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Seven questions with Dara Vakili

2 July 2015

This week, we put seven questions to Dara Vakili an Applied Medical Sciences student who is set to graduate in 2017.

Seven questions with Dara Vakili

Why are you interested in this subject and what do you plan to do in the future?

I love the application of science to the human body. The way that we manipulate chemicals to solve disease amazes me. I'm unsure about what I want to do, but I love the idea of using gene therapies to treat severe genetic disorders.

Right now, the whole area of genetic modification and therapy is sensitive, so it's difficult for me to picture my future role in the field. Hopefully, I'll be the one to pave the way forward. 

What is the most interesting thing you've done, seen or got involved with while at UCL?

I've done so much that it is hard to pinpoint one thing. I think the most interesting thing would be my biggest achievement so far. The Astor Hall social committee, of which I am one of the chairs, organised a huge fresher's ball in a top London venue.

We had more than 400 students attending and, so far, I've only heard positive feedback. It is something that the team and I are very proud of. Some say it was better than all the other balls in UCL so I'm hoping we could go even bigger next year.

Have you discovered any hidden gems during your time at UCL?

There is so much UCL has to offer students. I love the outdoors, I love to travel and do dangerous things to get a small 'kick' such as glacial climbing or skiing. These hobbies of mine can be hard to fund especially as a student.

UCL has a expedition and travel committee where they give funding for students to go on either a travelling-style trip or an expedition-based trip. My friend and I will go on a one-month expedition to Iceland with £1,400 funding from the department. No strings attached - just cash to go have fun.

Give us your top three things to do/see/go to in London:

  • In London, my favourite place to eat is a shawarma take away in Edgware Road called Café Helen. It is just the best. I would go there and stuff my face so much that I would be close to getting severe indigestion.
  • I love a great night out. I do not enjoy clubbing as I used to. In place of this, I scout out events and gigs in London from my favourite artists. The great thing is that every music artist loves to perform either in or close to London. There's a great choice over here. Fabric and Brixton Academy are the places that I'll end up in the most.
  • During the day, I love to go for walks in parks and chill with a few beers, enjoying the sun if it decides to show itself. My favourite park is Golders Hill Park, all the way in north London past Hampstead. As a Londoner, I prefer it to all the others.

If you were Provost for the day what one thing would you do?

I would buy a building the size of ULU (Now student central) and make it our new gym and union bar. We need a bigger gym, but a bigger bar would also be nice. In fact, I would just buy ULU itself. It is just off the main campus and it might as well be ours since it is so close.

Who inspires you and why?

I am inspired by many people. Marie Curie was an amazing woman. Her research was astounding and she pushed past so many obstacles in order to attain some of the greatest achievements in the history of mankind. I found her contribution to the war the most inspiring of all her actions.

Nikola Tesla was the greatest scientist of all time. He had no fear of trying what others thought was 'stupid'. The man was in a sense 'mad', but through this came some of the greatest contributions in the history of physics. A hugely underrated man.

Elon Musk in a way follows on from Nikola Tesla. He too comes up with some amazing ideas and has no fear of trying new things out. What makes him so cool is that he became rich and then, just from a whim, decided to fund his own ideas forming companies such as SpaceX and Tesla.

It is people like these that have the courage to push the boundaries of society and their field and they will be the ones who truly do something worth mentioning by the world.

What would it surprise people to know about you?

One that I guess isn't too bad is that I sometimes like to climb large structures in urban locations.  When people view the occasional selfie from the top of these places they are surprised, but even so, never in a good way.