I was born and raised in Ethiopia. Growing up, I witnessed the devastation caused by illness — particularly infectious diseases. As a medical student, I experienced firsthand the limitations of healthcare facilities in resource-constrained settings. The doctors had fantastic education, but equipment and supplies were either non-existent or malfunctioning. I was convinced that I had to do something about it and moved to the United States to extend my education in biomedical engineering.

During the first year of my PhD, I assessed which physical measurement principle would serve as the most clinically translatable for global dissemination and landed on optics. My interest grew when I learned about light-matter interactions at the atomistic level in my senior physical-chemistry classes. When I realized optics was the best path for building translatable tools, I couldn’t have been more excited.

As a professor at MIT, I lead a team of students and postdocs on our research, teach courses, and perform departmental services. I also serve my scientific community, travel to conferences, and present our research findings.

My greatest accomplishment has been demonstrating Raman spectroscopy’s capability to detect and identify bacterium types and their antibiotic responses, including in native liquid environments. This is achieved in a few seconds of measurement compared to dayslong culturing steps required in gold-standard diagnostic methods.

I aim to transform healthcare globally through accessible technologies. My interdisciplinary path enabled me to learn from the best of medicine, chemistry, physics, and engineering. I would like to see the transformative power of Raman spectroscopy realized in clinical settings and in biomedical research spaces, illuminating fundamental biology that leads to discovery and cure. There are many problems in the world bigger than an individual’s lifetime; finding joy in the little victories one achieves along the way to a bigger goal is key to progress.

My advice to others is that you don’t have to have the details of your journey figured out from the get-go; you just need to walk toward what you’re passionate about and clarify the details as you explore opportunities.

Loza Tadesse
Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Born in Ethiopia / Resides in United States
Educational Background: MD (unconferred), St. Paul Hospital Millennium Medical College, Ethiopia; BA in Chemistry, Minnesota State University Moorhead, United States; MSc and PhD in Bioengineering Stanford University, Stanford University, United States