Fast Five: Meet Dr. Brian Cox

Fast 5 features quick, personal profiles of our research team members. This week, it’s Dr. Brian Cox, Associate Professor, Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto. 

1. What are you reading for pleasure right now?
I read so much science stuff that I find it hard to read for pleasure. I watch TV (either sitcoms or dystopian future science fiction). I do read children’s literature (to my children), which is pleasurable for the time I spend with them, but not the books.

2. What is the most worthwhile non-monetary investment you’ve made?
I started running at the beginning of the pandemic, the change in my health is amazing. I only run about 5km every two to three days, so not much. And maybe it’s more of a jog.

3. What advice would you give your younger self?
Take some more stats and computer science courses. Work faster on those projects where you were scooped. Especially that project where you were trying to express Pou5f1, Sox2 and Nanog in MEFs.

4. What prompted you to get into regenerative medicine?
My love of developmental biology. If we can harness developmental mechanisms for regenerative medicine then we must truly understand how development works.

5. If you could buy one new toy for the lab right now – if money was not an issue – what would you get and why?
I would launder the money for research projects. The equipment is not the problem, it’s the people and reagents that are expensive, and get the work done. So, I would invest in more people. Or, maybe I would get them support staff like personal shoppers, house cleaners, chefs etc., so they would be more productive and less stressed about daily life.