From his earliest days growing up in Gujarat, India, Dr. Karan Jani has wanted to know how the universe works. That question has taken him a long way from his home: first to the Pennsylvania State University, where he earned Bachelor of Science degrees in Astronomy-Astrophysics and in Physics, with a minor in Mathematics, then to Georgia Institute of Technology, where he earned his Ph.D. in Physics. Along the way, he held research positions at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics, Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Caltech-LIGO, and Yale Astronomy. Now, he is at Vanderbilt University, where he holds the endowed position of Cornelius Vanderbilt Dean’s Faculty Fellow in Astrophysics, and holds faculty appointments in Physics & Astronomy, Electrical & Computer Engineering and Communication of Science & Technology. He serves as the founding Director of Vanderbilt Lunar Labs Initiative.