People Behind the Science Podcast

By Dr. Marie McNeelyScience

People Behind the Science Podcast episodes

July 11, 2022 664: Dr. Shawn Domagal-Goldman: Out of This World Research on Extrasolar Planets
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Dr. Shawn Domagal-Goldman is a Research Space Scientist with NASA at the Goddard Space Flight Center. He received his Masters Degree in Earth Sciences from the University of Rochester and his PhD in Astrobiology and Geosciences from the Pennsylvania State University. Shawn previously worked as a Research Associate at Penn State, a Research Associate in the Virtual Planetary Laboratory at the University of Washington, and also served as the NASA Astrobiology Management Postdoctoral Fellow before accepting his current position. In this interview, Shawn shares more about his life and science.
People Behind the Science Podcast Show Notes
Life Outside of Science
Right now Shawn spends a lot of his free time being a parent to his 16 month old daughter. When he’s not spending quality time with his family, Shawn also likes to play basketball, water polo, and video games, as well as blog.
The Scientific Side
Shawn spends his days looking for ways to detect signs of alien life. He uses a wide variety of techniques, including mass spectrometers to measure the ratios of isotopes on the surface of Mars or spectrographs to measure the abundance of planetary gases.
A Dose of Motivation
What you are is God’s gift to you, and what you become is your gift to God.
What Got You Hooked on Science?
Science has always been fascinating for Shawn, and he remembers particularly liking the intellectual challenge that science presents. He was drawn to his particular area of study after reading books about the potential for previous life on Mars. He thought Mars was pretty cool, and the idea of life forms outside of our planet was also pretty cool, so he decided to find the best ways to search for life outside of Earth.
The Low Points: Failures and Challenges
As a postdoc, Shawn worked on a paper for 2 – 3 years, and someone was added as an author to the paper late in the game because they independently discovered the same phenomena. This person wanted to be first author on the paper (the one recognized as having done the most work), but was not awarded the first author position. The scientist left the publication and published these results separately before Shawn could get his paper out, which was a huge hit, particularly at a time in his career when getting papers out and credit for novel work was so important.
A Shining Success!
The first paper Shawn got accepted into the literature was an important success. This milestone made him feel like a real scientist. It was also a good learning experience on the process of science and publication. He sent his paper off, it got a lot of suggestions in peer review, and after a lot of work, he got the big acceptance.
Book Recommendations
Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein, The Game of Thrones books by George R. R. Martin
Most Treasured Travel
In grad school, Shawn traveled to San Salvador Island in the Bahamas a few times. While the undergrad students were studying the beautiful, pristine coral reefs, he and his comrades were trudging through smelly, bacteria-filled, shallow ponds on the island for their research. It was worth it though because at the end of the day they got to enjoy the beautiful oceans and the company of wonderful local people.
Quirky Traditions and Funny Memories
One of the things he likes most about working at NASA is that he and his colleagues are almost like a family. They all put the success of the mission and the phenomenal science above their own individual achievements and recognition. This working for the good of the team mentality allows them to do some truly exceptional science.
Advice For Us All
Find something you love, and pursue that passion.
Guest Bio
Shawn’s research focuses on ascertaining as much as possible about “alien planets” using sparse data sets. For the early Earth and other terrestrial planets, he works on utilizing isotopic trends as proxies for atmospheric processes and elemental cycling. This includes work on the fundamental controls on iron isotope fractionation and on global controls on mass-independent Sulfur isotope fractionation (S-MIF). For extrasolar planets, he helps develop (and sometimes critique) spetroscopy-based characterization techniques that can inform us about a planet’s surface climate, habitability, and ecosystems. Shawn is also extremely passionate about science communication, and believes it is the responsibility of publicly-funded scientists to bring the results of their research back to the public. To this end, he has helped organize FameLab events in the US and is always looking for new opportunities to talk about NASA science in public forums.
*This episode was originally released February 20, 2015.
The post 664: Dr. Shawn Domagal-Goldman: Out of This World Research on Extrasolar Planets appeared first on People Behind the Science Podcast.
51 min
July 04, 2022 663: Dr. Karen James: A Career Based on Pairing Research and Public Outreach to Identify Species via DNA
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Dr. Karen James is a staff scientist at the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory in Maine. She received her PhD in Genetics from the University of Washington and conducted postdoctoral research at the Natural History Museum in London before joining the MDI Lab. Karen is also Co-Founder and Director of UK-based charity The HMS Beagle Trust which is working to rebuild the HMS Beagle and retrace the journey of Charles Darwin with a new generation of students and scientists. In this interview, Karen shares more about her life and science.
People Behind the Science Podcast Show Notes
Life Outside of Science
Karen spends her free time outside on the trails of Acadia National Park near where she lives. She does a lot of gardening, hiking, biking, and cross country skiing to get as much time outdoors as possible.
The Scientific Side
As a scientist, Karen is trained in genetics, and she applies her skills to environmental, conservation, and restoration research. In particular, Karen uses DNA to identify animals and plants, including those collected by citizen scientists for conservation and restoration projects.
A Dose of Motivation
“Thus, from the war of nature, from famine and death, the most exalted object which we are capable of conceiving, namely, the production of the higher animals, directly follows. There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.” by Charles Darwin in On the Origins of Species
What Got You Hooked on Science?
Growing up, Karen spent time at her grandparents’ cotton farm in Texas. She remembers collecting tadpoles from the irrigation ditch and watching them grow into frogs. These early exposures to plants and animals were really important for cultivating her interest in nature and how it works. We couldn’t help chuckling at some of the hilarious assertions she had made as a child about how the world works.
The Low Points: Failures and Challenges
During graduate school, Karen was trying to determine how expression of a particular gene was affected by removing another gene. To do this, she had to use a complex, multi-step procedure that took about a week to complete. She tried time and time again for over six months and could not get it to work. She was starting to worry about whether she would have to abandon the project.
A Shining Success!
Karen was able to turn her challenging time in graduate school into a success by coming up with a different approach to answer the original question of the failed project. Ultimately, she never did get the initial procedure to work, but by being adaptable, she successfully answered her question with the new approach.
Book Recommendations
The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s-Eye View of the World by Michael Pollan
Most Treasured Travel
The opportunity of a lifetime arose when Karen found out about a program through the Wellcome Trust where she could travel (for free!) with a group of high school students to the Galapagos Islands. She was able to spend nearly two weeks there visiting four different islands. One of the highlights of the trip was standing on the same beach on San Cristóbal Island where Darwin made his initial landing!
