FUTURE DIRECTIONS
Future Directions
with David Piccin, PhD
38 | IMS MAGAZINE FALL 2013 MOOD DISORDERS
following this advice was one of the main reasons why he was fortunate enough to enjoy such a rich and rewarding PhD experience as a member of the IMS. Originally from London, Ontario, Piccin studied biochemistry at McGill University as an undergraduate. At that time he developed a keen interest in the field of stem cells, and subsequently moved to the University of
Toronto to pursue graduate studies. He was attracted to the idea of studying the mechanisms underlying symmetrical division of neural stem cells. Piccin joined Dr. Cindi Morshead’s laboratory and enrolled at the IMS as an MSc candidate. It was his intention from the beginning to transfer into the PhD program with the ultimate goal of becoming a PI himself. Fast-forward about six years, and with a PhD degree in hand; Piccin has
Photo by ChungHo Leung
W
hen presenting a final deck to a client, management consultants are taught to make their recommendations up front, and follow with the details. In this tradition, David Piccin’s advocates that IMS graduate students “who think they have no time outside the lab, do.” He insists that “it will make [them] more successful and efficient with [their] time. Get involved outside the lab!” Piccin believes that
By Anton Mihic