People Behind the Science Podcast

By Dr. Marie McNeelyScience

People Behind the Science Podcast episodes

July 27, 2020 564: Dr. Darryl Boyd: Using Sulfur to Synthesize New Materials That Transmit Infrared Light
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Dr. Darryl Boyd is a Research Chemist in the Optical Sciences Division of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. He is also the STEM Director at the Transformational Education Adventure Center in McLean, VA, as well as the STEM instructor for Roots Charter School in Washington, DC. He received his B.S. degree in Chemistry from the University of Michigan. Next, he attended Purdue University where he was awarded his M.S. in Biochemistry and Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry and Electrochemistry. Afterwards, Dr. Boyd began working as a National Research Council Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Naval Research Laboratory, and he accepted a position as a Research Chemist there in 2014. Dr. Boyd has received many awards and honors throughout his career, including an Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship, a Jerome & Isabella Karle Research Fellow from the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, Lloyd N. Ferguson Young Scientist Award from the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers, and an Edison Patent Award from the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. He was also named among the “Talented 12” of 2018 by the American Chemical Society’s Chemical & Engineering News magazine and a 2019 Rising Researcher in Defense and Commercial Sensing by The International Society for Optics and Photonics (SPIE). In our interview, Dr. Boyd will share more about his life and research.
People Behind the Science Podcast Show Notes
Life Outside of Science (2:53)
When he’s not doing science, Dr. Boyd enjoys writing, playing his trumpet or saxophone, working out at the gym, and spending time at church. He and his wife also love hanging out with their young daughter who is less than a year old.
The Scientific Side (5:19)
As a synthetic chemist, Dr. Boyd creates new molecules and materials. His work focuses on developing and studying materials that can transmit infrared light, particularly materials that leverage the unique properties of the element sulfur. By looking through these materials, we can see wavelengths of light that are longer than what we can detect with our eyes alone. Dr. Boyd is also dedicated to outreach and getting students excited about STEM.
A Dose of Motivation (8:42)
Nothing is easy, and everything matters.
What Got You Hooked on Science? (15:19)
Through participating in a program called Hands-On Science, Dr. Boyd had an opportunity to explore science from an early age. In this program, Dr. Boyd and his siblings learned about biology, chemistry, physics, and computer science, and they had a chance to meet scientists from local companies and universities. In addition, Dr. Boyd was a curious kid. He remembers playing with a remote control toy car and wondering why the battery became less efficient over time. Unfortunately, Dr. Boyd also lost several important people in his life when they passed away from diseases like cancer. This fueled his interest in doing research to better understand and fight cancer. Dr. Boyd was skilled in chemistry in high school, and he decided to pursue chemistry in college. As an undergraduate student, Dr. Boyd had the opportunity to get involved in research by working in the laboratory of one of his professors, and this experience launched his research career.
The Low Points: Failures and Challenges (27:37)
During Dr. Boyd’s PhD research, he worked on a project that required him to synthesize a compound and separate it out from the byproducts of the reaction. After spending about two years working on this project, he still could not get it to work. Dr. Boyd was devastated when his advisor took him off the project. He was convinced that if he had a little more time, he could get it to work. In hindsight, Dr. Boyd’s advisor made the right decision. The new project Dr. Boyd started was wildly successful, he published three papers from this work, and he was able to finish his PhD dissertation. In science, it is important to learn from your disappointments and failures and to recognize that moving on isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In the end, switching to a new project worked out really well for him.
A Shining Success! (32:14)
Dr. Boyd developed a new polymer material that transmitted infrared light, and it was generally accepted at the time that materials like this one would only transmit light up to a particular wavelength. After he made the material, he had to choose what data he would collect on its properties. While he could have just collected data up to the wavelength that was generally believed to be the threshold for light that could be transmitted, Dr. Boyd decided to take a more comprehensive approach. He collected the full range of data that he could collect, and he was surprised to see that it appeared that the material he made was able to transmit light with wavelengths longer than what they expected. Dr. Boyd was thrilled when a second experiment using sophisticated cameras in the lab confirmed his results. Their paper on this project was the first time it had ever been demonstrated that a polymer this thick could transmit light at the longer wavelengths that they measured.
Book Recommendations (35:12)
The Road from Money: A Journey to Find Why? by Sylvester Boyd Jr. and The Road from Money: The Journey Continues by Sylvester Boyd Jr.
Most Treasured Travel (37:48)
In 2014, Dr. Boyd attended a polymer conference held in Cancun, Mexico. It took a lot of paperwork for him to travel internationally as a federal employee, but it was all worth it. Many of the most prominent polymer chemists were there, and the conference was excellent. It was exciting as a relatively early career scientist to have the opportunity to present a poster and give a talk to an audience of leaders in the field. This trip was also particularly memorable because Dr. Boyd’s girlfriend traveled with him. She enjoyed time on the beach while he was at the conference, and he planned a romantic engagement proposal as well. She said yes, and they are happy to be celebrating their fifth wedding anniversary this year!
Quirky Traditions and Funny Memories (42:03)
In the lab at Purdue University where Dr. Boyd completed his master’s degree, they had a fun tradition for students who passed the exam to qualify as a degree candidate. The lab would pick out a bottle of wine and enjoy it together to celebrate. Afterwards, the successful student would draw on the bottle of wine, write their name and the date, and place the bottle on a shelf in the lab. Dr. Boyd was happy to see his bottle was still there in the lab when he went there to visit a few years ago.
Advice For Us All (45:41)
Don’t mess up. When you have an opportunity, make the most of that opportunity, particularly opportunities to continue learning. The knowledge you gain may help you later in ways you may not realize now. Once you reach your goal, keep working hard to maintain the success and respect you have garnered. Also, just finish. In science, it can be easy to get bogged down in the details. Don’t lose focus or lose sight of your goal. Try your best to keep your eye on the prize and reach your goal the best you can while maintaining your mental and physical health.
Guest Bio
Dr. Boyd’s research interests include aspects of polymer chemistry, inorganic chemistry, and materials science. Much of his research focuses on fabricating materials with, and/or modifying materials to have, unique infrared optical transmittance properties. In addition to the honors listed above, Dr. Boyd was recently recognized by Purdue University’s College of Science as a 2020 Distinguished Alumni. Independent of his research job, for years Dr. Boyd has volunteered throughout the country, introducing grade school children to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). This includes his science-focused YouTube Channel. He now performs these efforts through his company “Science Made Simple LLC.” When the 2020 coronavirus pandemic hit, Dr. Boyd aired 6-weeks of free, daily live-streamed science lessons on Instagram and Facebook, in order to assist students and parents who were unexpectedly thrust into homeschooling. These videos can now be found on his YouTube Channel. Finally, Dr. Boyd has several very serious hobbies which include writing, playing instruments such as the trumpet and saxophone, and working out. He also spends as much time as he can at home with his wonderful wife and daughter.
The post 564: Dr. Darryl Boyd: Using Sulfur to Synthesize New Materials That Transmit Infrared Light appeared first on People Behind the Science Podcast.
52 min
July 20, 2020 563: Dr. Lauren Ponisio: Working to Preserve and Restore Populations of Bees and Other Pollinators
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Dr. Lauren Ponisio is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Oregon. She received her B.S. degree in biology with honors in ecology and evolution, as well as her M.S. degree in biology, from Stanford University. Lauren was awarded her Ph.D. from the Department of Environmental Science Policy and Management at the University of California, Berkeley. She conducted postdoctoral research at UC, Berkeley afterwards, and she served on the faculty University of California, Riverside before recently accepting her current position at the University of Oregon. Lauren received graduate fellowships from the National Science Foundation and the National Institute for Food and Agriculture, as well as a Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Berkeley Institute for Data Science. She was also named among the Global Food Initiative’s “30 Under 30” in Food Systems in 2016. In our interview, Lauren shares more about her life and science.
People Behind the Science Podcast Show Notes
Life Outside of Science (2:25)
When she’s not working, you can often find Lauren in her garden. She has been an avid gardener since childhood, and she currently has a thriving garden with lots of vegetables and plants to attract bees and other pollinators.
The Scientific Side (4:01)
The United States is home to thousands of different species of native bees that are important for agriculture and natural ecosystems. Lauren’s research revolves around preserving and restoring bee populations in agricultural areas and other natural habitats. She is interested in understanding the distribution and health of different populations of native bees.
