People Behind the Science Podcast

By Dr. Marie McNeelyScience

People Behind the Science Podcast episodes

May 18, 2020 554: Dr. Dylan Edwards: Using Rehabilitation Robotics and Noninvasive Brain Stimulation to Promote Recovery After Brain Injury
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Dr. Dylan Edwards is Director of the Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute (MRRI) as well as an Institute Scientist and Director of the Human Motor Recovery Laboratory there. In addition, he is Professor of Neuroscience at Edith Cowan University in Australia, and Faculty at Harvard Medical School’s Continuing Medical Education Program in Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation. Dylan received a B.App.Sci. degree with a focus in exercise physiology from Edith Cowan University in Australia and a B.S. degree in Physical Therapy from Curtin University of Technology in Australia. He was awarded his PhD in clinical neurophysiology at the Centre for Neuromuscular and Neurological Disorders at the University of Western Australia (now the Perron Institute for Neurological and Translational Sciences), and he conducted postdoctoral research there afterwards. Prior to joining the team at MRRI, Dylan served as Director of the Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation Laboratory at Burke Neurological Institute, and was Associate Professor of Clinical Neurophysiology at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York.
People Behind the Science Podcast Show Notes
Life Outside of Science (2:40)
When he’s not at work, you can find Dylan hanging out with his family, enjoying fantastic food, playing the guitar, observing nature, traveling, and thinking about the future of technology and human civilization. He stays active through running and hitting the waves at his favorite surfing destinations around the world.
The Scientific Side (4:16)
Dylan is currently balancing multiple roles including leading a talented team of scientists at MRRI, conducting research in his laboratories, sharing his expertise to assist organizations and policymakers, and communicating his work to professional and lay audiences. In his research, Dylan studies the recovery of movement following damage to the nervous system that may occur after stroke or spinal cord injury. He and his team use rehabilitation robots to assess and train motor function. They also apply noninvasive stimulation to test the circuitry of the nervous system and as an experimental treatment to augment function.
A Dose of Motivation (6:28)
“I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul.” from Invictus by William Ernest Henley
What Got You Hooked on Science? (9:56)
When Dylan began studying exercise physiology and physical therapy in college, he never envisioned that he would become a scientist. His interest in research was piqued in the early 1990s when he was invited to be involved in a project using a technique called transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) that could test the connection between the brain and muscles. In this project, they examined the representation of skilled muscles in elite racket players to see if there were differences between the dominant and non-dominant hands, as well as between the elite athletes and other healthy adults. This research experience led Dylan to think more deeply about the potential clinical applications of brain stimulation and the importance of motor control and skilled movement in people with damage to the nervous system. He decided to embark on further training to study clinical pathophysiology, understand the basis of clinical symptoms observed in clinical populations, and determine how to address those symptoms. Over the years that followed, Dylan worked hard, made the most of the opportunities that arose, and pursued high-impact projects that could help the medical community.
The Low Points: Failures and Challenges (19:56)
In a recent clinical trial, Dylan and his team predicted that chronic stroke patients with a residual arm weakness would experience sustained improvements in arm function after participating in several months of intensive training with rehabilitation robots. They also hypothesized that supplementing rehabilitation robot training with brain stimulation would result in greater improvements. They conducted this clinical trial with a large number of participants, and it was a lot of work over many years. In the end, the results were not what they expected. They were disappointed to discover that there was no added benefit of brain stimulation when applied prior to the robot training sessions. While this aspect of the study was a failure, the team still learned a lot. On average, the patients responded well to both the rehabilitation robot training and the brain stimulation, and both therapies were well-tolerated. Further, participants experienced meaningful improvements in arm function with intervention that was sustained for six months after the intervention, and the team was also able to shed light on biomarkers for predicting how participants may respond to therapy.
A Shining Success! (23:59)
Dylan and his colleagues have developed a noninvasive stimulation technique called spinal associative stimulation that can change the excitability of the spinal cord to make it more responsive to be able to activate muscles. Their research has shown that with a short period of this noninvasive stimulation, they can modify the excitability of the spinal cord in healthy adults. These results are promising, and Dylan’s group is now in the early stages of examining potential clinical applications. In people with spinal cord injury, there is typically some degree of the pathway from the brain to the muscles that remains intact. Unpublished data from Dylan’s lab confirms that they can use spinal associative stimulation to make the pathway from the spinal cord to the muscles more responsive in people with spinal cord injury. This means that weak signals descending from the brain may have more ability to activate muscles in these patients. They are now focusing on how to use the residual connectivity to create a meaningful measure of voluntary motor function in people with spinal cord injury. For now, their preliminary results are a small win, but this work has the potential to have substantial meaningful impact in the future.
