Skip to content
Connect
Stories

These identical twins launched research careers – as freshmen

Photo by Alyssa Stone/Northeastern University

Three days after he started as an N.U.in freshman in Greece last fall, Dillon Nishigaya approached a biology professor about research opportunities. One day later, he was contributing to a breast cancer project. His identical twin, Dominic Nishigaya, has also been pursuing research as a Northeastern freshman in criminal justice. They are roommates on the Boston campus, supporting and pushing each other per their special relationship.

“It was a revelation for me that I would be getting involved in these things so soon,” says Dillon Nishigaya, who participated in ovarian cancer research after arriving at the Boston campus for spring semester. He recently received a $1,500 Northeastern PEAK Ascent Award to continue his research this summer. Dillon is especially driven by his own personal experience with medicine. He grew up with scoliosis, a curvature of the spine (an affliction that spared his brother), and at age 15 he decided to undergo a difficult surgical procedure.

“A lot of the time, when he’s having a hard time, I feel that,” Dominic says. “Back when we were younger, when he used to cry, I used to cry—just because he was crying. I definitely felt like I wished it was me in that chair going through that surgery.”

Continue reading at News@Northeastern.

More Stories

Alessandro Vespignani working at his desk

Northeastern receives $17.5 million from CDC to launch infectious disease prediction center

09.19.2023
US citizens Siamak Namazi (C-with glasses) and Morad Tahbaz are greeted upon their arrival at the Doha International Airport in Doha on September 18, 2023.

Ransom payment or effective negotiating? How the US freed five captive Americans in Iran

09.19.2023
Selenis Leyva attends the 'Orange Is The New Black' Final Season Premiere in New York.

Stand-up comedy and academic research converge in new speaker series ‘Latinxs and Comedy’

09.20.23
Featured Events