A Dose of Motivation (5:44)
Lauren is motivated by her passion for biodiversity and living creatures. She is fascinated by agriculture, the natural world, and the amazing diversity of species on our planet.
What Got You Hooked on Science? (6:41)
Agriculture is very important in Buenos Aires, Argentina where Lauren’s mother originally lived. She helped Lauren cultivate an appreciation of the importance of agriculture. Also, growing up in Fresno, California, Lauren was surrounded by agriculture, and she realized that some agricultural practices may harm human health and biodiversity. Lauren decided she wanted to work to improve agriculture, and bees are a key component. However, she didn’t know what career could help her achieve this dream. It wasn’t until college that Lauren realized that she could make a career out of being a professor and doing research. During her freshman year, Lauren took a seminar course with a renowned conservation biologist. She approached the professor later to ask if she could work with him to do research on pollinators. The professor told her that he didn’t have time to mentor her, but he introduced her to a graduate student in his lab who turned out to be a fantastic mentor. Partway through her undergraduate studies, Lauren changed her major from pre-med to focus on ecology and evolution. She didn’t tell her parents because they had really wanted her to become a medical doctor. However, Lauren found that she was most excited about her ecology classes and doing field research. This got her started on the path to an academic research career.
The Low Points: Failures and Challenges (20:48)
Field work is full of challenges and unexpected setbacks. One of Lauren’s most difficult field work experiences occurred in Yosemite National Park. Their study on the effects of fires on pollinators required them to backpack out to remote sites where there had been natural fires. Lauren started working months ahead of time to get ready for the trip and prepare dehydrated meals for the lab to eat. One day, they opened the large canister where they had been storing their food to protect it from bears, and they discovered the food was gone. All that was left was a handwritten note from someone thanking them for leaving out food. The next day, the lab’s field assistant tripped over a log and sprained her ankle. Then they accidentally left their sampling gear at a site and had to hike all the way back to retrieve it. Later, a bear came into their campsite and destroyed many of the traps they needed to collect pollinators for their study. At this point, Lauren and her colleagues were exhausted, surviving on snacks, their field assistant could barely walk, and much of the equipment they needed had been destroyed. In the face of all of these challenges, Lauren stayed calm. These kinds of things happen in field research, and everyone made it back to share the story.
Beyond the challenges with field research, it can be difficult to be part of an underrepresented group in science. As a woman whose mother’s family is from Argentina, it can be hard when you don’t see other people in science who look like you. Science can also seem very competitive, extremely time-consuming, or too difficult to be successful and happy. There can be moments when you may wonder if perhaps science isn’t for you. However, Lauren decided to give it a try. She went into the process of applying for faculty positions telling herself that it would be okay if it didn’t work out. It can be tough to find the right fit in the right department. If it doesn’t work out, you can always change directions and try something new.
A Shining Success! (25:46)
Getting her first large grant as a faculty member was a huge success. She submitted a grant to the Foundation for Food and Agricultural Research, and it was so validating to have the grant reviewers acknowledge that her project was a good idea and provide funding to support it. Lauren will never forget when she got the phone call to notify her of the grant award. Having the funds to hire postdocs and graduate students to work with her on this project investigating the health of bees was so important for her career. Recently, they had a virtual meeting where a postdoc revealed preliminary results on the parasites they found in different bee species. Lauren is so excited for the data to be entered so they can complete the analysis and better understand which bee species are most vulnerable to parasites and what factors may contribute to bee health in the areas they studied.
Book Recommendations (28:42)
The Bees in Your Backyard: A Guide to North America’s Bees by Joseph S. Wilson and Olivia J. Messinger Carril
Most Treasured Travel (30:46)
Visiting South America has been particularly meaningful for Lauren. There are interesting similarities between the ecosystems in North and South America, and Lauren has met many excellent pollinator researchers there. Recently, Lauren traveled to Buenos Aires, Argentina, and this was an amazing adventure. Since her mother is from Buenos Aires, it was wonderful for Lauren to see this part of the world that is connected with her own family. She also had a chance to meet outstanding colleagues and visit cool places, including the pampas and the hilltops with thriving communities of pollinators.
Another memorable trip for Lauren was visiting Sweden to attend a conference on species interactions. As part of the conference, the attendees stood up on the tables and participated in Swedish folk songs. She also had a chance to visit the tomb and garden of Carl Linnaeus, the creator of the modern scientific naming system.
Quirky Traditions and Funny Memories (33:48)
Lauren and her lab members don’t often wear white lab coats, but they have made those rare occasions more fun by decorating their lab coats. The group got together at one point to bedazzle everyone’s lab coats with rhinestones and fun decorations. Lauren acknowledges that as a young woman with purple hair and a bedazzled lab coat with embroidered butterflies, she doesn’t necessarily fit the image that most people have of a biologist. However, Lauren has found that in the departments where she has worked, there are many young women and diverse people working together and doing great science.
Advice For Us All (39:56)
You just have to forgive yourself sometimes, particularly considering the challenges we are facing in the world today. Take a moment to notice and appreciate all of the diversity around you and reflect on the fact that you are part of this wonderful and complex ecosystem. Despite the global pandemic, it is comforting to know that the bees are still pollinating our flowers and there is a level of stability in our ecosystem.
Guest Bio
Lauren’s research focuses on understanding the mechanisms by which species interactions maintain species diversity, and how we can harness these processes to manage and restore diversity in human-modified systems. She focuses on pollinators because they are critical for our food supply and the maintenance of natural plant communities. Her aim is to discover new insights into how communities form, evolve and persist through time and space. In addition, her personal connection to issues concerning agriculture sustainability as a native of the Central Valley and Latina woman has motivated her to study how to design agricultural systems to better support humans and wildlife. Beyond promoting biological diversity, her second mission in life is to increase human diversity in the sciences.
The post 563: Dr. Lauren Ponisio: Working to Preserve and Restore Populations of Bees and Other Pollinators appeared first on People Behind the Science Podcast.
43 min
July 13, 2020 562: Dr. Ayse Turak: Engineering Affordable Organic Electronics to Power and Light the World
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Dr. Ayse Turak is Associate Professor and Associate Undergraduate Chair of the Department of Engineering Physics at McMaster University. Ayse received her B.Sc. in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering from Queens’s University and her PhD from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Toronto, where she was a Canada Graduate Scholar. Afterwards, Ayse conducted research as a Marie Curie Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Metals Research and subsequently worked as a visiting professor at Sabanci University in Istanbul, Turkey before joining the faculty at McMaster University. Ayse has received numerous awards and honors throughout her career, including the Early Researcher Award, the Petro-Canada Young Innovators Award, and a Leadership in Teaching and Learning Fellowship from McMaster University. In addition, she was recently nominated as a Full member at Sigma Xi, and she is the co-chair of the Canadian Chapter of the Society of Information Display. In our interview, Ayse shares more about her life and research.
People Behind the Science Podcast Show Notes
Life Outside of Science (2:34)
In her free time, Ayse loves to travel, visit new places, see new things, explore new cultures, and seek adventure. She also enjoys theatre, writing, and volunteering with various social justice organizations.
The Scientific Side (3:44)
Ayse develops and studies plastic-based electronic materials, such as solar cells and light-emitting diodes. Her goal is to create affordable, sustainable, and ubiquitous plastic materials to provide power and light for people around the world.
A Dose of Motivation (6:58)
“There is lots of room at the bottom of the scale.” – Richard Feynman
What Got You Hooked on Science? (10:12)
Ayse’s father was a chemical engineer who worked in the petroleum and coal industry. Her family immigrated to Canada from Turkey when she was three years old, and he worked initially as a coal extraction engineer. He later accepted a position with Alberta Energy and did work in photovoltaics (the conversion of light to energy using semiconducting materials). Ayse’s family always encouraged her curiosity, and she remembers following her dad around the lab and doing mini experiments with his colleagues. In junior high, Ayse and a friend visited her friend’s father’s chemistry lab to practice the titrations they were doing in class, and it was a lot of fun. Up until she went to college, Ayse was convinced that she wanted to be an aeronautical engineer. However, she completely changed her trajectory after taking a chemistry class taught by an amazing professor. The class included optional lectures on materials science, and Ayse was captivated by the content of these lectures. She changed her major to materials science and never looked back. After finishing college, Ayse spent eight months traveling around Europe and Turkey before starting graduate school. This was a phenomenal experience, and she entered graduate school reinvigorated and ready to start her graduate training.
