This month, we chat with Dr. Nick Nassikas, Instructor in Medicine at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center about his research, career and hobbies.
What research are you currently working on?
The primary focus of my research is climate change and respiratory health. As a pulmonary critical care physician, I see patients who are impacted by their environment on a daily basis. Climate change is causing aberrations in weather with more extreme weather and longer and more intense pollen seasons in the US. I research how exposure to weather, pollution, and pollen influence lung function and airway inflammation in children and adults.
2. What impact(s) do you hope this work will make?
I hope to do research that is policy relevant by addressing gaps in our knowledge that can guide mitigation and adaptation efforts in the face of a rapidly changing climate. I also hope to identify populations that are particularly susceptible to climate-related health risks.
3. When you were first starting out, what inspired you to embark on this path of research? Do you have any tips for young investigators?
I have always loved spending time outside and growing up, I saw our ponds no longer freeze during the winter and read about the mass extinction of animals across the globe. I always knew that whatever path I chose, I would want to make climate change a focus. Looking back, I think the two most important things for me as an investigator have been having a mentor and loving your topic of research. My mentors have guided me, inspired me, and connected me to other mentors! And if I didn’t love the topic of my research, I would not have spent countless nights after my clinical duties diving into research questions.
4. How has our Center helped further your research? How do you engage with our Center or hope to engage with our Center moving forward?
The Harvard-NIEHS Center has been instrumental in helping me as an early career investigator by funding my pilot study, connecting me with experts, and exposing me to incredible talks from an impressive diversity of research backgrounds. To say the members of the Center are generous with their time, approachable, and truly experts would be an understatement.
5. Outside of the academic space, what do you like to do for fun?
I love to ski and surf with my wife, especially here in New England, and now that I have 3 young kids, I have been finding such joy in exposing them to mountains and the ocean.
6. If you were a dessert, which would it be and why?
Galaktoboureko because I am Greek, I love baking, and if it has filo and honey in it, I will eat it.