More information about his lab HERE
Wikipedia page about Diego Golombek
Sci.Ple: What is your background?
I am a biologist graduated from the University of Buenos Aires, where I also earned my PhD in Physiology. I started working on rhythms (in opossums!) as an undergraduate, then moved on to sudy melatonin effects on mammalian rhythms and finally became interested in researching signal transduction pathways in circadian entrainment. After getting my PhD I spent a few years at the Department of Psychology at the University of Toronto, then moved to Smith College in Massachusetts and finally returned home.
SP: Among your published papers, which one is your favorite?
I had lots of fun studying circadian rhythms in Antarctic penguins, nematodes, opossums and many others (even students!), but I guess my favorite paper is:
104(23):9834-9839, 2007.
SP: Why is it your favorite?
We had been studying the role of cGMP in the entrainment of mammalian circadian rhythms by light, and were looking at experimental strategies to increase the levels of this cyclic nucleotide, under the hypothesis that entrainment could be faster and better. So we were talking late at night in the lab and we came with the idea of trying sildenafil, of course joking with the idea of giving Viagra to our hamsters to synchronize their rhythms. Well, we tried the experiment (after sorting out who would go to the pharmacy to buy the Viagra…) and it worked! The paper was extensively covered worldwide (from the New York Times to Playboy) and it even earned us an IgNobel award, which was certainly a lot of fun. And it was also the basis for a doctoral thesis and, we hope, for a new pharmacological tool to treat disturbed circadian rhythms.
SP: What was the most challenging part of this paper?
It was quite an original idea, and we had to make sure sildenafil was acting through its well-know effect of inhibiting phosphodiesterase – in the brain. So we needed lots of controls and we first had to convince ourselves it really worked!
SP: What drives you in your day-to-day job?
I work in a “peripheral” country, where we strongly feel that if we are not around (i.e., if we hadn’t returned home) something would be missing: a lab, a course, a way of thinking about science and experiments. That’s quite a strong feeling completely different from what happens in a “central” country. In addition, I’m certainly grateful for our amazing undergrad and graduate students which are certainly a constant source for enthusiasm. And hey, we really want to know what keeps this circadian clock ticking and in sync with the world.
SP: What is the most exciting part of your job?
When predictions turn out to be correct it’s not only exciting, but at first unbelievable (what??? we were RIGHT??? come on…). New discoveries that make a difference in the field, even if a very tiny difference, are also very exciting. And a story staring to make sense – and to form the basis of a student’s work – gives us an incredible Eureka moment.
SP: The least exciting?
Paperwork, paperwork and, yes, paperwork.
SP: Name a scientist whose research inspires you
The whole field of chronobiology is certainly inspiring, with some tremendous thinkers and some incredible experimenters (just to name a couple: Serge Daan, Joe Takahashi). Outside my specific field, I really admire cognitive neuroscientists that are trying to make sense of ourselves – especially if they consider time and timing as important variables (just as an example: David Eagleman).
SP: What are the next frontiers in neuroscience?
Self: the final frontier… Increasing the power of brain imaging techniques and, moreover, the possibility of recording individual neurons in vivo in humans will certainly take us closer to understanding what goes on in there while, well, living, thinking and everything else. I am sure that we’ll finally bury the “hard problem” question in neuroscience and find that, even if terribly hard, consciousness will finally be an understandable and emergent property of the brain, with no needs for ghosts in the machine.
SP: Why science?
I have no idea! My inclinations were certainly for the humanities! Before (and after) entering the University I had worked as a journalist, writer, musician and even theater director. So why biology/neuroscience? Who knows! At first I really suffered the whole experience! But somehow I managed to get through and was probably marveled by my professors and my schoolmates. A big moment happened when I first heard that time could also be considered within the body (and, more specifically the brain) – and I’ve searching for that elusive time ever since.
SP: If not science?
Well, that’s easy: literature, journalism, music, theatre… (And I’ve somehow managed to keep some connections to all of them).
SP: Why? .. just ask a random question!
Why, if I am a professional chronobiologist, I can’t get my 2-yr old son to sleep through the night?