The Low Points: Failures and Challenges (28:32)
During her postdoctoral fellowship, Ayse had an opportunity to perform experiments at a synchrotron facility about an hour away from their lab. It was common for people in the lab to visit the facility and use the high energy electrons to do x-ray diffraction to determine the structure of materials they were working on. However, since the facility was in such high-demand, it was difficult to get a time slot to do experiments. Before going there for the first time, Ayse spent months planning, and she worked around the clock in the days before the trip to get her samples ready. When she arrived in the morning, Ayse spent a few hours setting up her experiment. Once everything was running, she went out to grab a quick meal with colleagues. When she returned, everything was a disaster. Her experiments hadn’t run, she had no data, and she was distraught. Ayse went to her room, and as soon as she sat on her bed, the bed collapsed under her. After leaving a tearful and distressed phone message for her parents, Ayse went to sleep. When she returned to the facility the next morning, Ayse learned from a technician that a transformer had exploded, causing the beam to go down and all of the experiments to crash. She was able to reset her experiment and get some data, but it was a traumatic experience. Though the technician assured her that this had never happened before, and it was a highly unlikely event, the same thing happened when Ayse returned to the facility about 4 weeks later. In these incidents where the circumstances were completely beyond Ayse’s control, it was important to take a step back, get some perspective, and try again.
A Shining Success! (34:19)
Recently, Ayse and one of the students in her lab did some preliminary experiments in their lab, and though the results were promising, they were not yet ready to publish. She planned a visit to the lab of one of their collaborators in Austria to confirm their results and obtain a clear spectrum to include in their paper. They only had three weeks to set everything up, prepare the samples, and collect the necessary data, so Ayse and the student worked frantically to get everything done in time. The sample preparation procedure is complex and finicky, and the first time they tried to collect data, it didn’t work. On the second to the last day, Ayse left to visit other colleagues in the Czech Republic, and while she was gone, the student got everything to work! He wrote to her to share the fantastic news, and Ayse was so excited. The visit to Austria was extremely productive, and it was wonderful to see her student succeed after all the hard work that went into this project.
Book Recommendations (36:35)
How To Travel With A Salmon: and Other Essays by Umberto Eco, Six Characters in Search of an Author by Luigi Pirandello, and By the Sword by Mercedes Lackey.
Most Treasured Travel (40:17)
Ayse has had so many wonderful travel experiences for science. Prior to accepting a position as a visiting professor at Sabanci University in Istanbul, Turkey, Ayse served on the thesis committee for one of the students there. She flew to Istanbul to attend the defense, and it was an amazing experience. After the defense, they decided to have İskender, a renowned dish in Turkey, and they decided to visit the original İskender shop in Bursa. After a long drive and a ferry ride in the summer heat, they finally made it. All of the committee members came and the student came as well. It was a fun adventure on Ayse’s whirlwind trip to Turkey.
On another particularly memorable trip, Ayse traveled to Brussels to attend a conference. While she was there, she took time to visit the Atomium. The Atomium is a remarkable building and science museum built for the 1958 World’s Fair. Ayse’s grandmother attended the World’s Fair in 1958, and she gave a small replica model of the building to Ayse’s father as a gift. Ayse remembers always seeing the Atomium model on her father’s desk when she would visit him. It is a really cool-looking building in the shape of an array of atoms. When Ayse visited the Atomium, she bought a replica for her own desk, and she was honored when her father passed down his own Atomium model to her when she accepted her faculty position at McMaster University. Now, she keeps them both on her desk, and being able to see this landmark in person was one of the most amazing experiences of her life.
Quirky Traditions and Funny Memories (44:00)
While a postdoc at the Max Planck Institute for Metals Research, Ayse worked with a fun, creative, and diverse group of people. Their department attended beer festivals together, went out to parties and dance all night, and her colleagues often shared delicious food from their cultures. In terms of lab traditions, Ayse was introduced to a great tradition during a visit to a colleague’s lab in Austria. Whenever a student or postdoc finishes their time in the lab, the student throws a dart or pen into the ceiling. They then draw a circle around where it sticks in the ceiling and write their name and the date. The ceiling tiles serve as a tangible record of who has been in the lab. When the lab moved or was renovated, the ceiling tiles were carefully cut out and framed, and the tradition continued in the new lab space.
Advice For Us All (48:14)
The person doing the experiment should be the expert on the project. Ayse continues to learn from her students and the work they are doing. Everyone should strive to continue learning. Also, never stifle your curiosity. Always ask questions, don’t accept everything you hear as fact, and try to prove things for yourself.
Guest Bio
Ayse’s research vision is to develop easy, versatile, and inexpensive methods of functionalizing surfaces and interfaces to tackle critical problems. Her main research passions are in organic/perovskite solar cells and light emitting diodes, to light the world and make cheap sustainable energy. By making solar and lighting products cheaper, more accessible, and more flexible, her research aims to have a huge impact on the way people use clean energy. To achieve this vision, the Turak group uses simple manufacturing approaches (reverse micelle deposition of nanoparticles), allows nature to dictate morphology (entropic self-assembly, beneficial dewetting), and develops widely applicable characterization tools (“MORPHOLOGIES” Monte Carlo simulation code, “dis-Locate” spatial order classification package, 3D printed environmental testing chamber). When she is not in the lab, Ayse can be found curled up with a good book, traveling to far-flung locals to snorkel with the fishes or at the theatre enjoying works by the latest playwrights. She and her wife enjoy watching the deer who regularly visits their backyard in Ontario, Canada.
The post 562: Dr. Ayse Turak: Engineering Affordable Organic Electronics to Power and Light the World appeared first on People Behind the Science Podcast.
51 min
July 06, 2020 561: Dr. Umesh Venkatesan: Investigating How Risk Factors Contribute to Outcomes After Traumatic Brain Injury
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Dr. Umesh “Umi” Venkatesan is an Institute Scientist and Director of the Brain Trauma and Behavior Laboratory at Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute (MRRI). Umi received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Johns Hopkins University. Afterwards, he worked as a Research Assistant at Kessler Foundation Research Center for two years before enrolling in graduate school. Umi was awarded his PhD in clinical psychology from Pennsylvania State University in 2017. During graduate school, he completed a pre-doctoral internship in clinical neuropsychology at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. Before joining the team at MRRI in 2019, Umi also completed postdoctoral training in Polytrauma and Traumatic Brain Injury Rehabilitation within the VA Boston Healthcare System. In our interview, Umi will tell us more about his life and science.
People Behind the Science Podcast Show Notes
Life Outside of Science (2:25)
The arts have always been a big part of Umi’s life. He has practiced Indian classical dance since the age of five, and Umi even danced professionally in New York City during graduate school. In addition, Umi is a classically trained singer, and he enjoys singing R&B and soul music. Beyond music and dance, Umi loves exploring new cuisine from around the world and trying food from local restaurants.
The Scientific Side (4:50)
Umi is trained as a clinical psychologist, and he currently studies behavior and cognition in people with neurological disabilities, particularly following traumatic brain injury (TBI). He is interested in how interactions between our physiology, our behavior, how we experience the behavior of others, and how others behave may impact our medical health, mental health, and general well-being.
A Dose of Motivation (6:21)
“All models are wrong, some are useful, and the best ones are meaningful.” – Umi’s adaptation of a quote from George Box
What Got You Hooked on Science? (9:25)
Going into his junior year of high school, Umi didn’t have a clear idea of what he wanted to do for his career. He signed up to take a psychology class, and he found the material on human behavior, social psychology, and the brain fascinating. After taking this class, Umi decided to major in psychology in college. However, when it came time to graduate from college, Umi still didn’t really know what he wanted to do next. Umi talked to his academic advisor, and she encouraged him to get a job doing something that interested him right now, without worrying about whether it was something he wanted to do for the rest of his life. He took this advice to heart and got a job as a Research Assistant at the Kessler Foundation Research Center. Through this position, he became involved in neuropsychology and rehabilitation research, and this experience drove him to apply to graduate school. Engaging in clinical care and working with people with TBI had an enormous impact on Umi and led him to pursue TBI research at MRRI.
