Transitions in development – an interview with Nika Shakiba

Nika Shakiba is a group leader at the University of British Columbia, Canada, where she applies synthetic biology techniques to explore the basis of stem cell competition. We met with Nika over Zoom to discuss her career path so far. She explained how her engineering background led her to approach stem cells as programmable units and helped establish her research niche. We also discussed her passion for mentorship, both within and beyond her lab.