Quirky Traditions and Funny Memories
As a graduate student, Karen and a fellow lab member spent much of their time working in a dark little room with no windows. It seemed a little like torture, so they decided to improve the situation by brightening up the space. Namely, painting one of the walls bright orange. They crept into the lab with painting supplies after dark when no one else was there. Everyone was shocked the next day, but the two of them played it cool and never got caught!
Advice For Us All
There is no one person at the top who has some secret knowledge, experience, or answers. We are governed by a fellowship of amateurs, and though there are people out there doing extraordinary things, they are all ordinary people at the end of the day. We’re all just making it up as we go along.
Guest Bio
Karen works at the intersection of research, education, and outreach to adapt DNA-assisted species identification (DNA barcoding) for use in projects involving public participation in scientific research (citizen science). She aims to help increase humanity’s capacity to understand and manage how environmental change affects the diversity and distribution of organisms. Karen is also co-founder and director of UK-based charity The HMS Beagle Trust. They are working together with their sister charity in Chile, La Fundación Beagle, to rebuild HMS Beagle – the little ship that carried a young Charles Darwin around the world and inspired his lifelong passion for science – and retrace her famous voyage with a new generation of scientists and students aboard.
*This episode was originally published February 2, 2015.
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50 min
June 27, 2022 662: Dr. Olaf Andersen: Investigating Important Interactions Between Molecules and Membrane Proteins
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Dr. Olaf Andersen is a Professor of Physiology and Biophysics at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University and Director of the Tri-Institutional MD-PhD Program in New York City. He was awarded his MD from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark and completed postdoctoral research at the University of Copenhagen and Rockefeller University before joining the faculty at Cornell University. Olaf has received many awards and honors including being named a Foreign Member of The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters, receipt of the K. S. Cole Medal from the Biophysical Society, being named an Honorary Fellow of the Cornell University Weill Medical College Alumni Association, receipt Distinguished Service Award from the Biophysical Society, and receipt the Inaugural Bruce Ballard Mentoring Award. In this interview, Olaf shares more about his life and science.
People Behind the Science Podcast Show Notes
Life Outside of Science
When he’s not doing science, Olaf keeps busy reading and brewing beer. His ambition as a brewer is to make a beer with a deep beer flavor but really low alcohol percentage. Olaf keeps a brewing diary that holds 20 years worth of notes on each batch he has ever brewed.
The Scientific Side
Olaf wants to understand all of the mechanisms by which small molecules can manipulate the functions of cells or whole organisms. How do these molecules work and what are they doing? These questions are particularly relevant for pharmacology and toxicity.
A Dose of Motivation
“Reasonable people adapt themselves to the world. Unreasonable people attempt to adapt the world to themselves. All progress, therefore, depends on unreasonable people.” by George Bernard Shaw
What Got You Hooked on Science?
As a high school student, Olaf was interested in math and physics. However, his father was a very good mathematician, so that ruled out math for him in terms of a career. Olaf read voraciously and became interested in cybernetics control systems and computer science, but the field barely existed at the time. He volunteered at a hospital to explore working in a clinical setting. Afterwards, he started medical school. While there, a superb scientist turned Olaf’s attention towards research.
The Low Points: Failures and Challenges
Olaf had an opportunity to conduct research on the lipid bilayer with Jens Christian Skou (now a Nobel Laureate). The project he was assigned was difficult but sounded very exciting. Unfortunately, Olaf didn’t know much about lipid bilayers and there were not many others around who did. He had a rocky start, and unfortunately joined the ranks of the three or four others who had attempted the project before him.
A Shining Success!
With the help of lab members and colleagues, Olaf discovered that small molecules can change the preferred spatial arrangement of membrane proteins. He witnessed the the outcome of this first exciting experiment firsthand, and it was an amazing moment where he realized that everything he thought about a certain part of the world was wrong.
Book Recommendations
The Emperor of All Maladies: A biography of cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee, Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
Most Treasured Travel
In 1991, Olaf traveled to Bangalore, India shortly before the start of the Gulf War. He was attending a meeting on membrane transport and lipid bilayer structure, and the science was excellent. However, there was a lot of apprehension before and during the meeting about rising tensions in the area and travel safety. Many of the meeting attendees cancelled or returned home early, but Olaf and a hardy group of scientists remained. Their hosts in India were phenomenal and took very good care of them. It was also interesting to see the start of the war through the eyes of a different culture.
Quirky Traditions and Funny Memories
A lot of people in his lab are foodies, and they often go out together to enjoy delicious cuisine. They particularly like to visit Rockefeller Faculty Club for lunch to celebrate the acceptance of manuscripts. In general, his lab interacts like a family where each member is bringing a different perspective and they can learn from each other.
Advice For Us All
Always distinguish carefully between what is interesting and what is important.
Guest Bio
Olaf’s research uses a combination of single-molecule electrophysiological and ensemble fluorescence methods together with theoretical/computational tools to understand the energetic coupling between membrane proteins and their host bilayer. A current focus of his studies is the mechanistic basis for the pervasive perturbation of membrane protein function by small hydrophobic molecules, including many molecules used to manipulate biological function. The underlying principle is simple – membrane proteins and their host bilayer must adapt to each other in order to minimize the exposure of hydrophobic groups to water, and this adaptation has an energetic cost due to the reorganization that occurs within the bilayer and within the protein. Because hydrophobic molecules can distribute freely between the aqueous and membrane phases, as well as radially around a membrane-embedded protein, they reduce the energetic cost of the adaptation between membrane proteins and their adjacent bilayer, which provides general mechanism for the widespread regulation of membrane protein function by small biologically active compounds. In addition to his research, Olaf is involved in the training of physician-scientists; he is director of the Weill Cornell/Rockefeller/Sloan-Kettering Tri-Institutional MD-PhD Program, and he served as president of the National Association of MD-PhD Programs and was the founding chair of the Association of American Medical Colleges’ MD-PhD Section. He has also served as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of General Physiology.
*This episode was originally published on June 1, 2015.