Book Recommendations (27:32)
The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester; Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared M. Diamond; The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry; and The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli
Most Treasured Travel (30:34)
Dylan had a phenomenal experience working at the Guttmann Institute in Barcelona. This premier rehabilitation institute is located high on a hill on the periphery of the city, and it was remarkable to be completely immersed in the culture there. Dylan lived in the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona, and the architecture was stunning. While there, he enjoyed sampling the local tapas, listening to classical guitar concerts, walking along the Mediterranean, and running through the hills surrounding Barcelona.
Another memorable destination for Dylan was Rio de Janeiro. He had the opportunity to visit the city through work with the State University there. The university provided housing on Leme Beach which is at the northern end of Copacabana Beach. It was amazing to experience the natural beauty of this fantastic beach surrounded by mountains. When in Rio de Janeiro, Dylan recommends taking a drink from a fresh coconut, soaking up the sun, and exploring outside the city.
Quirky Traditions and Funny Memories (33:12)
As an expert on noninvasive brain stimulation, Dylan has had various opportunities to teach and demonstrate transcranial stimulation techniques. On one occasion, Dylan was providing a demonstration for a famous surgeon in Australia who was interested in the technique. These demonstrations are really striking to watch. The operator holds a wand next to one side of a person’s head, you hear a clicking sound, and then the hand on the opposite side of the person’s body starts to move involuntarily. Dylan began the demonstration, but the surgeon had no response. The brain stimulation didn’t seem to have any effect, and to this day, Dylan still isn’t sure why. It was definitely an awkward moment, but Dylan can laugh about it in hindsight.
Dylan’s lab enjoys being creative in their science, but that creativity also carries over to other areas of life in the lab. They had a Halloween party one year where they decorated the lab with ghosts and other Halloween characters. To take the decor to the next level, the lab members added brain stimulation instruments and other research-related accessories. It looked hilarious, and the party was a lot of fun.
Advice For Us All (38:24)
If you work hard, work smart, consider your environment, anticipate changing trends, be conscious of your fellow humans, think big, and take calculated risks, then you can achieve great things and enjoy the passing of time. Don’t always follow what everyone else is doing. Make sure to think deeply from a balanced perspective, and follow your instincts. Also, try to underpromise and overdeliver. Remember that life and science are like a marathon. There will be hills and headwinds, but keep being productive and moving forward. Keep in mind that it is easy to be busy, but it is difficult to focus on things that really matter. Try to step back and focus on what is most important. If you want to do something, and it is humanly possible, ask yourself “why can’t I do it?” because perhaps you can.
Guest Bio
Dylan’s main research interests focus on understanding and promoting neuroplasticity following neurological injury (stroke, spinal cord injury, and traumatic brain injury), and in particular, using controlled physical rehabilitation (robotics) combined with noninvasive brain stimulation of motor areas. He has a broad background and experience in clinical and basic neuroscience, as well as physical rehabilitation. Dylan’s research uses established and developing technologies to understand control of human voluntary movement and functional recovery following neurological damage. Existing strategies to enhance motor function following stroke are suboptimal, leaving patients with considerable disability. A greater understanding of motor recovery, refinement of existing strategies, and development of new methods is warranted. For example, robotic movement devices represent the most sophisticated interactive rehabilitation systems available, and they are additionally appealing for their ability to quantify various aspects of movement. Further, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is an accepted tool to probe changes that might occur with training; however, Dylan and his team are also studying how noninvasive brain stimulation through TMS or transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) can be used as a promising neuromodulation method to prime the brain for the activity-dependent plasticity induced by training.
The post 554: Dr. Dylan Edwards: Using Rehabilitation Robotics and Noninvasive Brain Stimulation to Promote Recovery After Brain Injury appeared first on People Behind the Science Podcast.
42 min
May 11, 2020 553: Dr. Ada Tang: Examining the Impacts of Exercise on Cardiovascular Health After Stroke
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Dr. Ada Tang is a physical therapist, an Associate Professor in the School of Rehabilitation Science at McMaster University, and a Clinician-Scientist with the Ontario Heart and Stroke Foundation. Ada completed her BSc in Physical Therapy, MSc in Rehabilitation Science, and PhD in Medical Science from the University of Toronto. Afterwards, she was awarded a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Fellowship and conducted postdoctoral research at the University of British Columbia before joining the faculty at McMaster University. In our interview, Ada shares more about her life and science.
