Recalling moments and mentors

As an undergraduate studying in her hometown of Vienna, Austria, Jana Kainerstorfer applied to the study abroad program hoping to go to Australia to indulge her favorite pastime—scuba diving.

She found herself instead at Georgetown University during a cold Washington D.C. winter. But it was there that she began the journey that led to her career as a renowned optical imaging researcher who was recently promoted to full professor in Carnegie Mellon’s Department of Biomedical Engineering.

The College of Engineering Center for Faculty Success recently celebrated that accomplishment in the second installation of their new Milestone Moments series.

The work paid off because of the pride and joy I feel for every graduating student.

Jana Kainerstorfer , Professor, Biomedical Engineering

Bill Sanders, dean of the College of Engineering, was there to celebrate Kainerstorfer and congratulated her for having recently been selected to lead the college’s latest moonshot project—Body, Brain, Behavior: Advancing Neurotechnology for Peak Performance, Health, and Wellbeing. Kainerstorfer and a large team of collaborators will develop engineering solutions that aim to measure and optimize human cognitive performance, relevant for the healthy brain, as well as neural health conditions.

Sanders reminded students and junior faculty in the audience that there are many ways they can put their own extraordinary talents and exceptional education to use, saying, “By attending these talks I hope you will realize the incredible potential each of you has to achieve similarly impressive goals and attain equal measures of career satisfaction.”

Throughout her presentation, Kainerstorfer referenced many of the mentors, colleagues, and friends who have supported her, beginning with Wolfgang Kerber, the director of the University of Vienna Physics library, who hired her for a summer job.

“Here you go, you clueless 18-year-old—here is money and some connections,” joked Kainerstorfer, who said at the time, she knew she liked physics and was interested in the brain and imaging but didn’t know where that would lead her. She also didn’t realize how valuable the connections she made through that summer job would become.

While at Georgetown, she found another mentor, Andrei Medvedev, who introduced her to the world of optical brain imaging. He encouraged her to attend a National Institutes of Health (NIH) conference where she met Amir Gandjbakhche, who would become her Ph.D. advisor, jointly with Christoph Hitzenberger at the Medical University of Vienna. She received a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Vienna in partnership with the NIH.

After she completed a post-doc at Tufts University, she was so torn between a career in industry or academia that she applied to jobs in both. She ultimately chose to accept an assistant professorship at Carnegie Mellon. There she made the deliberate choice to focus on her work and committed herself to the nine-year plan to become a full professor.

She was so determined to work hard at this new job that she told her family in Austria not to expect her home anytime soon. But the young professor, who was now committing to an ambitious career plan, was about to learn something about the best laid plans. A family member was diagnosed with cancer, and throughout the first 18 months in Pittsburgh, she would go back to Vienna eight times to help care for the family member.

Once again, it was the connection to caring colleagues and mentors that helped her through those challenging times. In particular, she acknowledged fellow professors Barbara Shinn-Cunningham, Pulkit Grover, and Matt Smith who she said have not only been brilliant collaborators but were also among the many friends and colleagues who not only enabled successful research endeavors but also made sure to feed her when she was too busy or overwhelmed to eat.

Kainerstorfer acknowledged that life can be hard and that it takes a village. She has found a village in her friends, colleagues, and students. She acknowledged that getting promoted to full professor was really the result of all the hard and brilliant work her trainees put in. She said, “The work paid off because of the pride and joy I feel for every graduating student.”

 

Every department head should be so lucky as to have faculty like her.

Keith Cook, Department Head, Biomedical Engineering

Keith Cook, department head of biomedical engineering, also attended the Milestone Moments event and said that Kainerstorfer is a dedicated and enthusiastic faculty member who has helped to bring faculty, staff, and students together, creating greater cohesion throughout the department.

“Every department head should be so lucky as to have faculty like her,” said Cook.

Kainerstorfer told the audience that when she received the brief letter congratulating her for attaining full professorship, she confided in Cook, that while she loved the recognition, it felt sparse after so many years of toil. To her absolute delight, Cook sent her his own letter of congratulations, covered in heart, star, and unicorn stickers. It is framed and hanging in her office as a reminder of how greatly she values Cook and the many people who she has relied on throughout her academic and career journey.

Kainerstorfer concluded her presentation by saying, “In the absence of family close by, friends and colleagues become your chosen family, and I am extremely lucky to have a strong network of both that I treasure.”

Pictured top, Jana Kainerstorfer (middle) with BME Department Head Keith Cook (left) and CMU Engineering Dean Bill Sanders (right).