Since graduating from Tufts in 2018, alum Megan Tse hasn’t stopped exploring and creating. As a graduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Tse continues research into innovations within biological engineering that she began as an undergrad. When asked why she continues to pursue biological engineering, Tse commented on how she enjoys working towards creating new technologies that can help people.
“I’m very excited about the ability to work and contribute towards something that can help people,” Tse said. “I can do research and contribute to the science that’s building tools ... and also developing technologies that can help improve human health or discover new, biological things that can improve human health.”
At Tufts, Tse conducted research surrounding tissue engineering and regenerative medicine with Professor David Kaplan, chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering. However, Tse explained that her graduate work has shifted toward drug discovery.
“My focus here is actually in drug discovery. And I think a lot of this, again … kind of relates … to work towards improving human health and thinking more about, like, biological discovery, so I could assist that,” Tse said.
As a student in Professor Paul Blainey’s lab at the Broad Institute, Tse works on antibody combinations discovery, where she uses a tool to examine different antibiotic combinations to possibly uncover new drug treatments. This tool was developed by a group of graduate students in the Blainey Lab a few years ago.
“So what we’re doing here is basically using this droplet microfluidic platform to basically assemble a lot of different small little assays and what this tool allows you to do is look at a bunch of combinations in a parallel manner,” Tse said.
She explained that this tool could possibly further develop the field of drug discovery.
“So the thought here is if we could perhaps look at combinations, that maybe we could help expand that drug discovery space, and hopefully find new treatments and a different chemical space,” Tse said.
Tse noted that bacteria drug resistance is a large problem in the area of infectious diseases and has become more prevalent in the COVID-19 pandemic.
“There’s also actually this ongoing thing in general, where a lot of the antibiotics that we’re using, a lot of bacteria that are pathogenic, are becoming really multi-drug resistant to these antibiotics,” Tse said.
She described how the rate of bacteria drug resistance outpaces the rate of antibiotic development.
“There’s not enough antibiotics, new antibiotics that are coming in to really fill that need, considering the rate of resistance that a lot of bacteria are developing as these antibiotics that currently exist in the clinic,” Tse said.
Although Tse's work is not directly related to COVID-19, she said the pandemic has reinforced the importance of infectious disease biology, as the impact of COVID-19 is bringing further awareness to other global health challenges.
“And I think another thing too, that’s been interesting is that because of this greater attention to infectious diseases … a lot of people have actually been looking and thinking a lot more actually about, not just COVID, but trying to think more about bacterial pathogens and how that is something that has been an ongoing problem,” Tse said.
During her time at Tufts, Tse was involved in the Society of Women Engineers and an overall advocate for women’s involvement in STEM. When asked about her thoughts on MIT’s handling of gender diversity, she commented that while her department was quite diverse, other departments were not.
“Since coming here, I’ve noticed ... more of the diversity problem is not necessarily with women specifically in the field of biological engineering, [but] I think in other engineering departments here at MIT, there’s a big problem, potentially,” Tse said.
Tse described the steps she has taken to address diversity through communication with department leadership from her former involvement with the biological engineering graduate student board to helping create diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) working groups.
“Up until I think, this most recent academic year, I have been involved in the biological engineering graduate student board and basically had helped develop a lot of initiatives,” Tse said. “And one of the things that has come out of this, between me and a few other people, is [that] actually we started forming these DEI working groups.”
Tse reflected on how she wants to bring the same network and support that she appreciated at Tufts to MIT.
“I really appreciate … the network and the people that I’ve been able to develop that did perhaps look like me, that were like me, while I was at Tufts,” Tse said. “That’s something that I’ve been trying to bring here to MIT. ... I want to be able to … help bring that to other people who are perhaps more underrepresented.”
In general, Tse described how she’s just as excited to get more women involved in STEM as she was at Tufts. She explained that one place that she does this is through a tutoring program for high school students in Cambridge.
“I’m still very excited about trying to get more women in STEM. I still participate in various programs. One thing that I really enjoy doing is … Tutoring Plus in Cambridge,” Tse said. “It’s been really nice being able to work with my mentee, and, in particular, she is a female high school student.”
Tse described how the tutoring program has been a rewarding experience for her.
“It's been really good being able to interact with her and tell her about some of the things I've been working on, while also being able to help her through high school,” Tse said. “It's been really great to see her interests and how that's been developing in general.”
When looking ahead to future career aspirations, Tse said she doesn't know where exactly she wants to go next. At one point, Tse had ambitions of becoming a professor, but she explained that she’s lost motivation for that profession through the years.
“If you’re ever interested in grad school or academia in general, I will note that I think it’s hard to be in the path to become a professor,” Tse said.
Tse explained that she hopes the profession will take a different direction in the upcoming years and that a new wave of energy will enter the world of academia.
“I think that there are people who are really excited, still, about making changes within academia,” Tse said. “I just don’t know if I’m the one to do that at this point.”
Regardless, Tse is excited about all of the possibilities of what her future in STEM will hold and is adamant that she plans to continue to get young people involved in STEM.
“I am really excited though to still continue to be able to mentor people and to have the chance to talk with people who are in a different place than me, that are younger than me, that … are interested in and excited about being in STEM,” Tse said.
