World-class NEurosciENtist
Building a Life of Science — and Meaning From Istanbul to Israel and the U.S., Stella Elkabes’ journey has taken her millions of miles but no adventure is more important than her current quest: to put patients’ needs right in the lab.
By EvE JacoBs
What does it mean to be a citizen of the world? Just ask Stella Elkabes, NJMS associate professor of neurosurgery. Gracious, charming, comfortable conversing about a wide array of both scientific and nonscientific topics, alive with curiosity about life in all its guises, and fluent in six languages—Turkish, French, Spanish, Italian, Hebrew and English—this native of Istanbul in no way resembles our traditional image of a basic laboratory researcher. To date, she has logged a mind-boggling number of miles in her life’s journey. Her family is spread across the world—from Turkey to London to Italy to Essex County, NJ— but distance has been no impediment to this globe-trotter, whose close ties translate into yearly visits with those in her family circle. The two predominant themes in her life—establishing a career in research and experiencing different cultures—have not only proved “simpatico,” but have nourished each other in unexpected ways.
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FALL 2012
RIGHT: ANDREW HANENBERG
