2016 DPhil Molecular Cell Biology in Health and Disease Hello! My name is Isaac, and I am currently a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology. I completed my DPhil in Cell and Molecular Biology in Health and Disease in 2021, and I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Balliol during which I made lifelong friends around Jowett Walk and participated in numerous activities. I contributed to and presented at events for the Balliol Biomedical Society and represented Balliol in an Entrepreneurship course at Tsinghua University. Additionally, I was involved with the University's UNIQ+ scheme for two years, mentoring and supporting disadvantaged students as they completed summer research projects in the lab. My involvement with the university extended to being a founding member of the Oxford Robotics & Additive Manufacturing Society (OxRAM) and an editor for the Oxford Biochemistry Phenotype Magazine. Growing up in an environment where Traditional Medicine is prevalent, I've always been sceptical about the efficacy of TCM in treating diseases. Many others in the biomedical field share this scepticism, but that hasn't stopped them from drawing inspiration from TCM. Nobel laureate Youyou Tu, for instance, discovered the life-saving antimalarial compound artemisinin after exploring ancient TCM literature. Similarly, meditation and mindfulness, which were once exclusively practiced in Buddhist traditions, have been shown to alleviate various psychiatric disorders. I firmly believe that ancient cultures harbour a wealth of wisdom waiting to be uncovered and applied to modern medicine. With this belief in mind, I have decided to embark on a project with Pathfinders to document the lives and traditional medicine practices of Canada's indigenous people. I hope that this research will not only inspire new biomedical discoveries but also shed light on the rich history of medicine that has been overlooked for so long. By understanding and preserving these ancient practices, we can broaden our perspective on medicine and potentially uncover valuable therapeutic approaches. As I set out on this journey, I am excited to connect with old members of Balliol!