The Low Points: Failures and Challenges (21:13)
Towards the end of his master’s degree program, Umi had all of his neuroimaging data analyzed and his dissertation ready to defend. At the last minute, it was brought to his attention that there was an issue with the way that the brain scans were collected and the sequences of the scans. As a result, Umi had to re-process and re-analyze all of his data from scratch. This was devastating news after he had been so happy to have everything done. Ultimately, the results and his interpretations didn’t change dramatically after re-analyzing the data, so he didn’t have to rewrite his whole dissertation. In the end, Umi successfully defended his work, received his degree, and the study was published in a well-respected journal.
A Shining Success! (24:33)
It’s always exciting when a publication is accepted or a hypothesis works out. However, the recent success that Umi is most proud of is being offered an Institute Scientist position at MRRI. This position has given him an opportunity to start his lab, launch his independent research career, and work with people who are great mentors. It meant a lot to him that MRRI was willing to invest in him and take a chance on him. It was also rewarding for Umi to make the leap of leaving his last position early to move to Philadelphia to pursue this exciting opportunity.
Book Recommendations (26:30)
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
Most Treasured Travel (28:22)
Earlier this year, Umi visited San Diego to attend the Rehabilitation Psychology Conference. During the conference, he and a former lab member from Penn State presented on psychoeducation and treatment of cognitive problems in veterans with traumatic brain injury. This was an important and meaningful topic for Umi because he had just finished a fellowship at the VA where he interviewed and tested veterans, got to hear their stories, and developed frameworks about these topics and how he would approach treatment in this population. Quite a few people came to hear the presentation, and they got great feedback. The people and the science made the trip an excellent experience. He was also able to visit the beach, sample some local beer, visit the city of Temecula in wine country, and spend time with friends.
Quirky Traditions and Funny Memories (31:58)
In graduate school, Umi and his colleagues had a tradition of ordering matching t-shirts and doing a bar tour each summer with all the members of the two neuropsychology labs. Their mentors would put together a brain game where the objective was to collect all of the lobes of the brain, and people got pretty competitive. It was also fun to talk about professional development, science, the brain, and other things. They have also made it a tradition to go out to karaoke with fellow alumni who attend the annual International Neuropsychology Society conference each year. The group really feels like a family.
Advice For Us All (36:57)
You have to do something to know you don’t want to do it. When trying to decide what to do for your career, determine what you want to do right now, and try to do it. It doesn’t have to be something you do long term. Welcome change, and be comfortable with not being the expert all of the time. You’ll need to speak up and keep learning, or you’ll never become the expert.
Guest Bio
Umi’s scientific program centers on aging with moderate-to-severe TBI (msTBI), and in particular, the proposed links between chronic TBI and neurodegeneration. A considerable portion of his research has focused on functional neuroimaging to characterize evolving and stable functional neural network alterations in msTBI, which may be associated with remote neurologic complications. Insights gained from functional imaging can also be used to ask targeted behavioral questions, and his work in this area has involved complex cognitive processes underlying memory and social functioning. More recently, he has developed an interest in pre- and post-injury biopsychosocial factors contributing to outcome trajectories and the long-term health of individuals with brain injury. In his leisure time, Umi enjoys participating in and promoting the arts; he is an Indian classical dancer and choreographer, self-professed choir nerd, and soul vocalist. He also enjoys learning about and experiencing world cultures, particularly their cuisines.
The post 561: Dr. Umesh Venkatesan: Investigating How Risk Factors Contribute to Outcomes After Traumatic Brain Injury appeared first on People Behind the Science Podcast.
41 min
June 29, 2020 560: Dr. Joe Baio: Characterizing Biological Surfaces and Creating New Biomimetic Materials
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Dr. Joe Baio is an Assistant Professor in the School of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering at Oregon State University. He received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Washington. Afterwards, Joe was awarded an NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship to conduct research in the Department of Molecular Spectroscopy at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, in Mainz, Germany. He joined the faculty at Oregon State University in 2013. Joe was the recipient of the Dorothy M. and Earl S. Hoffman Scholarship from the AVS 58th International Symposium, the PhD Student Award for Outstanding Research from the Society for biomaterials, and the STAR Award from the Society for Biomaterials. In our interview, Joe will share more about his life and research.
People Behind the Science Podcast Show Notes
Life Outside of Science (2:24)
To clear his mind and get a break from the stresses of work, Joe enjoys cycling on local trails and going surfing on the nearby Oregon coast with his neighbor.
The Scientific Side (3:23)
In the lab, Joe studies how materials function in the natural world to determine if principles from natural materials can be applied to solve important problems in medicine, biotechnology, engineering, and other fields. In particular, Joe is interested in understanding the characteristics and interactions on the surfaces of materials. Surfaces of interest range from cell membranes to artificial hips to sticky frog tongues.
A Dose of Motivation (7:10)
“80% of success is just showing up.” – Woody Allen
What Got You Hooked on Science? (11:05)
Joe was a curious kid, and he enjoyed taking things apart – though he wasn’t always able to get them back together again! His family members generally had more technical, blue collar jobs, and Joe was the first in his family to go to college. He started as a chemistry major because he had done well in chemistry in high school. However, when Joe heard that engineering might be a more lucrative career path, he changed his major to chemical engineering. During college, Joe had a work study job in the clean room of the microfabrication lab at UC, Berkeley. Working in the lab introduced him to other faculty members and showed him that research could be a viable career, but Joe still didn’t have a plan for what he wanted to do after graduation. He accepted a position working with Dr. Sheila Patek on projects related to bio-inspired design, bioengineering, and biomaterials. The research was a great fit for Joe’s interests, and Sheila really encouraged him to consider graduate school and becoming an academic researcher. This set Joe on the path of becoming an independent investigator.
The Low Points: Failures and Challenges (24:03)
In science, everything you do is assessed. Your teaching, grants, papers, and other work products all go through peer review. This means that you are going to get a lot of constructive and negative feedback on your work, and it is easy to get burnt out and focused only on the negative feedback. This is a struggle, but successful scientists have to be able to move on. After submitting 10 National Science Foundation grant proposals in a row that were all rejected, Joe decided to spend one summer getting back in the lab to do experiments himself. This was a great experience, and he has tried to block off time to work in the lab every summer since then. During that first summer in the lab, Joe was able to collect preliminary data for one of the projects he had proposed, and the next time he submitted the grant, it was funded.
A Shining Success! (27:53)
The biggest successes for Joe have been seeing the students he works with becoming independent scientists. The first PhD student in Joe’s lab was focusing on a particular project for his dissertation but also launched his own side project. The student came up with the idea for the experiment, collected data, tested a great hypothesis, and then brought the findings to Joe. It was a cool project, the student published a paper on it, and it was great for Joe as a new mentor and PI to see that his student was developing important skills for becoming a successful independent investigator.
Book Recommendations (29:33)
Canada by Richard Ford and Barbarian Days by William Finnegan
Most Treasured Travel ( 31:36)
One of Joe’s favorite places to visit for science is the National Synchrotron Light Source at Brookhaven National Lab (BNL). This is a huge stadium-sized research facility where they spin electrons in a big ring to produce the x-rays Joe’s team uses to study proteins, material structures, and surface structures. Joe’s very first visit to BNL was in graduate school, and now he and members of his lab typically visit the facility once each year. While there, it is fantastic to catch up with colleagues, collect data, and talk about spectroscopy.
Quirky Traditions and Funny Memories (35:56)
When doing experiments, it is not uncommon for unexpected events to occur. Joe will never forget the time one of his students visited a lab in Germany to collect data on the sticky proteins in the mucus on frog tongues. To run the analysis to characterize the mucus, they needed to get the frog to stick its tongue on a glass prism. During the experiment, the student held a fly behind the grass prism to trick the frog into striking the glass with its tongue. Unfortunately, in the very first trial, the student wasn’t holding onto the prism tightly enough, and the frog managed to snatch the prism out of their hand and eat it. Joe woke up that morning to find a strange email in his inbox, and he quickly called the student and his collaborator in Germany. In the end, the frog regurgitated the prism and was fine, the experiment worked, and all was well.
