Biomedical engineer Jeff Karp’s famous lab has created medical tape inspired by spider webs, waterproof adhesive bandages that take inspiration from geckos, needles reminiscent of porcupine quills. But as an elementary school student, Karp told me on the “First Opinion Podcast,” he struggled. His second-grade teacher wanted to hold him back a year. “I was getting all these labels from teachers like ‘lazy’ and ‘lost cause,’ ” he said. When he told teachers he wanted to be a doctor, “they said, ‘Well, you better set your sights lower, because you just don’t have what it takes to do that.’ ”
But according to Karp, what made him struggle — undiagnosed ADHD — also became his “super power,” giving him an ability to hyper-focus, connect emotionally in different ways, and think creatively. Now, he emphasizes the importance of neurodiversity and interdisciplinary approaches in his own lab, and he also tries to talk to students and parents about how ADHD can be a strength.
“People who are neurodiverse need a lot of support,” he said. “They need encouragement. They need the right environment that’s conducive for them to fail and then realize that that failure is this incredible opportunity to gain insights, to then have another shot on goal that with a greater chance of success, you know, or making progress.”
Our conversation was based in part on his recent First Opinion essay, “How ADHD wired me for scientific discovery.”
Bonus: Learn about his genuinely fascinating approach to breakfast, as also profiled in GQ.
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