Emily R Novak Gustainis

What inspires or motivates you in your role at HMS/HSDM?
Every day, I am inspired by the work of my colleagues, the Center's leadership, and the collaborative environment in which we engage with one another to the benefit of our researchers and collections. I have been with the Center since 2009, and it is easily the most rewarding and intellectually enriching position l've held; our collections are amazing. It is the quintessential learning environment.

In what ways do you feel you contribute to the Harvard community?
I hope that my work enables historians, students, clinicians - anyone interested in the history of health care and medicine -- to discover special collections that inform, contextualize, and challenge the subjects they care about most. The mission of the Center is to enable the history of medicine to inform contemporary medicine and society; our job is to facilitate the creation of new knowledge and change how people think about things now, not just illustrate how things were. I think about what I do as creating potentials.

What is the significance of the object you brought with you to the photo shoot?
My work laptop goes with me almost everywhere. It reminds me of what I am connected to.