Advice For Us All (41:02)
Remember that even if your research is extraordinary, it won’t have a big impact if you can’t find a way to share it. Successful scientists are always sharing their work through papers, presentations, and conversations with the public. You’ll likely never feel like a project is truly completed, but at some point, you just have to put it out in the world. Also, successful scientists are good at presenting data in creative ways. Being a skilled communicator is key to being successful in science. In addition, your interests may change over time, and it is important to be okay with this. Learn a set of skills that will allow you to explore the fields you are curious about. Finally, try to always surround yourself with interesting people.
Guest Bio
Joe’s research interests center around two threads: the characterization of biological interfaces, and the development of biomimetic materials. The Baio lab’s long-term goal is to identify the full spectrum of chemical interactions between biological surfaces and the environment, by developing and applying state of the art surface analytical techniques to characterize biomaterial interfaces. The chemical structure of any material’s surface dictates how it will interact with its environment. For example, when biomedical materials are placed within a patient, that object’s surface properties trigger the body’s reaction. Yet, a central challenge to identifying surface properties arises because of the difficulties applying surface analytical techniques to probe the chemistry of biological surfaces. The Baio group uses techniques that provide the conformation, orientation and structure of small molecules, lipids, proteins and DNA at the air-water interface, on polymer substrates, or within large tissue samples. Joe’s work to date has impacted disciplines as diverse as cell biology, bio-sensor research, and material science.
The post 560: Dr. Joe Baio: Characterizing Biological Surfaces and Creating New Biomimetic Materials appeared first on People Behind the Science Podcast.
44 min
June 22, 2020 559: Dr. Ileana Soto: Determining How Disruptions in Brain Development Lead to Neurological and Neurodevelopmental Disorders
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Dr. Ileana Soto is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences at Rowan University. She received her BS in general sciences and her PhD in biology from the University of Puerto Rico. Afterwards, she conducted postdoctoral research at Johns Hopkins University and The Jackson Laboratory before joining the faculty at Rowan University. Ileana was recently recognized for her work with the receipt of a National Science Foundation CAREER Award. In our interview, Ileana shares more about her life and research.
People Behind the Science Podcast Show Notes
Life Outside of Science (2:19)
When Ileana isn’t doing research or teaching, she enjoys going out to dinner and spending quality time with friends and family. Ileana also always looks forward to road trips with her family where they can visit new places, explore nature, hike, ride bikes, and recharge.
The Scientific Side (3:54)
In her lab, Ileana is studying how disruption of brain development leads to neurological and neurodevelopmental disorders. Her goal is to identify defects at the cellular level before signs and symptoms of the disease can be detected. These defects may be promising targets for early treatment and prevention. Much of Ileana’s work focuses on Niemann-Pick disease type C. This is a rare neurodegenerative disease that causes dementia in children.
A Dose of Motivation (7:40)
“Don’t get discouraged by how little you have.”
What Got You Hooked on Science? (13:46)
Since she was a kid, Ileana was curious and interested in science. She was born with a congenital heart condition that required her to go in for open heart surgery when she was six years old. As a result, Ileana was exposed to doctors and hospitals, and she began to relate science with medicine. Ileana didn’t realize that being a scientist was a career option, so she planned to pursue medical school to become a doctor. During her third year of college, a friend encouraged Ileana to interview for a part time research position so they could work in the lab together. At first, Ileana said no, but her friend was persistent. Finally, Ileana agreed to go to the interview, but she was still not sure she wanted the job. During the interview, the principal investigator of the lab treated Ileana like she had already accepted the position, so Ileana felt like she couldn’t turn it down. Working in the lab was an amazing experience, and Ileana had a chance to do research and see what a career in science could be like. In the end, her friend decided to go to medical school, but Ileana fell in love with science and changed her career path.
The Low Points: Failures and Challenges (22:01)
As a postdoc, Ileana worked in a big lab on a project that involved a particular mouse model. It took ten months for the disease of interest to develop in the mice, and many mice were needed for the experiments. On top of the time-intensive work, the projects she planned weren’t working out. Fortunately, Ileana was able to contribute to some of the successful projects that others in the lab were working on, but she wasn’t producing papers as a first author. Ileana wasn’t sure what to do. She didn’t want to extend her time in the lab and start a completely new project, but she also knew she wouldn’t be competitive for a faculty position without first author papers. Ileana applied for many different industry jobs, faculty jobs, and visiting teaching positions, but she didn’t get any job offers. At the same time, one of her colleagues from the lab accepted a position at The Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine. Ileana congratulated him on this exciting opportunity to start his own lab, and he asked how her job search was going. When Ileana told him she didn’t have anything lined up yet, he offered her a one year position to help her get his lab started, train new people, and get teaching experience. Ileana happily accepted. While there, the projects started going really well, they got more funding, and Ileana was able to stay longer to do what she needed to do to become competitive for a faculty position. She had thought her scientific career was over, but Ileana was able to turn everything around in just a few years.
A Shining Success! (28:08)
Ileana was so excited when she got a grant from the National Institutes of Health to support research projects with the undergraduate students in her lab. At the same time, she learned about the National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award. This award sounded like a great opportunity because it was a five year award that also emphasized education. However, almost all of Ileana’s research was focused on answering biomedical science questions, and everyone she spoke with told her that these types of projects wouldn’t be a good fit for NSF funding. Ileana worked very hard on her proposal, and she proposed a project that really emphasized investigating basic biological questions and mechanisms related to her biomedical work. She suspected her proposal wouldn’t be accepted, but she knew she had to apply soon before she was no longer eligible for this early career award. To her surprise, Ileana’s proposal was funded on the first submission, and having this support has been critical for keeping her lab going during the global pandemic.
Book Recommendations (31:20)
Facing Your Giants: God Still Does the Impossible by Max Lucado
Most Treasured Travel (34:51)
Making the decision to move to Bar Harbor, Maine to work as a postdoc with Gareth Howell at The Jackson Laboratory was difficult. Ileana grew up in Puerto Rico where it was warm year round, and she was dreading the isolation and cold winters up north. Though the winters were tough, the summers in Bar Harbor were amazing. It is a beautiful place, and Ileana fell in love with hiking in Acadia National Park. This experience ended up being a great opportunity to see a new place and meet new people, and it helped prepare her for the next big step of her career.
Quirky Traditions and Funny Memories (37:21)
For Ileana, the lab is like a family. When working in Gareth Howell’s lab, they often sang out loud and danced to music in the lab. The Howell lab also made it a tradition to participate in an annual fundraiser to support the Alzheimer’s Association. This involved biking, hiking, and other activities, and they ended the day hanging out on the patio at Gareth’s house. One year, they put together an elaborately choreographed dance to Katy Perry’s “Firework” song, and it was fun to get everyone dancing together.
Advice For Us All (40:56)
Science is an international endeavor, but much of science is conducted in English. It can be frustrating if English isn’t your first language because you may feel like you sound unintelligent if you can’t express yourself well or easily communicate your science in English. Don’t worry about this. The work you do in the lab is most important, not whether you can speak a particular language perfectly. Ileana went from not being able to speak English at all to teaching in English in an American Institution, so it is possible to overcome communication barriers. Remember that you can triumph over your limitations, lack of resources, and other obstacles you encounter. Success is not easy, you have to work hard, and you will fail. Learn from your failures, do better next time, and be grateful for what you have.
Guest Bio
Ileana’s research is mainly focused on finding and understanding altered cellular and molecular mechanisms during neurodevelopment that precede and lead to neurodevelopmental or neurological disorders. Recent work in her laboratory using a mouse model for the Niemann-Pick Type C disease (NPC), a genetic childhood dementia, suggests that developmental defects in glial cells, neuronal structure, and synaptogenesis are prominent but apparently neurologically asymptomatic hallmarks in the cerebellum of NPC mice. Her laboratory is currently investigating potential behavioral deficits that are associated with these developmental defects as well as alterations of metabolic pathways in developmental neurons. Outside of work, Ileana loves the outdoors, especially every summer when she visits Bar Harbor Maine, a place that used to be home and where she can enjoy the beauty of the Acadia National Park and the company of great friends and former colleagues.
The post 559: Dr. Ileana Soto: Determining How Disruptions in Brain Development Lead to Neurological and Neurodevelopmental Disorders appeared first on People Behind the Science Podcast.