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1 hr 8 min
June 20, 2022 661: Dr. Robin Buell: Decoding the Genomes of Plants and Plant Pathogens for Key Crops and Medicinal Plants
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Dr. C. Robin Buell is a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar Chair in Crop Genomics in the Department of Crop & Soil Sciences and the Center for Applied Genetic Technologies at the University of Georgia. She received her BSc in biology from the University of Maryland, her MSc in plant pathology from Washington State University, and her PhD in biological sciences/molecular biology from Utah State University. Afterwards, she conducted postdoctoral research at Michigan State University and at the Carnegie Institution of Washington (Stanford University). She served on the faculty at Louisiana State University, The Institute for Genomic Research, and Michigan State University before joining the faculty at UGA last year. Robin has been elected as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement for Science and the American Society of Plant Biologists. In addition, she was awarded the 2022 McClintock Prize for Plant Genetics and Genome Studies by the Maize Genetics Cooperation Advocacy Committee. In our interview, she shares more about her life and science.
People Behind the Science Podcast Show Notes
Life Outside of Science (2:32)
In her free time, Robin enjoys tending to the vegetables in her garden, watching college basketball and football games, and spending time with her two rescue dogs.
The Scientific Side (3:43)
Robin studies the DNA of plants to better understand how plants do things like grow, respond to stress, reproduce, and evolve. Her work spans a wide variety of plants including crop plants (corn, potatoes, and sweet potatoes), medicinal plants (those that make anti-cancer drugs), and other plants with interesting properties (basil, oregano, catnip, and cat mint).
A Dose of Motivation (4:50)
There are still many interesting unanswered questions about plants, and Robin likes to solve these puzzles about how plants work using historical knowledge and newer technology.
What Got You Hooked on Science? (7:13)
As a kid growing up in rural Maryland, Robin spent a lot of time with animals. They had cats, dogs, horses, and chickens at home, and she planned to go to school to become a veterinarian. However, during her sophomore year, Robin had a bad experience with a zoology course and a great experience with a botany course. At this time, she also applied for a job as a dishwasher in a lab focused on plant physiology. These factors led Robin to shift her plans to start working on plants. Since then, she has had a series of great mentors and research experiences working in labs across the U.S.
The Low Points: Failures and Challenges (14:31)
Robin and her lab members have been struggling with a project examining how plants like potatoes produce tubers. Tubers are underground organs in a plant that store nutrients to sustain them over winter and then germinate in the spring. Some of these tuber-producing plants they study come from the Andes Mountains in South America. As summer ends and fall begins, the temperature cools, the days become shorter, and the plants start to produce tubers. It took Robin a really long time to get their plants to start making tubers in the lab. For a different plant species, they were able to get the plants to make tubers, but they kept forming above ground, not underground. It has been really difficult to exactly mimic the environmental conditions that trigger these plants to make tubers normally in their natural habitat.
A Shining Success! (19:55)
Sequencing the first rice genome was an important success that Robin was excited to be a part of. The project began in 1999, and they finished the sequence in 2005. Afterwards, they continued to improve the annotations on the genome sequence until 2011. At the time, rice was only the second plant to have its genome generated. Their work and their database has allowed thousands of researchers working on rice to make accelerated progress in rice genetics and rice breeding to make improved rice varieties with greater production potential, more disease resistance, and other features. It really changed how people worked with rice.
Robin has also been working on potatoes since 1999, and she was involved in sequencing the potato genome. Potatoes are a critical food crop around the world, but not many scientists work on potato biology and breeding new potatoes. The potato genome is much bigger than that of rice, and it is more complicated. It has been exciting to work with her collaborators for many years and to see her research applied to develop new breeds of potatoes and to break long-standing myths about potatoes that have persisted for about 100 years.
Book Recommendations (28:19)
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
Most Treasured Travel (18:04)
Through her work, Robin has been able to travel all over the world. One particularly memorable trip brought her to Peru. While she was there, Robin was able to visit areas where the Inca civilization grew corn and potatoes using terraces, as well as to see how farmers today are growing crops on this land at an elevation of 10,000 feet. They grow potatoes there, harvest them, and then the cold, dry air freeze-dries the crops in place to provide a stable food supply for the winter. It was amazing to learn about historical and current agricultural practices in Peru, and she was also able to see the ruins of Machu Picchu during this trip.
Quirky Traditions and Funny Memories (29:35)
For Robin, her lab is like a family. Each year, she welcomes new students and postdocs into the lab who are interested in training to get a job doing something they are passionate about. Robin trains them in research, works with them, and watches them grow and develop as scientists. Then, each of these trainees moves on to their next position or to launch their own independent research career. It is exciting to celebrate all the milestones with them like their qualifying exam, first research paper, and their dissertation defense. Robin also enjoys staying in touch with her former trainees, visiting their labs, and reflecting on the good times they’ve shared together.
Advice For Us All (35:51)
Spending your life doing things you are engaged in will keep you mentally healthy and give you a lot of satisfaction, so do something you enjoy. Also, many trainees Robin has worked with over the years have been hesitant to apply for jobs that they feel they are not qualified for or that may not be the best fit. Remember, you cannot turn down an offer you don’t have. If you are interested in a position, you should apply. You never know where you’re going to end up in life, and you never know where a new job may lead.
Guest Bio
Robin’s research focuses on the genome biology of plants including comparative genomics, bioinformatics, and computational biology. She has worked on the genomes of Arabidopsis, rice, potato, maize, switchgrass, sweet potato, mints, and medicinal plants. With expertise in bioinformatics, one component of Dr. Buell’s research is provision of databases and web-based data-mining tools for the greater scientific community. Dr. Buell maintains the Rice Genome Annotation Project, which receives over 2 million page visits a year. Robin has an active research group composed of postdoctoral research fellows, research assistants, graduate students, undergraduate students and high school interns and collaborates with scientists across the United States and throughout the world. When not busy with science, she tends to her home garden, her two dogs (Sherman and Mr. Peabody), and watches college sports with her husband.
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38 min
June 13, 2022 660: Dr. Rupal Patel: Speaking Up About Important Topics in Speech Production and Computer-Assisted Communication
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Dr. Rupal Patel is a Professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders as well as the College of Computer and Information Science at Northeastern University. She is also Director of the Communication Analysis and Design Laboratory and a Co-Founder and Core Faculty member of the interdisciplinary doctoral program in Personal Health Informatics there. She received her B.Sc. in Neuropsychology from the University of Calgary and her M.H.Sc. and Ph.D. in Speech Language Pathology from the University of Toronto. Afterwards, Rupal completed postdoctoral research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and served as a faculty member at Columbia University before joining the faculty at Northeastern University where she is today. In this interview, Rupal shares more about her journey through life and science.
