Miriam: The Dancing Scientist

Miriam Merad, MD, PhD, is an evangelist for the immune system. “What's my mission in life? To reveal the power of the immune system in treating most human diseases,” she says on Real, Smart People. An internationally acclaimed physician-scientist, Dr. Merad is also passionate about inspiring new generations of scientists. “For people to follow you, you have to show them that this is exciting,” she says. In this audio portrait, Dr. Merad talks about the promise of immunotherapy and the importance of paying it forward.

Miriam Merad, MD, PhD, is Director of the Precision Immunology Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Director of the Mount Sinai Human Immune Monitoring Center.

Links:

• Precision Immunology Institute at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (PrIISM)
• Mount Sinai Human Immune Monitoring Center (HIMC)
• Follow Dr. Merad on Twitter 
• Follow PrIISM on Twitter

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Episode Transcript

Dr. Miriam Merad (00:04):
I love to dance because, well, first I
come from this Mediterraneanenvironment where everyone
dances.
My childhood was very fun.
There was always music anddancing.
And I love doing these.
I love having people over andthen we'll have food and then I
will put the music on and thenI've turned the music louder.

(00:27):
And my husband will ask me tolike—and I will fight so that
the music is louder.
And at the end, everyone's onthe dance floor.
I love talking, also.
I'm talk about politics a lot.
I talk about science a lot.
And I will always talk about,"You know, you should really
learn about the immune system."My name is Miriam Merad and I am

(00:50):
the Director of the PrecisionImmunology Institute at Mount
Sinai.
The immune system is our bestdoctor.
We have a fantastic immunesystem that knows how to protect
us from flu and from severebacterial infections.
We are telling this immunesystem, use all your power and
your ability to recognize damageand stress, and go kill the

(01:12):
cancer cell.
Well, the immune system if youeducate him well, he can do it.
This is my mission.
So if you say, what's my missionin life?
It's to really reveal the powerof the immune system in treating
most human diseases.
I constantly talk about myenthusiasm because I think it's
really key.
For people to follow you, youhave to show that this is

(01:36):
exciting.
And even when things are notgoing so well, it is a privilege
to do what we do.
It's a privilege because we arein the middle of this human body
and this is what we do, wenavigate through this
extraordinary immune system.
And by figuring it out, we mayfind novel treatment for very,
very serious diseases.

(01:57):
It's like, how much more funcould that be?
I mean, it's a privilege.
When I think about the story ofmy lab, it's really like a big
movie.
We celebrated a big paper, wehad a paper in Nature a few days
ago.
A big celebration at my house,and I invite my lab over.
And I told the story of thebeginning of that paper, which

(02:20):
was, in fact, 11 years ago.
And it was so fun to describewhen we started to think about
this question, and how itevolved and how it ended up with
this beautiful paper in Nature.
But along the way, we had peopleand marriage and kids and other
papers.
And somehow it's a story ofpeople also science.

(02:43):
It is a very unique environment.
It's also a kind environmentbecause we know first that
suffering is one of the reasonswhy we all gather together.
This is what drives us,suffering somewhere.
Some of us have seen it veryclosely.
I was very attached to mypatients.
Some of them just decided tofight without being exposed.

(03:05):
I'm talking about the PhDs, forexample, the mathematicians, the
physicists that are part of theteam.
But what unites us is thishigher purpose of really
alleviating suffering.
It's a great group of people.
I love them.
It's true.
I'd like my legacy to be that Ihave inspired people to do what

(03:28):
they are doing and enjoyingdoing.
Much more potentially than myimpact in science.
I would love, of course, tocontribute, absolutely, and find
a new treatment.
Absolutely, and that's mymission.
But it is as important to me tohave impacted people's life,
because somehow it multiplies.
And one thing I say to all thepeople I train when they thank

(03:49):
me, is that,"Do it to someoneelse." Many people need that
little inspiration.
They've been through somethingdifficult.
They need a little extra.
And, you know, at my age now Iknow you do it and you feel,"I
hope I've done it enough." If Ihad a billboard in Times Square
I would write—as a leader, Iwould write,"generosity." As a

(04:13):
scientist, I would write,"Don'tbe incremental.
Be transformative."