People Behind the Science Podcast Show Notes
Life Outside of Science (2:09)
Sport and exercise have always been important in Ada’s life. In addition to studying exercise in the lab, Ada loves being active outdoors. She spends her free time hiking, enjoying nature, and traveling. Ada is also an avid sports fan, and she enjoys watching sporting events, particularly Toronto Raptors basketball games.
The Scientific Side (3:39)
We know that exercise is an important part of healthy living for everyone, but it can be more difficult for people with stroke to exercise as a result of mobility problems and other factors. Unfortunately, exercise is typically not a strong focus in stroke rehabilitation. Ada and her research team are assessing the impacts of exercise on the cardiovascular health of people with stroke, as well as other populations, and they are working to develop safe and effective exercise programs for people with stroke.
A Dose of Motivation (5:03)
Whenever we train, we’re putting money in the bank, and then we cash it out when we need it. The more you are inactive, the more your bank account becomes depleted, and you have less available in reserve. This idea helps motivate Ada to stay active and inspires her research.
What Got You Hooked on Science? (8:33)
Learning about the bones, muscles, and different biological systems within the body during an anatomy class really piqued Ada’s interest in science. She took this class during her senior year of high school, and as a result, she decided to pursue a career in physical therapy. After her physical therapy training, Ada began working as a physical therapist in a teaching hospital. She really enjoyed working with patients and teaching physical therapy students. A passion for teaching led Ada to consider going to graduate school to get a master’s degree. After eight years in her position, Ada took a leave of absence from her job in clinical care and enrolled in graduate school. The transition was seamless because she completed her master’s degree in a lab within the hospital where she had been working. Ada planned to return to her clinical position after finishing her degree, but a fateful conversation with her supervisor about potentially getting a PhD changed everything. Ada realized that she really enjoyed research, and even if she returned to her clinical position, she would still want to be involved in research. This tipped the scales for her, and she decided to pursue a PhD and a career in clinical research.
The Low Points: Failures and Challenges (18:34)
One of the biggest challenges for Ada and so many others lately has been the ongoing global pandemic. The novel coronavirus has had an enormous impact on clinical research and scientists. For example, clinical studies have been suspended, there are fewer interactions with colleagues as a result of conferences and other in-person gatherings being cancelled or postponed, and opportunities for grant funding they have been counting on have been cancelled. Remaining in isolation has been particularly tough for Ada’s close-knit lab group since they no longer have their normal day-to-day interactions. Further, a few of the master’s degree students in the lab planned to defend their theses this fall. With all of their studies suspended, they have had to make major changes to the students’ projects. Through it all, Ada and her students have been tremendously resilient. They have transitioned their lab meetings, journal clubs, advisor meetings, and other interactions to virtual format. They have even been getting together for virtual lab lunches to maintain the collaboration and sense of research community.
A Shining Success! (22:57)
Earlier this year, the very first PhD student from Ada’s lab successfully defended his thesis. Mentorship has been such an important part of Ada’s own training, so it was so exciting to see her student reach this major milestone and to appreciate all of the hard work that went into it. At their university, there is a campus pub called The Phoenix. After a successful thesis defense, it is a tradition for everyone to go to the pub for drinks. The Phoenix has even started a tradition where there is a particular chalice that they use to serve drinks to new PhDs, as well as a book they can sign to commemorate the occasion.
Book Recommendations (24:44)
Letters to My Grandchildren by David Suzuki
Most Treasured Travel (27:40)
One of the most memorable scientific conferences Ada has attended was the World Neurorehab Conference in Melbourne a few years ago. There are phenomenal scientists doing outstanding stroke research in Australia that Ada got to meet while she was there. In addition, Melbourne is a beautiful city, and she enjoyed traveling around Australia afterwards, driving on the Great Ocean Road, and diving on the Great Barrier Reef.
Ada has also had wonderful experiences teaching physical therapy students in Canada and overseas. For example, she has had opportunities to work with physical therapy programs in Kosovo to teach neurorehabilitation and also in Ethiopia to teach spinal cord rehabilitation. It was remarkable to see how the physical therapists operate in these under-resourced settings, and Ada was impressed by their dedication and creativity. These were incredible learning experiences for her as well as for the students there.
