{"id":9195,"date":"2022-05-09T08:16:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-09T12:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/?p=9195"},"modified":"2022-05-06T11:16:53","modified_gmt":"2022-05-06T15:16:53","slug":"have-science-will-travel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/2022\/05\/09\/have-science-will-travel\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Have Science, Will Travel\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHouston, it\u2019s one small broccoli sprout for\nman; one giant leap in cancer prevention for\nall mankind.\u201d\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amitabha \u201cGuppy\u201d Gupta \u201905 knows\nhow to hook an audience. As associate\ndirector, scientific content and engagement\nin the philanthropy department at the Fred\nHutchinson Cancer Research Center in\nSeattle, Wash., Gupta translates complex\nscientific information into clear, engaging,\nand yes, even fun, content that appeals to\ndiverse audiences across multiple outlets.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his quest to advance Fred Hutch\u2019s \u201cscience for everyone\u201d mission, Gupta
has spread word of the center\u2019s diverse experts and vast expertise everywhere from corporations to Black churches, through his humorous \u201cWhat the Hutch?\u201d videos on Instagram and Facebook to AMAs on Twitch gaming streams. \u201cIt\u2019s about being creative and very cognizant of who the audience is, what message they\u2019re likely to be primed to receive, and who is the right messenger,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gupta\u2019s interest in the field was sparked\nin the mid-\u201990s when, as a teen in India, he\ncame across an article about the nascent\nfield of genomic sequencing in a magazine.\n\u201cI knew at that point, \u2018This is what I am\ngoing to do,\u2019\u201d he recalls. \u201cI knew I would\nstudy DNA and cancer, that science was\nthe best thing ever, and that I was going to\ncome to the U.S. for college.\u201d\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Colgate, he relished working in the lab\nof his undergraduate adviser, Ken Belanger,\nthe Russell Colgate Distinguished University\nProfessor of biology. \u201cHe was such a great\nmentor and teacher,\u201d Gupta says.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After completing his PhD in cellular, molecular, and biophysical studies at Columbia University, Gupta joined Fred Hutch as a postdoctoral fellow, researching how cells divide their DNA accurately and how that goes awry in cancer cells. \u201cWhat I enjoyed the most about my time in the lab was teaching people about my work and inspiring younger students to go into science,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gupta envisioned following in Belanger\u2019s footsteps, serving as a science professor at a small liberal arts college. Instead, an opportunity arose at Fred Hutch. He\u2019d already been volunteering with the philanthropy department by speaking with donors about his research. The department had an opening for a scientific communications coordinator, someone to serve as a liaison between donors and Fred Hutch scientists. \u201cMy desire was to let science speak for itself \u2014 to give science an opportunity to lead in our discussions with donors and the public,\u201d he says. \u201cI realized I couldn\u2019t do that without knowing about the science of all of Fred Hutch. So in my first year, I made it a priority to attend seminars from every division and know every piece of research we do.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He gradually mastered the art of \u201ccode switching\u201d from scientist-speak to layman\u2019s terms. \u201cIt\u2019s a hard thing to do,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019d been in science for so long that it didn\u2019t occur to me that people don\u2019t use the same terms and jargons that I take for granted. I realized I was talking at people instead of talking with them; that has been my biggest change.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gupta\u2019s appealing approach is on full display in his \u201cWhat the Hutch?\u201d videos, which combine humor and visual aids in concise segments highlighting research advances at the institution. In one, he compares the face-off between cancer and the immune system to a game of chess. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gupta also spearheaded a profile campaign highlighting the diversity among Fred Hutch\u2019s researchers. \u201cIf you can see yourself represented in the people behind the science, you may be inspired to go into science too,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In November 2021, Gupta and his colleagues hosted a virtual Q&A between Trevor Noah, host of The Daily Show<\/em>, and three Fred Hutch researchers, spreading the word about COVID-19 evolution and tracking, immunotherapy advances, and the importance of colorectal screening in communities of color. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gupta is especially proud of launching the highly successful Lunch and Learn series, which has reached more than 35,000 people across the country and around the world. \u201cWe show up and say, \u2018Here are six topics we can talk about\u2019 and let the room decide,\u201d he explains. Naturally, pandemic- related topics such as the importance of vaccines and masking have been in demand, as have presentations on reducing cancer risk. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re making the science more accessible to more people and to more diverse audiences,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s basically, \u2018Have Science, Will Travel.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Amitabha Gupta \u201905 translates scientific information into engaging content for diverse audiences. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1263,"featured_media":9422,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,2],"tags":[68,106,117],"coauthors":[424],"class_list":["post-9195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-alumni-spotlights","category-alumni-updates","tag-health","tag-science","tag-travel"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/palXSH-2oj","amp_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2022\/05\/Gupta_proshot-1Featured.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1263"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9195"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9195\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9423,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9195\/revisions\/9423"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9195"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=9195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}