on different timescales.
Passion does not remove doubt
Undergraduate experiments in a developmental-biology lab helped expand her interest in medicine into a desire to do research too. Later, the possibility that loving her work might have spared her self-doubt comes up. Konnikova challenges that assumption: enjoying the work coexists with recurring worries about being good enough.
Find out what the work is like
She recommends talking to someone whose career interests you, because the daily reality may differ from what you imagine. Her own support has included family, mentors and sponsors who put her forward for opportunities even when she was not present.