Quirky Traditions and Funny Memories (32:04)
When she was a master’s student, Ada was in the lab late one Friday evening wrapping up some work before heading out for the weekend. Everyone else had left already, so she was all alone. Out of the corner of her eye, Ada saw something scurry across the floor. She did not stay to investigate what it was. After quickly shutting down her computer, Ada grabbed her stuff, and she was out the door. On her way home, she sent a text to a fellow lab member to tell her what happened. The first thing her colleague asked was whether Ada had notified facility staff about the creature in the lab. She had not. On Monday morning, Ada’s colleague got to the lab first. She slowly opened the door and looked around. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. She cautiously walked further into the lab, and she still didn’t see anything. When she reached her desk, she pulled out her chair to sit down, and she saw the mouse. Unfortunately, it had passed away under her desk over the weekend, and Ada was in trouble when she arrived later.
Advice For Us All (36:04)
Research participants are incredibly valuable for clinical research. As a clinical researcher, you can work hard, write papers, and get grants, but without research participants, you can’t make progress. Make sure to appreciate research participants and the contributions they make to science. Also, be open to opportunities. Careers in science are wonderful. Even if an opportunity isn’t exactly what you are looking for, it can still lead to great things.
Guest Gio
Ada and the MacStroke Canada research group examine the impact of exercise on cardiovascular health in people with stroke and other populations. Limited mobility following stroke can contribute to physical inactivity and sedentary behaviors, leading to higher risk for developing cardiovascular disease. Exercise and physical activity can help improve many cardiovascular risk factors and may be an effective strategy for primary and secondary prevention for stroke and other health conditions. Exercise is an important part of Ada’s life outside of the lab too. You can usually find her in the forest on a trail, up a mountain, or on the water.
The post 553: Dr. Ada Tang: Examining the Impacts of Exercise on Cardiovascular Health After Stroke appeared first on People Behind the Science Podcast.
40 min
May 04, 2020 552: Dr. Ana Luisa Trejos: Making a Mechatronic Tremor Suppression Glove for People with Parkinson’s Disease
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Dr. Ana Luisa Trejos is an Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering as well as Biomedical Engineering at Western University in Canada. She is also an Associate Scientist at the Lawson Health Research Institute. Ana Luisa was awarded her B.Sc. degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Costa Rica and her M.A.Sc. in mechanical engineering from the University of British Columbia. She worked as an Applications Engineer for Progressive Moulded Products in Ontario from 2000-2003. She then joined the team at Canadian Surgical Technologies & Advanced Robotics at Western University as a research engineer. Ana Luisa later attended graduate school at Western University where she was awarded her Ph.D. degree in electrical and computer engineering in 2012. Ana Luisa has been awarded the IEEE London Section Outstanding Women in Engineering Award and the For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) Canada District Volunteer Appreciation Award. In our interview, Ana Luisa shares more about her life and research.
People Behind the Science Podcast Show Notes
Life Outside of Science (2:43)
When she’s not at work, Ana Luisa enjoys hanging out with her family, reading, putting together jigsaw puzzles, hiking, swimming, and running. She has also been having fun renovating her house, and she has recently been working on completely remodeling one of their bathrooms.
The Scientific Side (4:29)
Ana Luisa’s research is in the area of mechatronic systems engineering. This field combines mechanical, electrical, computer, and software engineering to develop smart machines that can perceive what is happening in the environment and react intelligently. In particular, she is designing wearable mechatronic technologies that can help people recover from mobility problems due to a musculoskeletal injury or a movement disorder like Parkinson’s disease. Her goal is to make these technology solutions more comfortable for users and to restore mobility and quality of life for people with upper body movement impairments.
A Dose of Motivation (6:15)
“We are all smart. Distinguish yourself by being kind.” – Professor Charles Gordon
What Got You Hooked on Science? (9:22)
Seeing her father working as an engineer was an early inspiration for Ana Luisa. He specialized in electrical and mechanical engineering, and Ana Luisa got to see firsthand some of the cool projects he worked on at construction sites. In school, she performed well in math and science, and her father suggested she may want to consider engineering for a career. Ana Luisa studied engineering in college at the University of Costa Rica, but unfortunately the school didn’t have a research program available. As a result, she didn’t have research experience and didn’t really have a strong sense of what it meant to do research when she later entered her master’s degree program at the University of British Columbia. This is where Ana Luisa first got interested in medical robotics. Though she worked in the automotive industry for a few years after graduating, Ana Luisa returned to medical robotics in her next position at Canadian Surgical Technologies and Advanced Robotics. While working there, her supervisor encouraged her to apply to graduate school so that she could pursue her own independent research.
