Meet Eduardo Aguilar of Rockefeller University. Eduardo is a fourth year graduate student in Charlie Rice’s lab and also works with Peggy MacDonald. He returned to campus to attend his second meeting at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, The PARP Family & ADP-ribosylation. 

What are your research interests? What are you working on?
Generally speaking, I’m interested in using viruses to probe complex host cell biology, usually in the realm of innate immunity. I like to think of viruses as maleable stressors.

How did you decide to make this the focus of your research?
I sort of stumbled upon it, but it really set in once I realized just how much fundamental biology was historically done in viruses.

How did your scientific journey begin? 
Normally I like to say dinosaurs: Jurassic Park was all the rage when I was a kid and it got me interested in the natural sciences early.

Was there something specific about The PARP Family & ADP-ribosylation meeting that drew you to attend?
I wanted to see what’s been developed in terms of proteomic approaches, and I thought it would be helpful to see what kind of tangential research could be of use to my work.

What is your key takeaway from the meeting?
There’s a lot of important work being done in the field, but there is still so much left to do. It’s crazy, actually!

Did you pick up or learn something new from the meeting that you plan to apply to your work?  
I caught up with some previous contacts while making new ones, but I also got some supporting insights on some ideas  I’d had before the meeting.

How many CSHL meetings and/or courses have you attended? 
This is my second meeting. I attended the Retroviruses in 2015  and I applied to the Proteomics course offered this summer.

If someone curious in attending a future iteration of this meeting asked you for feedback or advice on it, what would you tell him/her?
CSHL is extraordinarily historical. It’s like a living museum in a way, yet it offers insight into some of the newest developments in various fields. It’s pretty neat when you think about it.

What do you like most about your time at CSHL?
I’d say walking around and coming across the different sculptures scattered around the campus. They’re truly striking!

Thank you to Eduardo for being this week's featured visitor. To meet other featured scientists - and discover the wide range of science that takes part in a CSHL meeting or course - go here.