GPI - Joseph “Jay” Cigna, Professor of Biology

By Bella Grimaldi News Editor What is your academic and professional background? So I have come to Framingham State as an adjunct professor. I have a PhD in physiology. I have a physical therapy license - a physical therapy degree. I teach human biology, human physiology here at Framingham State, and I teach at other universities. And so my background fits in very well with the curriculum I teach, because I’m teaching human biology to students and I can approach it from a physiology or PhD level and I can approach it from a clinical level. … I practiced for a couple years in physical therapy. I worked as a professor at Northeastern in the physical therapy department for seven years. I published in injury prevention. I published in the Journal of Physical Therapy on what happens after people have an injury. So the publication was about people who work lifting things like baggage handlers, and they get a hernia. There’s no effective rehabilitation program. So I developed a protocol with the Baptist Hospital in Boston and we published that. Then I worked with the Neuromuscular Research Center - which was at BU while I was at Northeastern - and we looked at mapping the back muscles. What drew you to Framingham State? I was looking for an outlet that was beyond anatomy and physiology. … And when I interviewed at Framingham State, I instantly enjoyed the people at Framingham State who interviewed me. Aline Davis [former chair of the biology department] hired me and she offered me this job of teaching human biology. Now I’m a physiologist, so that’s great, but in human biology, we talk about other things than just anatomy and physiology. We talk about cell biology. We talk about reproductive biology. We talk about genetic engineering and changing genes and evolution and ecology. And I have great guest speakers. … So I’m in my absolute wonderful place at Framingham State. I get to teach a class that started at about 28-30. It’s up to 62 - I have 62 students this semester. What inspired you to work in biology? I’ve always loved biology. My undergraduate degree from Boston College was in biology and I always sought a different dimension of biology. I didn’t want to be a doctor, MD. It was not the way I wanted to go. But I loved biology, so I pursued it, as I did in Florida State, and then I started to trickle into some different ideas. What are some of your hobbies or something students would not expect about you? I always wear bow ties to class. I’m one of those professors who loves to wear the bow tie. You know Indiana Jones, the movie, Dr. Jones - he always wears a bow tie because he’s a professor. And I always loved Harrison Ford, and so I kind of emulate him. So that’s one of my things. My other hobbies - I love to ride bikes. I’m a former triathlete. I’m a former marathoner. I ran a 2:55 marathon in San Francisco. That’s pretty fast, but I’ve always kept cycling. I like to do cycling in the summer. I train in the winters, then I’ll go out for like 40-50 miles, which is like three hours. What is your advice for students at FSU? Live your dream. Find out what makes you happy - what excites you. And then go do an internship to see if it is something you really like. Because we can’t tell you what to be, but we can give you the place to explore it at Framingham State. The internships are the most valuable thing you can do in a university because there are so many things that take place at Framingham State.