AS A YOUNG GIRL, Kate Rahbari wasn’t sure she was smart enough to pursue an education in the sciences, let alone in medicine. “I was my own obstacle,” she says, explaining the “imposter syndrome” that gave rise to years of self-doubt. But today Rahbari has proven to herself — and the world — that she can reach ambitious goals. She now is well on her way to completing a joint MD/PhD program at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC).
Growing up in West Chester, Penn., a small suburb outside Philadelphia, Rahbari was close to her immediate family — her mother, father, and older brother — and often visited her extended family in North Carolina. With her mother’s Indigenous roots and her father’s Iranian heritage, Rahbari stood out from her mostly white peers. “There weren’t a lot of Indigenous individuals in Philly,” says Rahbari. “People made ignorant comments sometimes so I knew I wasn’t white, but it wasn’t something I really understood until undergrad.”
The more time Rahbari spent in the lab, the more she liked research. “That first research experience sparked my interest in the possibility of doing a joint program for research and medicine,” she says.
At Temple University, Rahbari started with gen ed classes. Although she’d always had an interest in science, she initially lacked the confidence to declare a STEM major. “After the first two years, I decided on biology,” she says. “But I still didn’t think I was smart enough.”
Rahbari was lucky to find professors who encouraged her to pursue research, and she turned to MARC (Maximizing Access to Research Careers) for help. Through MARC, a National Institutes of Health (NIH)–funded undergraduate student training program for institutions with research-intensive environments, Rahbari was matched with a lab. “It was serendipity,” says Rahbari. “My first lab experience was in immunology. It was really difficult, but I liked it.”
The more time Rahbari spent in the lab, the more she liked research. “That first research experience sparked my interest in the possibility of doing a joint program for research and medicine,” she says. Rahbari set out to make her new goal a reality, taking multiple science and lab courses at Temple. After graduating, she pursued a post-baccalaureate at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (part of the NIH). During her post-bacc Rahbari’s passion for immunology blossomed. “That’s where I thought, oh, this is really cool,” she says. “Immunology is like a whole other language — it’s connected to so many different things.”
After being accepted to the University of Illinois at Chicago’s joint MD/PhD program, Rahbari continued to pursue her passion for immunology. For her PhD dissertation, Rahbari chose to look at immune cell responses to bacteria, and how bacteria can manipulate those responses. In simpler terms, “I’m examining a communication system in Group A streptococcus (the culprit of strep throat), and how it actually helps the bacteria to basically tell our immune system to not attack,” she explains.
Even with a demanding course load, Rahbari found ways to get involved in her community. She has participated in an after-school science program for middle school students; mentored a high school student on her science fair project; and helped to start the Association of Native American Medical Students at UIC, which has been especially meaningful to Rahbari. “Indigenous students now have more recognition and a voice in the College of Medicine,” she says. “It makes me realize I’m not alone.”
Rahbari is now moving into the last two years of medical school, which will be clinical rotations. She is hopeful that these next two years will help shape her ultimate career path. “I’m open and ready to see all the different specialties,” she says. While she doesn’t have a set role in mind, Rahbari can see herself running a lab and practicing medicine, and she hopes to eventually do both.
Rahbari’s road has been difficult and filled with self-doubt. But with the support of her family, friends, and mentors, she is now confident in her ability to succeed. She hopes her story will inspire others to pursue their dreams, even when they doubt themselves. “Don’t give up because one person said you weren’t good enough,” she says. Instead, she suggests leaning on people who support you and your goals. In the end, adds Rahbari, “you realize you can do it, and you can accomplish so much.”
—Alexa Panza
The tribal center of the Haliwa-Saponi people is Hollister, N.C., located in the Northeastern Piedmont region of the state — the ancestral homeland of the tribe’s 4,000 members.
CALVIN FOSTER TOOK the Second Fleet to “war” a few months ago. As deputy battle director, this U.S. Navy captain supported his admiral in the command of warships, submarines, aircraft, and unmanned systems. But the war game wasn’t staged in the Atlantic — it took place in cyberspace at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla. “We simulated operating several hundred assets. Getting to see that big picture and applying it across the whole naval spectrum was pretty exciting,” says Foster, a member of the Muscogee Nation who graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1992 with a degree in engineering.
Although his father served in the Air Force and his grandfather was an Army colonel, Foster chose to go to Annapolis after also receiving an appointment to West Point and an Air Force scholarship to Oklahoma State. “I was looking for adventure, innovation, and pathways to leadership in my life,” he says. (His advice to today’s students? “Apply to everything and see what happens.”)
“I get to defend the tribal roots of the Muscogee Nation through my national service in the U.S. Navy,” says Foster.
He remembers being fascinated when he arrived at the academy by the Navy’s technologies — helicopters, jets, spacecraft, satellites, ships, submarines, landing craft, hovercraft, and the Tomahawk cruise missile. “All cool ways to employ our forces around the globe,” says Foster. He feels that the Navy’s culture embraces new technology. “The Navy’s senior leaders are expected to boldly step forward using that technology to defend our country and make our offensive capabilities the best they can be,” he says.
He’s proud that the Navy is an expeditionary force. “We go to where the fight is, and we’re the first to respond when there’s a humanitarian disaster,” says Foster. During his career he has been deployed to Kuwait, worked with the Japanese navy, and traveled throughout Europe.