People Behind the Science Podcast Show Notes
Life Outside of Science
Rupal likes to spend her free time with her family. Her two kids are a great source of inspiration and ideas, and Rupal loves hearing about how they interpret the world.
The Scientific Side
The science in Rupal’s lab focuses on understanding normal speech production as well as problems that can interfere with speech production. She works to help people with speech impairments communicate better and investigates ways that computers can be used to mediate communication.
A Dose of Motivation
“There’s a way to do it better, find it.” by Thomas Edison
What Got You Hooked on Science?
As a kid, Rupal was very shy. She moved from Zambia to a very small town in Canada, and people struggled to understand her British accent there. Rupal’s teachers thought she was having difficulty with reading (because she had learned a different way), and put her in a special group for help. These early experiences were frustrating and sparked her interest in communication. However, she didn’t really know what she wanted to do for a career since she didn’t know about speech-language pathology or computer-assisted communication until much later.
The Low Points: Failures and Challenges
A major struggle Rupal experienced was related to obtaining research funding. Rupal spent a whole summer writing a grant that she believed was one of the best grants she had ever written, as well as one that had the most far-reaching impacts on science. The grant was rejected outright without being discussed by the review panel. She made some revisions and resubmitted with the same frustrating result. The work was eventually funded after Rupal broke the project up into smaller pieces, rather than trying to tackle the big picture all at once.
A Shining Success!
Rupal and her company VocaliD were awarded the 2014 Innovation Prize from South by Southwest for Health, Med and Bio Tech Innovation. Though she went into the conference knowing they had been nominated, she had no expectations of winning since she was competing with big companies who had been doing this for many years. The crowning moment of this success though was when Rupal’s son told her that he was proud of what she was doing because her work would really help people in the world.
Book Recommendations
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, The Twentieth Wife by Indu Sundaresan
Most Treasured Travel
Barcelona is one of the most memorable places Rupal has visited. She went there to give a talk on VocaliD and fell in love with the city. Exploring the city after the conference was exciting, and she was able to see parts of Barcelona that were not the typical tourist destinations. Last year, Rupal returned to Barcelona and enjoyed seeing the city again with her family.
Quirky Traditions and Funny Memories
Rupal’s lab made the best of a tough situation when they had to move their entire lab operations to a dormitory for the summer because there were asbestos problems in their building. They decided that the common room of their dorm room suite would be where they would hold meetings, and they stocked the fridge with all kinds of food. They worked hard, had snack breaks, ate lunch together, and really became a tight-knit group.
Advice For Us All
If you want to change the world, science is the career path for you. There are so many different directions that a science and math career can take you.
Guest Bio
Professor Patel founded and directs the Communication Analysis and Design Laboratory (CadLab), an interdisciplinary research group that conducts research along two broad themes: analysis of spoken communication and the design of novel human-computer communication interfaces. To bridge cross-disciplinary research and innovation, she recently founded Northeastern University’s Center for Speech Science and Technology. Rupal holds appointments in the Department of Communication Science and Disorders and the College of Computer and Information Science at Northeastern University as well as adjunct appointments in the Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology program at Harvard-MIT, Department of Psychiatry at University of Massachusetts and Haskins laboratory at Yale University.
*This episode was originally published on July 27, 2015.
The post 660: Dr. Rupal Patel: Speaking Up About Important Topics in Speech Production and Computer-Assisted Communication appeared first on People Behind the Science Podcast.
44 min
June 06, 2022 659: Dr. Mike Clegg: Using Genetics to Understand Plant Evolution and Trace back the Roots of Agriculture
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Dr. Michael Clegg is a Professor Emeritus of Biological Sciences, Ecology, and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California, Irvine. He is also the past Foreign Secretary of the US National Academy of Sciences, and just recently finished serving in his third consecutive term. Mike received his PhD in Genetics from the University of California, Davis. He served on the faculty at Brown University, the University of Georgia, and the University of California, Riverside before accepting a position at UC, Irvine. Mike has a long list of career and research accolades. He was elected as a Member of the US National Academy of Sciences, a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Member of the American Philosophical Society, a Fellow of the Global Academy of Sciences, an Honorary Member of the Palestinian Academy of Sciences, a Foreign Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Science, and a Corresponding Member of multiple other international Academies. He is also a Senior Fellow of the California Council on Science and Technology and has been awarded the Darwin Prize from Edinburgh University. In this interview, Mike shares more about his life and science.
People Behind the Science Podcast Show Notes
Life Outside of Science
When not engrossed in science, Mike likes to likes to read history books. He also has a fascination with airplanes that goes all the way back to his youth. Currently, he owns and flies two different airplanes. Some of Mike’s other favorite activities are traveling and spending time with his family.
The Scientific Side
Mike studies how genes change through time and uses that information to understand the historical relationships between organisms.
A Dose of Motivation
This is the life.
What Got You Hooked on Science?
Though his father was a scientist and Professor at the University of California, Davis, Mike was not a particularly good student. He joined the army as a paratrooper for a few years, spent some time in junior college, started his family, and settled into a position in the sugar industry in California. Unbeknownst to Mike at the time, this technician position was the start of his illustrious science career. He was able to go back to school on the G.I. Bill and was captivated by one of his genetics classes.
The Low Points: Failures and Challenges
One of the frustrations that Mike faced relatively early on occurred when he and a colleague were trying to apply molecular biology tools to understand gene evolution. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the technology was very crude, and they were not successful in their goal of trying to clone a plant nuclear gene. It also took approximately six months to sequence a gene – a task that can be completed today in a week or less!
A Shining Success!
Some of Mike’s prior work has investigated the process of randomization of genes over time due to genetic recombination. One of his early questions was related to whether certain gene interactions slowed down the process of randomization. He was able to show that self-fertilizing plants demonstrated his hypothesized slowing of the effects of recombination over time. This discovery really helped to launch his research career.
Book Recommendations
Year of Meteors: Stephen Douglas, Abraham Lincoln, and the Election that Brought on the Civil War by Douglas R. Egerton
Most Treasured Travel
In 2007, Mike visited Iran to work with fellow Members of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and and scientists from the Iranian Academy of Sciences. It was fascinating to experience the differences in culture and to build great relationships with scientists despite the political tensions between our two countries. While there, Mike also visited the ancient city of Persepolis, and had a wonderful time exploring 2,500 years of history!
