WEBVTT

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INSTRUCTOR: So you
have two minutes to--

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[CHUCKLE]

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--put those together.

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DANIAL NASR AZADANI: And go.

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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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[CRUMPLING]

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Yes, yes.

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So we live in a
world that is filled

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with good and bad bacteria.

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In the recent years,
we've been hearing a lot

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about antibiotic-resistant
bugs, superbugs.

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My work has focused
around utilizing viruses

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that kill antibiotic-resistant
bugs naturally,

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called bacteriophages.

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SPEAKER 1: You have 30 seconds.

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DANIAL NASR AZADANI: OK.

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OK.

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I think I did a good job.

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But there's a piece missing.

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This is the bacterias, and to
my left, that is the virus.

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These are microorganisms.

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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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My name is Danial Nasr Azadani.

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I'm 26 years old.

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So yeah, my initials are DNA.

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When I tell that to people,
everyone's like, oh,

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you were meant for this.

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I was born in Isfahan, Iran--

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beautiful city in a
beautiful country.

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I have three older siblings.

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I'm the youngest.

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I was 13 or 14 when
I moved to Canada.

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I stayed with my sister Mina.

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She supported me for four years.

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And I think my parents realized
that decision would provide

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a lot better future for me.

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So I finished high school
and traveled to Ottawa

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to obtain a bachelor's
of science in biology.

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It never was as exciting
as I expected it to be.

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You're sitting in a classroom
with 300 other students.

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You go to a professor's
office hours,

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and they barely even
know who you are.

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SIMA: Danial came here in
United States in August 2015.

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DANIAL NASR AZADANI:
So we decided

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to come down to visit
Sima, because she was

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having a new baby, little baby.

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While I was visiting,
I decided to take

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some college-level classes here,
so I can transfer back home

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and finish my degree.

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And somebody suggested
to me, check out Del Mar.

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And I remember, one day I was
dropped off at the campus here.

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ROB: Danial came
up to the second floor.

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I said, well, come on.

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Rather than talk, I could
at least show you the lab.

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And I saw his eyes get real big.

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DANIAL NASR AZADANI:
And then, he

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put me in a biotechnology
class, that I

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didn't think I want to
stay in because didn't

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sound like what I like to do.

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But that class ended up being my
favorite class I've ever taken.

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SIMA: Danial was so
excited about that course.

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He tried to explain
everything to me.

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However, didn't
understand any of those.

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[LAUGHTER]

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DANIAL NASR AZADANI:
Every day, I thank God

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that I met him that day.

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He's been absolutely
instrumental to all

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my accomplishments
and all the success

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I've had throughout the years.

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ROB: The National
Science Foundation

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wants to encourage students
from two-year colleges

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to get technical
skills that they

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can merge into the workforce.

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And so, they started the
Advanced Technological

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Education, or ATE
grants, which gave us

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the seed money to start the
biotech program, to begin with.

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This is one of the largest
in terms of biomass.

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This is the largest--

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My colleagues and I have applied
for a number of the grants.

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They have taken
generations of students

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and given them opportunities
that they wouldn't get.

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DANIAL NASR AZADANI: It was all
about conducting your research,

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putting critical thinking
towards what are you doing.

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I guess that's what was missing
in my education before it.

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So I was able to grasp a new
level of laboratory skills.

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That set me off
for an internship

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at Texas A&M University in
Corpus Christi with Dr. Turner.

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DR TURNER: His comfort
in that research lab

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is a testament to
the preparation

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that he received
here at Del Mar.

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DAISY: There's
something about Danial.

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He's super detail oriented.

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DANIAL NASR AZADANI: I call
Daisy the "queen of biotech."

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She is a Professor
of Biotechnology.

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And she always
answers my questions

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about every new idea
in biotechnology

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that I heard about.

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So that's where I
go to for guidance.

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This is not even--

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DAISY: His learning
skill is just so outstanding.

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DANIAL NASR AZADANI:
Potentially, we're

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looking for antibacterial?

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JOHN: Anywhere
you make contact,

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so common places that you can--

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We went over every single
protocol that we had.

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Danial was like a sponge.

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He just absorbed all of it
that I could throw at him.

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And then, I send him off.

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DANIAL NASR AZADANI:
So my internship

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was to develop a
protocol to isolate

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the little, tiny virus that
kills and infects bacteria.

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[KNOCKING]

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DR TURNER: Hey, Danial.

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DANIAL NASR AZADANI: How
are you doing, Dr. Turner?

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DR TURNER: Come on in.

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It was probably the
second week into it

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that the methods and
protocols that Danial knew

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weren't working.

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DANIAL NASR AZADANI:
The latent period, I

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think we're going to keep it.

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DR TURNER: We're going
to keep the latent period, OK.

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DANIAL NASR AZADANI: Yeah.

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DR TURNER: But I saw that
work ethic and that curiosity

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for science.

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He was like, no, I'm
going to get this.

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If it takes me all summer,
I'm going to figure it out.

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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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DANIAL NASR AZADANI:
I think it was

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the 32nd try for isolating the
phage that I was able to get

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that protocol working.

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MAN: Those are great, these
are pretty cool pictures.

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DANIAL NASR AZADANI:
I look at my place,

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and I saw these little plaques.

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And that tells you
that you found a virus.

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I was getting an enormous
amount of support, mentorship,

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and guidance from these
three amazing professors.

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I decided to completely
shift the focus

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of my post-secondary education
and finish my education here,

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in South Texas.

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So the cool thing
about this research

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was that you get to name these
viruses that you isolate.

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So I decided to name
it after myself.

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It's phi-- stands for
phage-- and NASRA1.

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The skills that I had are skills
that most students don't even

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get exposed to
until they're well

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into their graduate studies.

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Ooh, look at that.

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These have been accomplished
by the classes I've

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been taking here at Del Mar.

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So I graduated with a bachelor's
in biomedical sciences

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and an associate
in biotechnology.

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[CHEERING]

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All my family members,
my brother, my sisters,

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and my parents--

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we were all together for the
first time after 18 years.

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It is very, very emotional, but
it's always about what's next.

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[MUSIC PLAYING]