The Freedom to Explore

"The absence of departmental barriers has been fundamental to my education as an interdisciplinary researcher."

Like many graduate students starting out, Noel came to Rockefeller with diverse interests.

Noel began her work in an experimental physics lab, studying the rigidity of single-strand DNA. This led to a collaboration developing a novel photon counting technique. Later, working with a neuroendocrinology lab and the biometrician at The Rockefeller University Hospital, she developed an assay for studying morphine and sugar addiction in the rat brain.

"All of these interactions shaped my thesis work with [Nobel laureate] Joshua Lederberg, taking an information theory-based approach to studying the error tolerance of the E. coli genetic code," Noel says.

Noel is continuing her research in molecular genetics and genomics as a junior fellow at Harvard University. "The richness of my education is a reflection of Rockefeller's unique open infrastructure and the collaborations I fostered with scientists of other disciplines."