Quirky Traditions and Funny Memories
Camaraderie and community spirit have always characterized the scientific environments he has worked in. Mike shares the fantastic traditions that took shape at some of the different institutions where he worked, including morning coffee meetings at Brown University, pub hang outs at UC Riverside, and bonding with colleagues over lunch at UC Irvine. All of these traditions brought great people together to talk about life and science in a relaxed and stimulating environment.
Advice For Us All
It’s wonderfully enriching to know more about the world that we live in. Science gives you a great opportunity to experience life not only in the present, but also in the past and across great spans of space.
Guest Bio
Michael was born into a scientific family: both his father and grandfather were biological researchers, and his great-grandfather was a physician. So Mike did what came naturally—he rebelled. He worked as a crop duster’s assistant and served as a military paratrooper before settling down to married life and a job in the sugar industry. When he returned to college, he planned to pursue a degree in international agriculture. However, a required course in genetics brought him back to science, and Mike has become one of the world’s foremost plant evolutionists. Using DNA sequencing technology and sophisticated statistical methods, he has explored the evolutionary history of plants, from the origins of flower colors to how humans first domesticated barley and came to practice agriculture.
*This episode was originally published on March 13, 2015.
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49 min
May 30, 2022 658: Dr. Howard Rosenbaum: Conducting Research to Better Understand and Conserve Marine Mammals
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Dr. Howard Rosenbaum is a Senior Conservation Scientist and Director of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Ocean Giants Program, which aims to secure the future of whales, dolphins, and other marine species. He is also a Senior Scientist at the American Museum of Natural History, core faculty member at Columbia University in the Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology Department, a member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Cetacean Specialist Group and Important Marine Mammal Areas Task Force, and a member of the International Whaling Commission’s Scientific Committee. In addition, Howard is a member of New York’s (NYSERDA) Environmental Technical Working Group and on the Specialist Committee for Best Management Practices related to Offshore Wind Development. He has also been a subject matter expert for two past BOEM workshops related to marine mammals and Offshore Wind Development, an invited member of the Regional Wildlife Science Entity’s Marine Mammal subcommittee, and he recently served on IUCN’s panel on Mitigating Biodiversity Impacts to Wind Energy Development. Howard received his undergraduate degree from Hamilton College and afterwards spent two years conducting research as a recipient of a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship. Next, he enrolled in graduate school at Yale University where he was awarded his Ph.D. in biology. Upon graduating, Howard began a postdoctoral fellowship with the Wildlife Conservation Society and the American Museum of Natural History where he would ultimately continue working for over 20 years. In this interview, Howard shares more about his life and science.
People Behind the Science Podcast Show Notes
Life Outside of Science (2:30)
When he’s not working, Howard loves spending time outdoors. Some of his favorite outdoor activities are skiing in the winter, cycling, kayaking, sailing, going for walks with his dog, and spending time with his wife and kids out in nature.
The Scientific Side (3:30)
Howard is a conservation biologist who uses novel scientific approaches and techniques to better understand marine mammals. His work aims to understand populations of whales, dolphins, and other marine mammals, as well as to understand the habitats they inhabit and use. The ultimate goal of his work is to steward better conservation of these animals and better environmental practices.
A Dose of Motivation (4:28)
When things are difficult or stressful, try to see the big picture. Don’t get bogged down in the small details.
What Got You Hooked on Science? (6:15)
From a young age, Howard enjoyed spending time outdoors hiking, camping, and watching whales and other wildlife off the coast of Long Island where he grew up. His mother was instrumental in nurturing his curiosity and love of nature. Over the years, Howard pursued opportunities as they arose, including a program at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, programs at his high school, and research experiences in college. After graduating, Howard had the opportunity to conduct his own research project studying whales around the world through the Watson Fellowship Program. This served as a springboard for Howard to launch his independent research career, learn cutting-edge research techniques, and develop valuable collaborations.
The Low Points: Failures and Challenges (20:09)
After spending so much time working overseas during the first 20 years of his career, Howard is excited to be studying and contributing to conservation efforts for whales and dolphins off the coast of New York (in the New York Bight). One challenge that has arisen in this work is that the public, funders, policy-makers, and others have the perception that there aren’t whales and dolphins in the New York Bight, and thus issues related to their conservation aren’t relevant in that area. These biases have made it difficult for Howard and his team to do their science, but little by little, they have been able to make progress and start changing people’s minds. Successes in setting up collaborations, getting funding, and publishing their work have all been building towards their goal of ensuring their science can have the greatest impact in terms of informing policy and evidence-based decision making.
A Shining Success! (23:57)
When Howard led his first research expeditions in Madagascar in the mid-1990s, he didn’t know what he was going to find there. The area had a long history of commercial whaling, and Howard was surprised to discover an important breeding area off the northeast corner of Madagascar. He wrote a paper about their findings, and this was a major win. As an early-career scientist, he was thrilled to be writing articles that were featured in popular media outlets like Natural History Magazine and Wildlife Conservation Magazine. Howard will never forget when his graduate school advisor told him that this was just the beginning, and that throughout his career, Howard should expect to have at least ten discoveries of this magnitude. Since his early work in Madagascar, Howard has indeed had many exciting research successes, and he and his colleagues continue to do groundbreaking work in the field.
Book Recommendations (27:53)
Endurance by Alfred Lansing and other historical non-fiction accounts of larger than life characters.
Most Treasured Travel (29:11)
Over the course of his career, Howard has had so many opportunities to travel, see the world, experience different cultures, and meet amazing people. His work has taken him to Africa, Asia, South America, Central America, the Arctic, and the Antarctic. In each place, he tries to take a photographic snapshot in his mind. Some of the most memorable mental snapshots he has collected include seeing the amazing wildlife and scenery in Alaska with his family, watching wildlife with colleagues in Patagonia, and living with lemurs on an uninhabited island during his first research expeditions off the coast of Madagascar.
Quirky Traditions and Funny Memories (31:25)
Being a part of the career journeys of his trainees and staff has been a fun and rewarding part of Howard’s career. His research group truly feels like a team. Whether it’s someone’s first research paper or many papers later, it always feels like a big team win when they get the notification that a paper is accepted for publication. Once their work has been reviewed by peers and published, they can start to use the new knowledge they generate to affect change and influence real-world conservation goals and outcomes.
Advice For Us All (38:14)
When you’re working hard and you are frustrated at your lack of progress, ask yourself: “Do you want to know the answer, or do you feel like you have to know the answer?” These are two very different things. Take the time to reflect and ensure that you are spending your time on what you think is most important. We place such high demand on excellence, especially in science. You have to be happy, invested in your work, and like what you’re doing to produce the best quality work.