47 min
June 15, 2020 558: Dr. Martha Muñoz: Uncovering the Mechanisms Underlying Uneven Rates of Evolution Across Organisms
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Dr. Martha Muñoz is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Yale University. She received her B.A. in biology from Boston University. Afterwards, Martha worked as a Fulbright Research Scholar at the National Museum of Natural Sciences in Madrid, Spain. She was awarded her Ph.D. in Organismic & Evolutionary Biology from Harvard University. Next, Martha conducted postdoctoral research in the Research School of Biology at The Australian National University and subsequently the Department of Biology at Duke University. Prior to accepting her current position at Yale University, Martha served on the faculty in the Department of Biological Sciences at Virginia Tech. Martha has received numerous awards and honors, including the Boston University Department of Biology’s Distinguished Alumni ‘Rising Star’ Award, and a Young Investigator Award from the American Society of Naturalists. She was also named a ‘Scientist to Watch’ by The Scientist Magazine in 2019. In our interview, Martha will tell us more about her life and science.
People Behind the Science Podcast Show Notes
Life Outside of Science (2:31)
For Martha, nature is a wonderful source of peace and inspiration for her research. When she’s not working, she enjoys exploring the outdoors, hiking, seeing amazing views, and observing wildlife. She also spends her free time reading, going to museums, and visiting her family in New York City.
The Scientific Side (4:56)
Martha is an evolutionary biologist who is working to better understand how and why evolution proceeds unevenly across the tree of life. Some features and branches of organisms evolve really quickly, while others remain inert or nearly inert for millions of years. Martha’s research is uncovering the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon, and she has discovered that behavior is a key architect of evolution. Through their behavior, organisms may expose themselves to greater natural selection (which accelerates evolution) or shield themselves from selection (which slows evolution), thus shaping the trajectory of their evolution.
A Dose of Motivation (7:26)
“He who walks a lot and reads a lot, sees a lot and knows a lot.” – Don Quixote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes
What Got You Hooked on Science? (13:00)
As a kid growing up in a small apartment in New York City, Martha didn’t have a lot of exposure to nature. Her parents were born and raised in Cuba, and they came to the U.S. to seek a better life. To support her interests in nature, Martha’s parents brought her to nearby places like the American Museum of Natural History, the Bronx Zoo, and the Queens Botanical Garden as much as possible. She particularly remembers being awed and inspired while wandering through the halls of the American Museum of Natural History. It was amazing to see the diversity of life that exists today and that existed in the past. However, Martha wanted to see these organisms out in their native habitats in rain forests and coral reefs in the real world. It never occurred to her that she could become a scientist. She initially aspired to a career as a wildlife veterinarian after seeing them on wildlife documentaries. It wasn’t until her first week of college that Martha discovered what scientists did and what being in academia meant. Realizing that she could become a scientist herself and learning about evolution in her introductory biology course changed Martha’s whole career trajectory. Martha was able to get experience working in a lab as a work-study student in her freshman year, and seeing her advisor doing scientific research as an early career woman in science had a big impact. She knew she had to become an evolutionary biologist herself.
The Low Points: Failures and Challenges (30:46)
Much of Martha’s first few years in graduate school were spent pursuing questions and projects that she was already familiar with. She was afraid to step outside of her comfort zone in research because she was afraid to fail. This kept her from trying new and challenging things. For one project, Martha planned to study female choice in a type of lizard and how it impacts speciation. It was a high-risk project and a contentious topic in the literature. Martha designed a neuroscience study where she would examine the activity in particular regions of the lizard brain associated with mate choice, learned some new research methods, and began conducting experiments. Unfortunately, things weren’t working. She was so hesitant to give up on the project because she had invested so much, she didn’t want to fail, and she didn’t want to let her advisor down. Finally, Martha’s advisor had a meeting with her, and he told her that it was time to let that project go. For Martha, getting over her fear of failure took a few years, despite having excellent mentorship and support. However, it was so liberating when she realized that it was okay if things didn’t go as planned in her research.
A Shining Success! (35:01)
Every day that Martha has the opportunity to do science and work on something she is passionate about is a success. When she first started as a faculty member, it was difficult to suddenly take on the new responsibilities of running an independent research lab and managing the people in the lab. This is something that most scientists aren’t really trained to do in graduate school or postdoctoral fellowships. In the past few years, it has been really rewarding to see progress in her mentorship. The students in Martha’s lab are growing their confidence and intellectual independence, and it is exciting to see them transforming into independent intellectual scholars.
Book Recommendations (3:42)
The Trial by Franz Kafka and One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
Most Treasured Travel (38:15)
Martha will never forget her first field expedition in 2005. She visited Indonesia and conducted research on a live-aboard vessel there for a few weeks. They were exploring the coral reefs and sampling different organisms for a genetic study. After spending her childhood in the New York City area and going to college in Boston, this was her first experience being completely immersed in nature. The first time she jumped into the water, there were two large humphead wrasse fish about ten feet away from her, and it felt so different from the world she knew. One morning while Martha was snorkeling in the shallows, she realized that there were no houses or people visible on the nearby shore. Everything was so quiet. Suddenly, the local call to prayer resounded through the air, its beautiful song joining the sounds of the water and the birds. Another moment from this trip that Martha will never forget was going on a night dive. She was relatively new to scuba, so diving in the dark was intimidating. The dive master instructed Martha that after they were about 30 feet under the surface, he would make a signal over his flashlight, and this was Martha’s cue to turn off her own flashlight. When that moment came, Martha hesitated. It was the middle of the night, and without her light, she couldn’t see the surface above her or the ocean floor below. She finally switched off her flashlight. After a few moments, she was captivated by a dazzling display of bioluminescent larvae. The entire sea around her seemed to light up with hues of blue, orange, and pink.
Quirky Traditions and Funny Memories (43:35)
Over the years, Martha has had a wonderful time with her colleagues in science. She has enjoyed crafting costumes and dressing up as her study organisms for Halloween, as well as other great lab traditions. Whenever she attends a scientific conference, she looks forward to hearing the presentations and engaging with the people in her research field, as well as getting together with fellow scientists outside of the main conference events. During field research, Martha works really hard, but she also makes sure to plan activities outside of work like enjoying a good meal, meeting local people, going out to restaurants, and going dancing. She did her dissertation research in the Dominican Republic, and it was fun to explore the natural beauty there, make friends, go out dancing, and make memories around the science she was doing.
Advice For Us All (47:47)
When you don’t look like the typical scientist or researcher in your field, it is easy to feel alienated or feel like you need to change who you are or how you interact with the world in order to be successful. You don’t need to change yourself to fit into science. By being in science and being yourself, you are making science broader. From her grandmother, Martha learned what it is to feel loved and how to love unconditionally. She learned the value of hard work and determination from her mother. Martha’s grandaunt taught her how to face adversity and to find hope and happiness in really difficult times. From her aunt, she learned how to fathom the impossible and believe she could achieve the boldest of her dreams. Make sure to surround yourself with people who lift you up and bring out your best. Always try to give your best to the people around you as well.
Guest Bio
Evolution is not a uniform process: in some cases, evolution happens at warp speed, whereas in others it is surprisingly sluggish. Martha’s research centers on discovering the motors and brakes of evolution. She integrates approaches in behavioral ecology, comparative phylogenetics, and biomechanics to uncover the pacemakers for evolution. She discovers how animals interact with their environments, and why those interactions scale up to repeatable patterns over deep evolutionary time. Her discoveries inform contemporary issues like global climate change and bioinspired engineering. If you’d like to learn more about Martha’s research, she is giving a talk on August 12th for EvoEcoSeminars, a digital platform providing free access to scientific research. Outside the lab, Martha enjoys spending time outdoors, hiking and camping. Her hobbies include travel, dance, and tabletop games. In her free time, she is likely to be found at a natural history museum, at home with a book, or trekking outdoors with her German Shepherd. She regularly flocks to her hometown, New York City, to visit family, and she loves spending quality time with her niece.
The post 558: Dr. Martha Muñoz: Uncovering the Mechanisms Underlying Uneven Rates of Evolution Across Organisms appeared first on People Behind the Science Podcast.
