Sanya Thomas | Master of Medical Sciences in Clinical Investigation
Sanya Thomas was training as a physician at the Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore in India when she first became interested in studying infectious diseases and public health. While Thomas loved taking care of patients, she began to think about what she could do at the population level to help. After her clinical training, she joined the lab of Professor Gagandeep Kang, a renowned microbiologist from India, and worked on a national surveillance study on typhoid and a rotavirus vaccine trial.
To further her studies, Thomas made her way to Boston and pursued a master’s degree in public health, with a focus on global health and maternal and child health. When she began working at Boston Children’s Hospital in the Division of Infectious Diseases, Thomas knew she was in the right place for her research but felt there was a piece missing. She had the clinical background and the public health degree but wanted to be trained as a basic scientist.
In 2021, Thomas enrolled in the Master of Medical Sciences in Clinical Investigation program at Harvard Medical School and found herself in the perfect place during a global health crisis. She chose the Translational Investigation track to learn bench techniques and was intrigued by courses on molecular biology and systems biology. Through this program, she had access to lectures from experts in every field, not just from Harvard Medical School but also across the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Harvard Business School.
As part of her thesis work under the mentorship of Dr. Simon van Haren at the Precision Vaccines Program, Thomas decided to take a deeper dive into immunology and vaccinology. She dedicated the two years of the program to study the mechanisms of action of vaccine adjuvant formulations for global open access in age-specific settings. Following her graduation from Harvard Medical School, she is continuing her work to better understand the development of immunity in young children to design effective and safe vaccines, particularly against respiratory viral infections.
Growing up in India and studying in Boston, Thomas was inspired by all the people and academic energy around her. “I find inspiration just floating in the air here.” This atmosphere motivated her work back in India and she is happy to have found the same in Boston. Thomas also learned a lot from her fellow classmates. “Throughout the course, we had to present our thesis projects several times. Listening to the variety of topics everyone was working on made me realize how incredibly smart they were and how committed they were to making a difference.”
While Thomas first enrolled in the Master of Medical Sciences in Clinical Investigation program to help bridge her knowledge gap in bench science, she now sees public health issues more holistically. She recommends this program for those who are looking to become experts in their field. “There are many MDs and PhD scientists who want to translate findings from the bench to bedside and this program provides the flexibility and support to accomplish that.”