Guest Bio
Howard has more than 25 years experience in marine mammal research and conservation activities involving a number of large whale and dolphin species. His research interests involve the application of current techniques in molecular biology to the conservation of wildlife. This conservation genetics research is focused at different hierarchical levels ranging from evolutionary relationships between taxa to determination of relatedness among individuals within populations. The results of these detailed theoretical and empirical studies are subsequently applied to guide conservation decision-making and priority setting. His main areas of research focus on population genetics, systematics, biogeography, and conservation of cetaceans, ranging from large baleen whales to small cetaceans. One area of his research involves the examination of population structure, migration links, and social organization of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) throughout the Indian and South Atlantic Oceans, and more comprehensively throughout the entire Southern Hemisphere. These studies integrate genetic analyses (high-throughput sequencing and multi-locus genotyping), with extensive field surveys and life history data collected from natural populations of whales off the coasts of Madagascar, Gabon, and elsewhere in these oceans. Dr. Rosenbaum and a global team have also recently completed a range wide genetic analysis of bowhead whales that includes populations from Russia and Alaska. In the New York Bight, he leads WCS’s efforts for research and conservation of marine mammals, which includes a collaborative effort to use state-of-the-art near real-time acoustic monitoring and other technologies to study whales and ocean noise.
The post 658: Dr. Howard Rosenbaum: Conducting Research to Better Understand and Conserve Marine Mammals appeared first on People Behind the Science Podcast.
44 min
May 23, 2022 657: Dr. Suzana Herculano-Houzel: Sizing Up Species’ Brains to Understand Nervous System Diversity and Development
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Dr. Suzana Herculano-Houzel is a Professor of Psychology and Biological Sciences at Vanderbilt University. She received her B.S. in Biology from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil and completed her M.S. in Neuroscience at Case Western Reserve University. She was awarded her PhD in Neuroscience from Pierre and Marie Curie University in Paris, and conducted part of her graduate work at the Max-Planck Institute for Brain Research. Suzana served on the faculty of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro before joining the faculty at Vanderbilt where she is today. She is the recipient of the Scholar Award in Understanding Human Cognition from the James S. McDonnell Foundation, as well as the José Reis Prize of Science Communication. In addition, Suzana has authored seven books for the general public on neuroscience, including her recently published book The Human Advantage: A New Understanding of How Our Brain Became Remarkable. She has written and presented the TV series Neurológica, has contributed over 260 to the Folha de São Paulo newspaper, and has written for the Scientific American Brazil magazine. In our interview, Suzana shares stories from her life and science.
People Behind the Science Podcast Show Notes
Life Outside of Science (2:36)
Suzana is not only a scientist, but also a musician. From an early age, she received formal training in classical music, including the piano and flute. While Suzana was a graduate student in Cleveland, she decided to learn to play the cello. She found it was cheaper to purchase her cello its own plane ticket when she flew to Germany for her PhD than it would have been to buy a travel case. In addition, Suzana also previously self-taught herself to play classical guitar and just recently started taking formal lessons.
The Scientific Side (4:56)
In the lab, Suzana compares brains to find out what they are made of and what difference that makes for the organism in terms of its abilities. She is interested in finding out how many neurons and other cell types brains have, determining whether brain size matters, and examining how numbers of cells correspond to cognitive abilities.
A Dose of Motivation (6:27)
Never give up.
What Got You Hooked on Science? (14:19)
As a kid, Suzana was very analytical and was always interested in how stuff worked. For a while, she dreamed of a career doing special effects for movies. Suzana’s parents encouraged her curiosity, and when she began taking biology classes, she discovered her fascination with living things. The process of putting molecules together and making something alive was amazing to her. Suzana’s early research endeavors exposed her to work in plants, viruses, and developmental biology before she discovered her love of neuroscience.
The Low Points: Failures and Challenges (24:21)
Not only is it challenging to get funding to do research in Brazil where Suzana has spent much of her career, but funding for salaries of scientists has also been a challenge. The stipends for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows are very low ($400-$1,000 per month). It is discouraging for many young scientists as they finish college to watch their peers get good jobs knowing that they have about 10 more years of making very little money before they will have a proper job. This makes it difficult to attract and retain talented students, and Suzana had a lot of turnover in her lab. Lack of funding for her research has also at times pushed Suzana to seek crowdfunding to keep her projects going.
A Shining Success! (30:31)
Suzana was awarded a grant from the McDonnell Foundation that changed her life. She remembers receiving an email that sounded too good to be true inviting her to submit a proposal for the award. Suzana decided to apply. After sending in her two-page proposal, she was pleased to have been invited but didn’t have high hopes of being selected. Suzana literally started jumping and screaming in the lab when she received the email informing her she won the $600,000 research award. This allowed her to pursue the work she is doing now investigating brain vasculature and metabolism.
Book Recommendations (35:58)
Death with Interruptions by José Saramago
Most Treasured Travel (38:52)
Sydney, Australia was one of her favorite scientific destinations. Suzana spent two months working there as a visiting scientist. The people she worked with were fun, outstanding scientists, and amazing hosts. She remembers that when everyone left work at 5pm, they didn’t just go home. They went out to walk through the parks and hang out. The country was also beautiful, and Suzana enjoyed the amazing diversity of animals.
Quirky Traditions and Funny Memories (43:24)
In Suzana’s lab, she and her students tend to work with unusual animals. She decided to give her graduating students small plastic animal figurines signed by everyone in the lab as souvenirs. The students seem to really like it, and when visiting her former students, she has seen these figurines proudly displayed on their desks in their new labs.
Advice For Us All (46:06, 49:41)
Remember that it is important for scientists to be able to communicate well. Also, try to make decisions that maximize the number of future possibilities. Lastly, read everything you can. Read things by people who you agree with, as well as people who you disagree with in order to get all the facts and help you come up with your own great ideas.
Guest Bio
Brain size varies by over 100,000 times – and that’s across mammals alone. At the Laboratory of Comparative Neuroanatomy, Suzana’s group uses quantitative morphological approaches to investigate the diversity of the nervous system across animals, its evolution, and its developmental origins. She is answering questions related to how diversity in brain size comes about in evolution, what rules govern how brains are built, whether there are any regularities or shared characteristics across brains of different species, and whether there are brain characteristics that are unique to some groups of animals. Most of Suzana’s studies apply the Isotropic Fractionator, a non-stereological method developed in the lab in 2005 that allows the fast, simple and reliable determination of numbers of neuronal and non-neuronal cells in any dissectable brain structure, and has been shown to be as reliable as stereology.
