In August of 2018, Catharine Boothroyd, PhD, joined Tri-I as the new Administrative Director. This marks the beginning of an exciting new era for the Program and a return to the Tri-Institutional campus for Catharine, who earned her PhD and did a post-doc at Rockefeller.
From Dr. Boothroyd:
I have been a part of the Tri-Institutional MD-PhD Program for just over seven months now, and it has gone by so fast. It has been (and continues to be!) a steep learning curve. However, what I appreciate most about this community is how generous and welcoming everyone has been.
A bit about what brought me to Tri-I: I came to Rockefeller in 2000, specifically to work with Mike Young. My early work in his lab involved identifying the circadian transcriptome in Drosophila, and then my thesis was on how temperature acts as a Zeitgeber for the Drosophila circadian clock. I went on to do postdoctoral work with Nina Papavasiliou and George Cross on targeted gene conversion as means of antigenic variation in the parasite Trypanosoma brucei. I have long had a passion for outreach and education and sought out such opportunities as a graduate student and postdoc . I was involved with Science Outreach and SURF at Rockefeller, and mentored several high school, undergraduate, and graduate students in the lab. In 2011, at the end of my postdoctoral work, I took a huge leap from the bench to the classroom.
I taught high school Biology and Chemistry, as well as started a small independent research program, at The Masters School. (Fun fact: Masters is a day and boarding school, so I also served as a dorm parent to 27 teenage girls!) I very much enjoyed being in the classroom and working with young people, but I also missed the excitement and culture of academia. When the opportunity to join Tri-I arose over the summer, I was honored and excited to accept the position .
Outside of Tri-I: I have three sons. Sorin is almost 14 and just finishing up middle school. He spent the first five years of his life on the Rockefeller campus with me at the Child and Family Center. Much to my chagrin, he is now taller than I. And like many middle school boys, he spends entirely too much time on his electronic devices. When he doesn’t have his eyes on a screen, Sorin enjoys playing basketball and guitar. Rian (pronounce like “Ian” with an “R”) is almost 11 and just started middle school. He is my future scientist! Rian has decided he wants to be a physicist and has basically taught himself fundamental physics from a text book. Rian is also a bookworm and enjoys playing baseball. Leonidas (Leo) is 8 and is in 3rd grade. Being the youngest often means keeping up with his big brothers. But Leo is also his own person, enjoying “making inventions” and writing and illustrating graphic stories. (There are meanings behind their names. If you’re curious, please ask!)
A bit about me: I grew up in Toronto, relocating to NY as a teenager. I actually lived on Roosevelt Island when I was in high school, traveling to Manhattan by tram. I could see the Tri-Institutional campus from my window—apparently these few blocks are a magnet for me! I love to garden. The ability to do so was a novelty to someone who spent her adolescence and adult life living in an apartment. One of the things that gardening has reinforced for me is a lack of control (in a good way!). In other words, I can tend to my plants and give them all the resources they need to grow, but I have no control over the ultimate outcome. I also try to find time to do yoga, and can always be found with a book in progress.
I have had the chance to sit down with many students over breakfast, formal and informal meetings, and even during Interview Days, and have enjoyed these experiences immensely. I hope to continue to get to know students and alumni in the coming months and years.
Please continue to reach out, and especially for alumni, stop by the office if you’re on campus. Thank you all for welcoming me to Tri-I!
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