Daniel Palanker

About Daniel Palanker

Your three wishes?

Without violating the laws of nature: to absorb all the human knowledge; to stumble upon a very significant problem, which I could solve; to be able to effectively transfer human culture (knowledge, art and experience) to future generations.

Piece of advice you would give to your younger self?    

Find a very important problem to work on rather than wasting time on minor issues.

The most unexpected turn your career took?

About 22 years ago, I visited Mark Blumenkranz as a patient, with a laser injury of my retina. At that time, he became a chair of the Department of Ophthalmology at Stanford, and I was a postdoc in the Department of Physics, and just accepted an offer for a faculty position in Harvard Medical School. Our conversation turned to a discussion of my research in laser technologies, and I was counter-offered a position in the Department of Ophthalmology at Stanford, which I hold until today.