Hello BRIGHT Run Family,
Happy New Year!
It is the year 2025. A quarter is often taken as a point to pause and note the changes we have been through from the start. The start of this year overlaps with the completion of a quarter of a century, which is also the first century of the new millennium.
The year 2000 marked the start of this new millennium. I recall that there were discussions regarding the Y2K computer bug in the media and in my school leading up to Dec. 31, 1999. In the next 25 years, we have made a lot of progress in computer technology, and that includes Artificial Intelligence (AI) as well. Meanwhile, our human race made it through a pandemic and bounced back from this setback.
I am writing this letter from India, where I have come to spend some time with my family and friends. This year, I re-visited the academic institutions I had studied in, including all my schools starting from the kindergarten to the school where I went for my engineering degree. I met some of the students and it reminded me of the happiness and the challenges of my student days. Of course, current students have a different set of opportunities and challenges now due to the changes that have taken place in the past years.
I feel happy to reconnect with the roots I came from as I am preparing to start a fresh year at McMaster University. I will continue to work on the projects I started, with a goal to make progress while embracing all the changes that the future brings.
“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language, and next year’s words await another voice.” – T. S. Eliot
With good wishes and BRIGHT hopes,
Best,
Ashirbani
Dr. Ashirbani Saha is the first holder of the BRIGHT Run Breast Cancer Learning Health System Chair, a permanent research position established by the BRIGHT Run in partnership with McMaster University.