52 min
June 08, 2020 557: Dr. Wesley Gilson: Applying Artificial Intelligence to Improve Healthcare
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Dr. Wes Gilson is Artificial Intelligence Lead for North America at Siemens Healthineers. He was awarded his B.S. in biomedical engineering from Vanderbilt University and his Ph.D. in biomedical engineering and medical imaging from the University of Virginia. Afterwards, Wes conducted postdoctoral research at Johns Hopkins University before joining the team at Siemens. In our interview, Wes will tell us more about his life and science.
People Behind the Science Podcast Show Notes
Life Outside of Science (1:54)
When he’s not at work, Wes enjoys quality time with his two teenage daughters. He also spends his free time traveling, exploring the outdoors, hiking, camping, and playing sports like soccer, basketball, and tennis. Recently, Wes has been taking scuba lessons with the goal of diving on the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia.
The Scientific Side (3:31)
Wes and his colleagues use artificial intelligence in the context of healthcare to gain insights on how to improve treatments for patients and how to improve the ways in which clinicians can deliver care. Wes is trained in medical imaging, and he looks at healthcare data in different ways to learn how they can improve healthcare outcomes and help patients recover faster.
A Dose of Motivation (8:06)
“The true sign is intelligence is not knowledge, but imagination.” – Albert Einstein
What Got You Hooked on Science? (11:43)
As far back as he can remember, Wes always asked questions about how things worked. His father was a professor of agriculture, and his mom was in elementary education, so Wes grew up in an environment that valued learning and curiosity. In high school, Wes learned chemistry and physics from an exceptional teacher who had a way of making science fun and making students look at the world differently. This teacher guided Wes to pursuing biomedical engineering in college. During college, Wes’s interests in physiology, engineering, and scientific applications in medicine deepened, and he had an opportunity to do an internship in medical imaging at Washington University in St. Louis. This influential internship and the people he met there led him to study medical imaging in graduate school and ultimately led to him joining the team at Siemens years later.
The Low Points: Failures and Challenges (24:09)
Wes previously worked on labeling, implanting, and tracking a type of stem cells, called mesenchymal stem cells, in models of heart attack. The experiments he was doing in the lab were very intricate. They had many steps that occurred over multiple hours, so there were a lot of different points at which mistakes could occur. There were numerous times when he would go through all the steps of an experiment, but in the end, it didn’t work. These situations were failures, but they were also learning opportunities. Through perseverance, attention to detail, and working with excellent colleagues, Wes was able to troubleshoot issues and make it through the experiments.
A Shining Success! (26:02)
As a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins, Wes and his mentor encountered issues with delivering therapeutics in a way that would ensure the concentration of the therapeutics was high enough to have an impact. He spent weeks and months adjusting his protocols until finally the protocol was a success. After spending so much time trying to solve a particular problem, it was so rewarding to find the one step along the way that made all the difference. The first time the experiment worked was so exciting, and it was wonderful to be able to share this success with the team he was working with so everyone could benefit from it.
Book Recommendations (27:49)
Prediction Machines: The Simple Economics of Artificial Intelligence Book by Ajay Agrawal, Avi Goldfarb, and Joshua Gans
Most Treasured Travel (28:59)
As a global company, working at Siemens has allowed Wes to foster exciting collaborations with people around the world. Some of the most memorable places he has visited have been Japan and Turkey. Going to Japan to participate in a collaborative research opportunity in the area of minimally invasive image-guided surgery was particularly meaningful. Wes had visited Japan in middle school as an exchange student, and it was fantastic to have the opportunity to return there. During his travels in Japan, Wes has enjoyed meeting with amazing scientists, sampling great food, and exploring beautiful cultural sites in Tokyo, Fukushima, and Kyoto.
Quirky Traditions and Funny Memories (32:22)
When he was working in the corporate research group at Siemens, he and his colleagues had fun pulling small, harmless pranks on each other. One of their team members often forgot his coffee mug at the Keurig machine in the break room, and he would come back for it later in the day once he realized it was missing. After discovering the mug unattended one day, someone decided to add some tabasco sauce to spice up their colleague’s coffee. Everyone knew when the person returned to claim his cup later because they could hear him yelling from the break room after drinking the spicy coffee. On another occasion, they boxed up everything in a team member’s cubicle and put it by the door, so that the person thought they had been fired when they came in to work. Another memorable prank was when they received a large shipment of paper towels for the office. They unboxed the towels and filled a team member’s cubicle with all of the towels and boxes. However, before the person came in for the day, they were notified that the company’s CEO would be arriving soon for a visit. It became a mad scramble to clean everything up, so the person never got to experience the prank. While Wes was visiting the University of Würzburg in Germany as a graduate student, he was able to see a PhD student in the department successfully defend her PhD dissertation. They had a tradition there where the newly minted PhD was pulled through the halls in a wagon while the faculty, staff, and students cheered her on. It was wonderful to see everyone in the building celebrating her success. These examples show how different groups Wes has worked with incorporate fun and a sense of humor into the important scientific work they are doing.
Advice For Us All (38:27)
Do what you love, whether it is science or not. A day without passion for whatever you love is a lost day.
Guest Bio
Wes’s role at Siemens Healthineers focuses on exploring how artificial intelligence can improve healthcare and healthcare delivery. His expertise draws from his experience in basic science and industrial engineering laboratories, as well as clinical hospital departments. Most recently, Wes and colleagues at Siemens Healthineers are investigating and developing new methods based on traditional and deep machine learning to improve diagnostic imaging and clinical decision support. Outside of work, Wes enjoys the outdoors, sports of all types and new adventures. He also likes to sprinkle in time for sporadic home improvement projects. However, his greatest joy is spending time with his two daughters, whether it be playing a ball game in the yard, grappling with a jigsaw puzzle, duking it out in a board game, or cuddling up on the couch with a good movie.
The post 557: Dr. Wesley Gilson: Applying Artificial Intelligence to Improve Healthcare appeared first on People Behind the Science Podcast.
41 min
June 01, 2020 556: Dr. Robert Dudley: Creating New Therapeutics to Treat Testosterone Deficiency
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Dr. Robert Dudley is President and CEO at Clarus Therapeutics, Inc. and is a clinical pharmacologist and board-certified toxicologist. He received his B.S. degree in biology from Pepperdine University, his M.S. in biology from the University of New Mexico, and his PhD in Pharmacology and Toxicology from the University of Kansas School of Medicine. Prior to founding Clarus Therapeutics, Bob served as the President, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Anagen Therapeutics, a University of Chicago affiliated company. He has also previously served as President & CEO of Unimed Pharmaceuticals a public company that became a subsidiary of Solvay Pharmaceuticals. He started his career in the pharmaceutical industry at Abbott Laboratories. In our interview, Bob shares more about his life and science.
People Behind the Science Podcast Show Notes
Life Outside of Science (2:28)
Bob and his wife enjoy building new houses together because they love choosing the details and design of their home. Some of Bob’s other hobbies include reading, golfing, and cycling. Riding his bike along the scenic trails in Tennessee is a great way to enjoy quiet time, think, and get exercise.
The Scientific Side (5:26)
With a background in clinical pharmacology and toxicology, Bob has dedicated his career to developing new drugs to promote men’s health. Over the years, Bob has worked on developing a variety of testosterone products, including the first testosterone gel and an oral testosterone replacement drug.
A Dose of Motivation (9:44)
“Chance favors the prepared mind.” – Louis Pasteur
What Got You Hooked on Science? (13:21)
Biology has captivated Bob for as long as he can remember. Initially, he planned to go to medical school to become a physician. However, after graduating both high school and college early, Bob was told during a medical school interview that he was too young to be admitted. At the same time, Bob had applied to graduate school, and he was selected to participate in a new master’s degree program at the Inhalation Toxicology Research Institute and the University of New Mexico. The opportunity was a three year commitment, and he wouldn’t be permitted to apply to medical school during that time. During graduate school, Bob realized that he really enjoyed research, and he ultimately decided not to apply to medical school. Instead, he chose to pursue a PhD in Pharmacology and Toxicology which allowed him to blend his interests in basic science and medicine.