His career focus has been on systems engineering, especially combat systems, such as radar, sonar, guns, and missiles. Each has its own computer programs (sometimes robotic) that communicate with each other and the sailors operating them. “When a missile is shot from a tube on a ship, it’s got its own special computer system inside that tells it where it is and talks to the ship,” says Foster. “More important, systems engineering makes sure our sailors know how to use a system and that it’s reliable.”
The Navy, according to Foster, is a world leader in digital engineering. This revolutionary new approach lets engineers create a virtual version of something physical, such as a missile. To speed innovation and problem solving, the “digital twin” lets engineers replicate with a computer program how the physical object works.
Foster grew up in Bristow, Okla., where his heritage was woven into every aspect of life. “I look back fondly on that sense of pride in our homeland and traditions, one-ness with nature, and honoring our forefathers,” he says. He finds those “reverberations of generations and generations” increasingly meaningful in a world that he says has a “snap-culture on instant seconds of things.”
As a military officer, he does more than serve his country. “I get to defend the tribal roots of the Muscogee Nation through my national service in the U.S. Navy,” says Foster. Thanks partly to his efforts, one of the Navy’s next Navajo-class rescue-and-salvage ships will be named the USNS Muscogee Creek Nation and join the USNS Lenni Lenape, USNS Saginaw Ojibwe Anishinabek, USNS Cherokee Nation, and USNS Navajo. “The Navy recognizes the importance of our American Indian heritage by naming ships after tribes. When they pull into ports, everyone sees that they are helping us defend the nation,” says Foster.
His sense of duty runs deeper than his father’s and grandfather’s service. His parents named him after an uncle who was killed in action in Vietnam in 1967 when his F-105 Thunderchief fighter was shot down. “We can look at so many Native Americans who gave their lives and who served with honor. Knowing that I was named after my uncle who died in battle was big inspiration for me as a kid,” says Foster. “I wanted to carry on that tradition.”
—George Spencer
In a historic announcement this past May, tribal officials at the Muscogee Nation explained that the tribe is dropping the name “Creek,” a misnomer coined by British colonists, and will no longer be officially known as the Muscogee (Creek) Nation.
WHEN SHE WAS YOUNG, Connor Keane’s mother moved more than 2,000 miles from her home community of Corner Brook, Newfoundland, to Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, to find work that would support her family. Through perseverance and determination, Keane’s mother overcame the challenges of being uprooted from her home and opened a store in Yellowknife to sell a variety of goods to the local community.
Keane is trying his best to follow in her footsteps: to work hard and be courageous in chasing his goals. “My parents have always guided me to choose education and career goals that I am truly passionate about,” Keane says. Through their determination and strength, they have shown him that his goals are attainable.
He grew up in British Columbia and finished elementary and high school in Surrey, outside Vancouver, where he lives with his older brother and parents. His passion for biology and chemistry in high school led him to aspire to be a doctor. “I have seen the impact physicians can make for a family firsthand,” Keane says. “This has motivated me to be an advocate for peoples’ health.” He hopes to be able to provide support for Indigenous families and communities.
At UBC, Keane found a mentor in immunology researcher Dr. Michael Gold, and has been working in the Gold lab for the past two and a half years studying B cells — the cells that make antibodies.
With that goal, and his fascination with the complexity of the immune system, he enrolled in the microbiology and immunology program at the University of British Columbia (UBC). During his first year, Keane often found himself delving into research beyond the learning objectives of his classes. When he was finally able to attend microbiology symposiums and research presentations at UBC, he knew he had chosen the right major.
Still, the transition from high school to university came with a steep learning curve. Keane found himself constantly adjusting study strategies and working hard to find a schedule that would let him keep up academically. That first year was quite difficult, but after he learned what his professors expected of him and perfected his study strategies, academic work became more enjoyable.
At UBC he found a mentor in immunology researcher Dr. Michael Gold, and has been working in the Gold lab for the past two and a half years studying B cells — the cells that make antibodies. “Dr. Gold’s guidance and support have helped me develop the skills and knowledge to think critically in my lab and course work, and progress as a scientist,” Keane says. Learning lab maintenance techniques from the ground up helped him be independent and efficient in his work. Under the direction of Dr. Gold, Keane assisted in completing experiments for a recently published paper investigating the role of actin, an important component of the B cell cytoskeleton, in B cell functions. Last year, he was able to present his research at the AISES in Canada National Gathering in Saskatchewan.
Keane joined the UBC AISES College Chapter in January 2019, and starting in December 2019, served as co-president. He made it his goal to encourage Indigenous students to pursue education and careers in the STEM fields. Last year, the UBC Chapter was able to host Indigenous STEM Day in British Columbia, an all-day event for Indigenous youth, university students, and professionals. He also spent a few summers volunteering at a two-week summer camp that lets Indigenous youth experience life on a university campus through a variety of science workshops hosted at UBC.
Keane’s outreach hasn’t been limited to encouraging young people in STEM. He also co-founded a nonprofit program that provides music lessons for elderly people and refugee children. “I was lucky to be able to learn guitar and bass from a young age, and I believe that everyone should have the chance to play a musical instrument,” he says.
With his music, his academic achievements, and his community service, Keane has racked up many accomplishments. But he is not ready to declare himself satisfied, saying, “I always believe that there is room for improvement.”
—DJ Pollard
Fishing is a traditional skill among the Mi’kmaq, whose homelands span Canada’s Maritime provinces. Every year in Newfoundland, thousands of small fish called capelin come rolling in with the ocean waves. Just passing a bucket through the water at the shore provides enough fish to feed an entire family.