President Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger visits MIT biophysics lab
President Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger visited MIT today, touring a biophysics laboratory that he cited as a “model” for students in his own country. Issoufou visited the lab of Ibrahim Cissé, an assistant professor of physics, who is a native of Niger. Cissé and Issoufou, who is a trained engineer, engaged in an extended discussion of Cissé’s research; Issoufou complimented Cissé on doing a “remarkable job” with his work. Cissé studies the physics of molecular mechanisms in living cells, with the aim of better understanding cell organization and the mechanics of transcription in genetic material, among other phenomena. Illuminating the physical dynamics of such processes could have clinical applications. Speaking in French, Issoufou quipped that students in Niger could strive to follow the “Cissé model” of scientific accomplishment. Issoufou, who won Niger’s presidential election in 2011, also queried Cissé on the interdisciplinary nature of his lab. Cissé is a trained physicist, but the postdocs...