The Low Points: Failures and Challenges (24:17)
To demonstrate their testosterone replacement drug was effective, Bob and his colleagues had to meet a particular threshold for the average concentration of testosterone in the blood over a treatment period. For most drug delivery methods (e.g. injection or pill), there is an initial spike in the concentration of a drug in the blood followed by a drop-off in the concentration. While they were developing their testosterone replacement pill, the FDA mandated a limit to the peak concentrations of testosterone permitted in the blood after treatment due to concerns about negative side effects or adverse events. This complicated development of the drug because increasing the magnitude of the peak testosterone concentration is one way to help reach the threshold for average concentration in the blood over time. However, Bob and his team managed to overcome this hurdle. In a subsequent meeting, Bob was faced with another challenge because the FDA clinicians and scientists raised concerns that, based on preliminary data, their drug did not meet their threshold for a new endpoint called concordance. After reviewing and reanalyzing the data, Bob and his team realized that the FDA had left out an important part of the story, and when this was taken into account, concordance for their drug did meet the necessary thresholds. Persistence was key in surmounting all of the barriers they faced in developing this drug.
A Shining Success! (30:02)
The development of AndroGel was an exciting success for Bob and his colleagues. In the early 1990s, they started considering the idea of a topical gel treatment for men with low testosterone. Though it took a lot of hard work over a number of years, it was extremely rewarding to take this product from the idea stage through FDA approval. AndroGel went on to become a very successful therapy.
Book Recommendations (4:04)
The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee, The Language of God by Francis Collins, and The Ragged Edge of Night by Olivia Hawker
Most Treasured Travel (32:47)
Bob’s work has opened doors for him to travel all over the world. For example, he had the opportunity to visit China a few times, and he was fascinated by the culture there. In addition, he has been to many countries throughout Europe for science as well.
Quirky Traditions and Funny Memories (35:18)
No matter how many years have passed, Bob still enjoys reunions with the people from his graduate school class. They shared so many funny memories that still make him laugh years later. Though the group at Clarus Therapeutics doesn’t have any quirky traditions, Bob hopes to one day take the team out for an exhilarating sailing excursion to celebrate their successes.
Advice For Us All (38:54)
Take risks, step outside of your comfort zone, and don’t be afraid to do things that are different. When you make a decision, focus forward, and don’t wallow in what could have been. In life and in science, you have to know when to change course. Don’t be so attached to a particular approach or path that you aren’t open to changing direction when it makes sense. Also, have hope, think beyond yourself, and be persistent.
The post 556: Dr. Robert Dudley: Creating New Therapeutics to Treat Testosterone Deficiency appeared first on People Behind the Science Podcast.
42 min
May 25, 2020 555: Dr. Mariana Byndloss: Investigating How Disruptions in the Gut Microbiome Impact Intestinal Epithelial Cells and Lead to Disease
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Dr. Mariana Byndloss is Assistant Professor of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Mariana earned her DVM, MSc in veterinary pathology, and PhD in veterinary pathology from the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG) in Brazil. She was awarded the Brazilian National Prize for best PhD thesis in Veterinary Medicine. Afterwards, Mariana conducted postdoctoral research at the University of California, Davis before joining the faculty at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. In our interview, Mariana will tell us more about her life and science.
People Behind the Science Podcast Show Notes
Life Outside of Science (2:16)
Mariana loves animals, and she spends a lot of her free time with her dog and new puppy. They are both German Shorthair Pointers, and she trains them to hunt and to participate in American Kennel Club competitions. Mariana also enjoys quality time with her husband and son, listening to live music, and exploring all the great restaurants in Nashville.
The Scientific Side (4:04)
Research in Mariana’s lab investigates how the bacteria that live inside our gut can affect our health. She is interested in how things like diet, antibiotics, or infection may change how our body behaves. This, in turn, can change how the bacteria in our gut behave and lead to disease.
A Dose of Motivation (5:11)
“Be the change you want to see in the world.” – Mahatma Gandhi
What Got You Hooked on Science? (8:58)
Mariana was exposed to science early, and she had the opportunity to take classes in physics, chemistry, and biology in high school. She had an excellent physics teacher, and her interest in biology was sparked when she began learning more about evolution and genetics. Though Mariana knew she was interested in biology, she didn’t know what career she wanted to pursue. At the time, Mariana’s sister was in veterinary school, and she encouraged Mariana to follow the same path because it would combine Mariana’s love of biology with a useful clinical degree. Mariana got involved in research as an undergraduate student, and she had a phenomenal experience. Her advisor was an excellent veterinary pathologist, mentor, and researcher, and she continued working with him for her master’s and PhD degrees.
The Low Points: Failures and Challenges (19:16)
In graduate school, Mariana studied a bacterial pathogen that required her to work in a biosafety level 3 (BSL-3) laboratory. These labs must be closed periodically for standard decontamination procedures, cleaning, and inspection by the Center for Disease Control (CDC). Though these are predictable events, they can be really disruptive to research. The bacteria Mariana was working with was slow-growing, and it was frustrating not to be able to work in the lab for 3-4 months when she needed to finish her experiments to complete her degree. To cope with the situation, Mariana and her colleagues started new projects using other microbes to have something to work on while their main lab was closed.
A Shining Success! (21:46)
Having established her lab relatively recently, one of the most exciting successes for Mariana has been seeing her early trainees learn and grow as scientists. To study gut microbes in animal models, Mariana’s lab collects fecal samples and analyzes the microbes from these samples. The first PhD student to join Mariana’s lab had not done much work previously with animal models, and Mariana will never forget when the student rushed to her office to celebrate the first time she successfully collected a fecal sample from a mouse. Since this early victory, the student has gone on to publish a great review paper and win an award for best poster at a local conference. It has been so rewarding to see her student succeeding in science. To celebrate successes, Mariana’s lab gets together for lab happy hours, parties, or delicious Brazilian cuisine at Mariana’s house.
Book Recommendations (24:42)
Let Them Eat Dirt: Saving Your Child from an Oversanitized World Book by Brett Finlay and Marie-Claire Arrieta and any book by Amyr Klink
Most Treasured Travel (26:21)
A few years ago, Mariana visited Germany to attend a conference on Salmonella pathogenesis. During this trip, she was delighted to have a chance to meet many great European scientists in her field. In addition, Mariana’s husband and son accompanied her on the trip. Once the conference ended, they were able to do some sightseeing and visit the city of Prague in the Czech Republic. Mariana enjoyed seeing firsthand the amazing historic sites and architecture in Berlin and Prague.
Quirky Traditions and Funny Memories (29:31)
One thing Mariana loves to do with colleagues is get together over a cup of coffee to talk about life. In a previous lab, Mariana and her fellow lab members rented a boat and spent the day hanging out at a nearby lake, swimming, and barbecuing. On another occasion, she and her colleagues rented a house in the mountains for a lab ski trip. These outings were excellent opportunities to get to know the people she worked with, talk about science, and share their interests outside science as well. In her current lab, Mariana and her trainees often go out for lab lunches or meet up for happy hour after a long day. They also look forward to an annual lab hike and picnic each spring.
Advice For Us All (33:30)
A day spent in the library can save you months in the lab. Taking the time to read and really understand the literature gives you a sense of what experiments have been done already, as well as helps you understand your results and why things may not have turned out as you expected. Keep working, and try not to give up in the face of failure. In science, there is a lot of failure and disappointment. When you start to see failure as an opportunity to grow, it helps you become a better scientist.
Guest Bio
We are just starting to understand how the gut microbiota, the largest microbial community inhabiting our body, may contribute to health and disease. Mariana’s research proposes to establish novel molecular mechanisms that link a functional imbalance in the gut microbiota (aka: dysbiosis) with the pathogenesis of human disease. Her expertise comes from a variety of fields such as molecular biology, microbiology, immunology, pathology, and preclinical mouse models of human disease. Mariana is particularly interested in how inflammation-mediated changes in gut epithelial metabolism may lead to gut dysbiosis and increased risk of non-communicable diseases (e.g.: obesity, colorectal cancer, and cardiovascular disease) and of infectious gastroenteritis caused by the bacterial pathogen Salmonella enterica. When not in the lab, Mariana loves to spend time trying new restaurants in Nashville or exploring the outdoors with her family and her German Shorthaired Pointers Kweli and Serena. As a true Brazilian, she will never say no to watching a good soccer game while enjoying some Brazilian barbecue or feijoada.
The post 555: Dr. Mariana Byndloss: Investigating How Disruptions in the Gut Microbiome Impact Intestinal Epithelial Cells and Lead to Disease appeared first on People Behind the Science Podcast.
37 min

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