Photo by Joe Howell, Vanderbilt University
*This episode was originally released August 1, 2016.
The post 657: Dr. Suzana Herculano-Houzel: Sizing Up Species’ Brains to Understand Nervous System Diversity and Development appeared first on People Behind the Science Podcast.
53 min
May 16, 2022 656: Dr. Stanley Maloy: Expressing His Passion for Science and Bacterial Genetics
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Dr. Stanley Maloy is Dean of the College of Sciences, Associate Director of the Center for Microbial Sciences, and Professor in Biology at San Diego State University. He received his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry from the University of California, Irvine and conducted postdoctoral research in Genetics at the University of Utah. Stanley then served on the faculty at the university of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign for about 18 years before accepting a position where he is today at San Diego State University. Stanley is a former President of the American Society for Microbiology, is an elected Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, has authored several books on microbial genetics, and has been widely recognized for his excellence in teaching. In this episode, Stanley tells us more about his journey through life and science.
People Behind the Science Podcast Show Notes
Life Outside of Science (02:14)
Once you become a scientist, science permeates through all that you do. It’s hard not to think of everything as an experiment. Stanley loves traveling, reading, cooking, hiking, and enjoying the ocean when he’s not working in the lab.
The Scientific Side (3:39)
Stanley’s lab is working on a new approach for delivering vaccines that may be beneficial for the development of new types of vaccines. They are also collaborating with colleagues in the biotech industry to investigate new approaches for developing antibiotics.
A Dose of Motivation (04:28)
“There is no place in this world where I belong when I’m gone,
And I won’t know the right from the wrong when I’m gone,
And you won’t find me singing this song when I’m gone,
So I guess I’ll have to do it while I’m here.” by Phil Oaks in “When I’m Gone”
What Got You Hooked on Science? (12:35)
When Stanley was a kid, his family subscribed to the magazines Life and Post. He remembers being fascinated by the science stories about space, the human heart, or infections. Stanley lost his passion for science in high school, and he spent a lot of his time in college working with his brother in the company they created to set up clinical labs in clinics and hospitals in Los Angeles. A course in microbiology cultivated Stanley’s curiosity and led him to change paths to pursue a career in research.
The Low Points: Failures and Challenges (24:25)
In graduate school, Stanley worked in the lab of a new Assistant Professor, and it was an extremely stressful environment. The faculty member had major health issues, and he would occasionally come in to lab, have a complete breakdown, and kick everyone out. These were difficult conditions to work in, and it made Stanley question whether he wanted to be a scientist and have this kind of life for himself.
A Shining Success! (30:17)
One of the areas Stanley’s lab works on is the evolution of new infectious diseases. There are many cases where bacteria only cause disease when they are infected by a virus that contains genes for detrimental exotoxins. They recently discovered viruses with these exotoxin genes in nature where the bacteria are not present. This suggested there must be an environmental reservoir of toxic genes, so they submitted a grant to the NIH to find this natural reservoir. The grant received great reviews, but the funding agency didn’t think Stanley’s group could succeed in the project. Members in the lab proceeded anyways and were thrilled to discover exactly what they had been looking for!
Book Recommendations (34:55)
Merchants of Doubt by Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway, Don’t Be Such A Scientist by Randy Olson, The New One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard and Spencer and Johnson, A Coney Island of the Mind by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Most Treasured Travel (38:26)
Of all the places Stanley has traveled to for science, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory is his favorite place. It is like a haven and utopia for scientists. He visits Cold Spring Harbor every year and has loved it since he was a student there. When you’re there, you can do science 24/7. You stay in a dorm where someone makes your bed and cooks your meals, so you can really focus on the science. Stanley has met great people and had so many stimulating conversations there.
Quirky Traditions and Funny Memories (40:12)
At Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, he had the chance to be the instructor of the Advanced Bacterial Genetics summer course for five years. It was always a very intense experience. There were two other concurrent courses on Mouse Genetics and Ion Channels running at the same time as his course, and the three groups had a little competition going. At the final banquet, they had a toasting competition where people would praise their own field while simultaneously insulting the others. It was all in good fun and led to a lot of eloquent discussions and a greater appreciation of all fields.
Advice For Us All (46:12)
It really doesn’t matter what your job is as long as you take pride in it and you do the best you can. If you do that, you’ll have something that you can really enjoy and feel like you made a difference. Science is amazing because it is so much fun, and what we do can really have an impact on the world.
Guest Bio
Research in Stanley’s lab focuses on bacterial and phage genetics, the evolution of microbial diseases, and the development of novel vaccines and antibiotics. Stanley has also had numerous scientific experiences outside of academia. He was an instructor of the Cold Spring Harbor summer course in Advanced Bacterial Genetics from 1990-1995, the graduate course in Microbial Pathogenesis at the Watson Graduate School since 2002, and was co-founder of the international symposium on Microbial Pathogenesis and Host Response. In addition, he has organized numerous international courses and conferences in the US, Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Stanley served as chair of NIH Study Sections and as a grant reviewer for numerous national and international funding agencies, on federal advisory groups on biosafety and biodefense, research and health policy, and testified before the United States House Appropriations Committee about federal funding for scientific research. In addition, he has hosted numerous videocasts, and interacts regularly with the media to explain and promote science to the public. Together with his brother, Stanley started his first company as an undergraduate. He has subsequently consulted with large agricultural and pharmaceutical companies and small biotech companies, and has served on several Scientific Advisory Boards. Further, Stanley has played a role in several start-up Biotech companies, including serving as Chief Scientific Officer of Vaxiion Therapeutics Inc.

*This episode was originally released on August 28, 2015.
The post 656: Dr. Stanley Maloy: Expressing His Passion for Science and Bacterial Genetics appeared first on People Behind the Science Podcast.
