COM Outlook Spring 2019

18 | DR. KIRAN C. PATEL COLLEGE OF OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE As a Jewish child growing up in the Soviet Union in a small town near Volgograd (formerly Stalingrad), Lubov Nathanson, Ph.D., M.S., and her younger sister, Nataly, were raised to appreciate the importance of a good education. “Because I was the older sister and the first child, I was a subject for all their pedagogical experi- ments,” said Nathanson, whose parents taught her to read and do basic arithmetic by the time she was five. Although Nathanson had a loving and happy childhood, the specter of anti-Semitism loomed large. “Our family was lucky, and we had very good personal relationships with many people, including our neigh- bors, colleagues, and classmates,” she explained. “How- ever, unspoken anti-Semitism was prevalent in the Soviet Union, so my parents’ mantra was, ‘Remember that you are Jewish. You have to be the best in every discipline in order to be accepted to a good university.’ ” It is a lesson Nathanson never forgot. At that time, children in the Soviet Union began school at age seven. Thankfully, her parents’ emphasis on early learning experiences resulted in Nathanson receiving stellar grades from the onset of her formal schooling. “When I started receiving excellent grades, where the highest grade was five on a scale of one to five, my parents’ reaction was, ‘This is how it has to be.’ When I received all fives, it was just normal. But if I earned a four, it was terrible.” In addition to developing a passion for learning, Nathanson honed her nurturing skills by serving in a quasi-parental role for her sister, who was more than seven years younger. “She always referred to me as one of her parents. After school, I picked her up from day care, and she was under my supervision until our parents came home from work,” she explained. Like many children, Nathanson’s career ambitions pivoted wildly until she finally settled on her true calling—biology. “In elementary school, I wanted to be both an animal doctor and an actress, but in middle school, I decided I was going to be an English teacher,” she recalled. “Toward the end of middle school, how- ever, I won the regional competition in biology, which led me to realize my fate was to study biology at Mos- cow State University. At that time, it was the most prestigious biology school in the Soviet Union.” After earning her Master of Science in Biology/ Biophysics from Moscow State University, Nathanson pursued a Ph.D. in biology from Volgograd State Medical University. “Scientific provision in Volgograd was very different than in Moscow, and we literally did not have reagents (a substance or mixture for use in chemical analysis or other reactions) and working equipment,” said Nathanson, who completed her thesis but never defended it. Nathanson said the experience provided her with some vital survival skills. “I learned to endure long, intensive working days, solder, construct electrodes and instruments, recover silver from the waste of the photo lab, purify sucrose from sugar from the food store, and obtain reagents from my former Moscow classmates.” Her newly acquired skills would serve her well in the coming months and years as she embarked “In elementary school, I wanted to be both an animal doctor and an actress, but in middle school, I decided I was going to be an English teacher. Toward the end of middle school, however, I won the regional competition in biology, which led me to realize my fate was to study biology at Moscow State University.” —Lubov Nathanson, Ph.D., M.S. BY SCOTT COLTON, B.A., APR CHILDHOOD CHALLENGES FOSTER RESILIENCY AND EXCELLENCE IN RESEARCH LABOR OF LOVE ЛЮБОВЬ LUBOV