Joel Musee, MSTP Student

joel.musee@vanderbilt.edu

I was born in Nairobi, Kenya on December 28th 1980 and 20 years later, hot on the heels of my elder sister, decided to attend college in the United States. Initially, I attended West Chester University in West Chester, Pennsylvania where I met Drs. Woodruff, Mbuy and Knabb. They greatly inspired me, stoking my embers of curiosity and challenged me to think and work harder than I had imagined possible. Unfortunately, during this time, my parents and I encountered great financial difficulty in funding my studies. I sought scholarships from various sources and institutions and in the spring of 2001, received an offer for a full scholarship to attend Oberlin College, in Oberlin, Ohio. I matriculated in the fall of 2001 and flourished there, majoring in Biology with a minor in Chemistry. Through the breadth and intrigue of the various research projects I undertook during my undergraduate career (including my honours thesis entitled “Role of pectin methylesterases and pectate lyase in A. thaliana during lateral root emergence” under the tutelage of Dr. Marta Laskowski), I realised I had found my calling in research.  My interest in healthcare could not be muted, and so it followed that a career as a physician-scientist would feed both desires.  I applied and was accepted to Vanderbilt’s Medical Scientist Training Program, matriculating in the fall of 2005.  Following my second year of medical school, I joined the Marnett lab full time and began investigating the exquisite sensitivity of COX-2 inactivation by peroxide moieties, whilst trying to understand determinants of activation with regard to the COX-2 preferential substrates such as 2-AG (2-Arachidonyl glycerol) and AEA (Anandamide).

I love most music but especially enjoy jazz, bossa nova and latin music (salsa, merengue and bachata). I always carve out part of my day to spend with my fiancée and our dogs, Simba and Nala.