50 min
May 09, 2022 655: Dr. Tara Alvarez: Researching how the Brain Changes with Vision Rehabilitation
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Dr. Tara Alvarez is Professor of Bio-Medical Engineering at New Jersey Institute of Technology and Chief Scientific Officer at OculoMotor Technologies. She was awarded her B.S. in Electrical Engineering and her Ph.D. in Bioengineering and Biomedical Engineering from Rutgers University. Afterwards, she conducted postdoctoral research at Bell Labs before joining the faculty at New Jersey Institute of Technology. She has received numerous awards and honors in her career, including an NSF Career Award, the Founding Members Award for Science from the Neuro-Optometric Rehabilitation Association, an Edison Patent Award, the NJIT Excellence in Research Award, and Augmented World Expo’s Auggie Awards for Women XR Laureate and for Most Innovative Breakthrough. She has also been named an Outstanding Woman Scientist of NJ, a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry, and a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. In this interview, Tara shares more about her life and science.
People Behind the Science Podcast Show Notes
Life Outside of Science (2:39)
In her free time, Tara loves spending time with her kids, doing renovation projects at home, cooking, and gardening.
The Scientific Side (3:21)
Tara studies a condition called convergence insufficiency. When we look at something in our environment, our eyes move to converge our focus on a particular point in space, and we have to sustain this convergence in order to do things like reading. For about 5% of people, reading for more than about 15 minutes may lead to blurred vision, double vision, headaches, eye stress/strain, a sensation that the words in view are floating, and a need to re-read lines of text multiple times. This can have major impacts on a person’s education and/or career. About half of people with persistent symptoms after concussion experience convergence insufficiency as well. Tara is working to better understand what is happening in this condition and how the brain changes during visual therapy, resulting in reduced symptoms.
A Dose of Motivation (6:27)
“You must be the change you want to see in the world.” – Gandhi
What Got You Hooked on Science? (8:41)
Tara had exposure to research at an early age because her father had a PhD in mechanical engineering. She grew up asking questions about how things work and why they work this way, and her family and teachers nurtured her curiosity. While she considered becoming a physical therapist or a pediatrician early on, her interests shifted towards biomedical engineering over time. Tara found her way to working on the visual system somewhat serendipitously. A cold email to an optometrist (Dr. Mitchell Scheiman) whose work she had been reading led to a fruitful collaboration that has lasted more than a decade. Tara’s desire to apply findings from her research to help people led her to take part in a start-up company called OculoMotor Technologies. There, she is leveraging virtual reality to make video games using eye movement-based controls to provide more engaging, personalized therapy for people with vision problems like convergence insufficiency.
The Low Points: Failures and Challenges (17:54)
In the early stages of her career, Tara frequently questioned whether she was meant to be a researcher. She had seven grant applications for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) rejected before one of her grants was finally funded. This was frustrating, but it was also an important learning experience. Tara realized that it is common for faculty to have grant applications rejected, and she learned to think about feedback from grant reviewers as constructive criticism provided to help her grow and become a better scientist. The proposal that was eventually funded was so much better than her initial proposals, and looking back, Tara can say with certainty that she loves her career.
A Shining Success! (20:59)
There have been a handful of especially meaningful scientific victories that Tara has enjoyed celebrating. When one of her NIH grant proposals finally got funded, it was scored in the top 5% of applications that cycle. This was a big win for Tara, and it felt really validating after a string of failed applications. Tara was also selected to receive the Excellence in Research Award from NJIT. This was a meaningful success not only because her work was being recognized, but because her daughter was able to come up to the podium with her to accept the award. In addition, their company won an IEEE Auggie Award for Most Innovative Breakthrough. Beyond these major successes, Tara has received numerous letters from parents and students about how her work has led to improvements in their symptoms that prevented them from reading for longer periods of time, allowing them to go on to successful careers. These letters are incredibly motivating and rewarding.
Book Recommendations (23:19)
Buddha’s Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom by Rick Hanson; Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg; Dare to Lead by Brené Brown
Most Treasured Travel (24:29)
Tara has had opportunities to present her work and speak with scientists across the United States and all over the world. It has been amazing to see firsthand how scientists do things, how they approach life, and how they solve problems in different places and different cultures. One of her favorite places to visit in the world is Paris. She worked with the ophthalmic lens company Essilor International there for 15 years on a project that aimed to understand why some people adapt well to progressive additive lenses (bifocal glasses without the line), while others do not. While in Paris, Tara enjoyed listening to the choir at the Sacré-Cœur on Sundays, listening to music and watching the fountains at the Palace of Versailles, and exploring the delicious cuisine and wine at local restaurants.
Quirky Traditions and Funny Memories (27:28)
When Tara visits new places to give scientific presentations, she always likes to learn more about the people there. She often asks about their favorite restaurants, pastimes, and books to get to know more about them. Tara has found that many scientists are very creative people, and there is a lot of overlap with musicians and artists. She herself is a fan of impressionist art, and she enjoys visiting art museums. In her lab, Tara and her team like to spend time together outside of the lab doing different activities like escape rooms and going out to restaurants where they can get to know each other’s interests outside of science.
Advice For Us All (34:02)
Find out what you like doing most, and try to make a career out of it. Your interests may change over time, and you can change your career at any stage of your life. Don’t be afraid to make a change, reinvent yourself, or challenge yourself with something new. Also, it is important for the public to realize that not all vision conditions are regularly screened for. Schools typically do screenings for visual acuity, but they don’t usually screen for convergence insufficiency. If you or someone you know struggles to read for 15-20 minutes and has visual symptoms, reach out to an eye care professional and tell them about these symptoms. This will prompt them to test other aspects of your vision, and being diagnosed will allow you to get treated. In most cases, vision therapy is successful in treating symptoms of convergence insufficiency.
Guest Bio
Tara and her colleagues are making a difference in the treatment of vision function in brain injury patients, especially children with concussion. In particular, she is establishing new clinical standards for treating patients with vision dysfunction after brain injury, and she is working with five major children’s hospitals to assess the effectiveness of her system. This will result in broader impact to further understand what is different in patients with convergence insufficiency (CI) and how the brain changes post-vision therapy. Her system is more cost-effective and can be used in both home and clinic settings, which will revolutionize the way in which people are diagnosed and treated. The mission of her research is to understand the underlying neural mechanisms that lead to a sustained reduction in visual symptoms and to take that knowledge, integrated with technology, to develop new diagnostic and therapeutic interventions that can be used for personalized point-of-care. She and her team are designing innovative diagnostic and therapeutic interventions with NJIT’s Game Design program and the startup company OculoMotor Technologies. Visit Tara’s lab website to learn more.
The post 655: Dr. Tara Alvarez: Researching how the Brain Changes with Vision Rehabilitation appeared first on People Behind the Science Podcast.
39 min

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