MEET OUR NEW ACADEMIC DIRECTOR - Sanjay Kumar, MD, PhD

Sanjay Kumar, MD, PhD joins the BMES Board of Directors.

QUESTIONS WE ASK OUR NEW BMES BOARD MEMBERS

What qualities do you think make a great board member, and what personal qualities can you bring to the board?
I like talking with people and learning about their experiences and values. I also enjoy looking for points of commonality and trying to build consensus around complex problems.

What would you like to accomplish in the next 12 months as a board member?
Help our organization and its members make it through the challenges of the COVID-19 era. There's light at the end of the tunnel, but we're not there yet.  

Why did you become involved in the organization, and what has your involvement looked like over time?
I joined BMES because, as a bioengineering faculty member, the society provides the most natural home and sense of community. But, as I've progressed in my career, I've also really come to appreciate the society's welcoming nature, inclusive values, and willingness to engage with and respond to its membership on important issues.

What's the best piece of advice you ever got?
Don't make it about you vs. them. Make it about you and them vs. the problem.

10 FUN RAPID-FIRE QUESTIONS

If you could have dinner with any famous person (dead or alive), who would you choose?
George Harrison. Introduced Indian music and culture to a generation of Westerners, invented the benefit concert and produced Monty Python films.  Also, the lead guitarist for a popular 1960s rock band.

If you could have any superpower, what would it be?
The ability to (safely) travel anywhere in space and time.
 
Favorite movie and/or TV show?
Classic: Rear Window
Modern: Good Will Hunting

Favorite book?
Classic: Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner
Modern: Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons 

Favorite food?
Eggs benedict and a statin

Favorite flavor of ice cream?
Pistachio

Coffee or tea? Hot or cold?
Morning: Dark roast coffee, freshly ground, brewed in a Moka pot, and served hot
Afternoon: Hot Earl Grey or lapsang souchong tea
Evening: Hot mint or passionflower tea
(you're welcome)

Morning person or night owl?
Night owl
 
Favorite color?
Pantone 282 and 123 #gobears

Favorite season?
Spring