I begin my interview with Professor Madeleine Oudin by making a fool of myself. When I ask about the research she does on cancer metastasis (metastay-tus), she gently corrects my pronunciation: metastasis (met-A-sti-tus). We laugh together, and her laugh is kind and full of joy—a laugh she uses liberally, I’ll soon find out. Like her laugh, Professor Oudin’s office is bright and inviting. Potted plants line the window sill. Stuck to her wall are photos with friends and family. One features her and a friend or colleague holding signs at the March for Science. A copper plaque on her shelf is etched with the words “Boss Lady.” A postcard that says “You can do it” sits in a shadow box frame. Before even talking to Professor Oudin, you can tell she is a mentor and a motivator. When asked about her favorite part of teaching, she immediately answers, “When I can get my students excited.” Whether instructing students who have not taken a biology class since high school, or conducting research with advanced biomedical engineering majors, Professor Oudin is focused on contextualizing the science she teaches. “My goal has been trying to show students that knowing about biology is relevant to your daily life,” she tells me. She is able to use her own understanding and
immense expertise to make these complex and perhaps daunting processes accessible. Accessibility seems to be a common theme for Professor Oudin. As a woman in STEM, she is aware that while Tufts is a leader in gender representation compared to similar institutions—with about 50% of the first-year engineering class identifying as female—there is still a great deal of work to be done. She notes the “leaky pipeline” of women leaving STEM academia, and explains that she actively tries to be a role model for female students, like she had herself. “It’s important to have mentors and people you look up to who have been successful in your field, in order to know that you can do it—you can be a successful woman in engineering.” Beyond being a mentor herself, she is involved with the Society of Women Engineers at the undergraduate and graduate levels, which allows students and faculty to cultivate community and find inspiration in each other. Professor Oudin says that she’s been impressed by how “smart, interested, and committed to research” the undergraduates working in her lab have been, before mentioning, almost as an aside, that all the undergrads working in her lab currently are female. This is not because she only hires women, but because, she humbly hypothesizes,
“maybe they see a young female faculty member and they like that… For me it’s great to get to be a mentor and a role model in that way.” As someone who clearly serves as a motivator for many people, it seems almost poetically ironic that Professor Oudin’s research focuses on stopping growth—of cancer cells, that is. She patiently explains to my lay ears that cancer occurs when mutations happen to the DNA of cells, causing them to grow uncontrollably. Metastasis is when these cells are able to spread throughout the body. So, she focuses on researching how these cells move and survive, what attracts them, and how to find better treatment opportunities. She hopes to develop improved strategies to predict which tumors are going to spread, thus allowing the use of more accurate and specific treatment techniques. “I wanted to be working in an area where I knew my work could someday impact patients,” Professor Oudin says of her path to choosing this research. And while cancer research may still have a ways to go, Professor Oudin’s impact on campus through mentorship and encouragement can already be felt. —SHAAN MERCHANT ’19
MADELEINE OUDIN ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING
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