The Low Points: Failures and Challenges (20:14)
Getting her master’s degree was a really difficult experience for Ana Luisa. Enrolling at the University of British Columbia meant moving from her home in Costa Rica all the way to Canada. Further, she was accustomed to getting very direct, explicit feedback from her professors in Costa Rica, so it took time for her to adjust to the very polite and more roundabout feedback her new advisor provided. In addition, she thought that graduate school would be more like her undergraduate curriculum where she took courses, completed assignments, and continued learning about her field of study. This was Ana Luisa’s first exposure to doing research. Ana Luisa was frustrated with her progress and her projects, and finally, she decided that she had to set an end date. She talked to her advisor and said that by that date, she would either defend her thesis or she would leave the program. Ana Luisa bought her plane ticket, and the countdown began. Though she managed to successfully defend her thesis, Ana Luisa felt like the whole experience was a failure. However, her husband and her network of friends helped her get through this tough time, and Ana Luisa was fortunate to find a great fit in her next position.
A Shining Success! (24:41)
Over the years, Ana Luisa has dedicated time to outreach and encouraging young women to consider engineering as a career. She has participated in many outreach events to talk about what engineering is, what the different disciplines are, and what jobs you can get as an engineer. Through these events, she has had a chance to meet and inspire so many students and connect with their families. Recently, Ana Luisa was recognized with two separate awards for her outreach work (the IEEE London Section Outstanding Women in Engineering Award and the For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) Canada District Volunteer Appreciation Award). It was wonderful to feel like her efforts in this area were appreciated, and Ana Luisa hopes to see an increase in the number of women who decide to pursue careers in engineering.
Book Recommendations (3:37)
The Secret Place by Tana French
Most Treasured Travel (29:59)
In 2018, Ana Luisa attended the IEEE Biorobotics and Biomechatronics conference at the University of Twente in Enschede in the Netherlands. The conference was fantastic. It brought together a great group of scientists and engineers who were experts in the field of surgical, medical, and rehabilitation robotics. Ana Luisa’s husband was also participating in the conference, and they brought their children on the trip as well. After the conference concluded, Ana Luisa and her family took extra time to explore museums, small towns, and local cuisine in the Netherlands and Belgium. It was fun to travel with her kids, and they particularly enjoyed the Design Museum Ghent, Gravensteen Castle, and the Mauritshuis Royal Picture Gallery.
Quirky Traditions and Funny Memories (32:09)
During her master’s degree, the lab held a session to collect photos and video of a new robot that they had developed. The robot was designed to automatically move an ultrasound probe along the skin of a person, and Ana Luisa had been invited to serve as the example patient. During the session, the robot moved an ultrasound probe around her neck to capture an image of her carotid artery. It was a very controlled setting, the robot was gentle, and she wasn’t worried about any problems. Her supervisor, on the other hand, was extremely nervous. It was funny to see her supervisor fretting and continuously asking if Ana Luisa was okay. The robot they developed became quite famous, and even 15 years later, Ana Luisa still sees herself in these photos and videos when she goes to listen to presentations about medical robotics. In Ana Luisa’s current lab, they get the group together after work for game nights, races, escape rooms, and other fun activities. Her lab is dedicated to lifelong mobility, so they also plan different fitness challenges to get the group up and moving together as well.
Advice For Us All (37:47)
Be informed and listen to what other people have to say, but ultimately it is up to you to make the final decision. Go with your gut. Try to work on something you are passionate about. Success will come naturally if you are excited about the work you are doing. Also, keep in mind that today is the best day of your life because today is the day you can actually make a difference.
Guest Bio
Ana Luisa’s research is in the field of mechatronic systems engineering, which involves the development of robots and other smart machines. Her work is focused on the development of wearable technologies to restore mobility and increase quality of life for those who suffer daily from an upper body disability. More specifically, she is working on designing mechatronic garments that can be worn on the body and monitor performance while actively providing support. This requires developing both the hardware that gets integrated within clothing, and the software that can intelligently respond to the user. Outside of work, apart from hanging out with her family and friends, Ana Luisa enjoys reading and building jigsaw puzzles. She loves running, hiking, and dancing (mostly Salsa, Cumbia, and Merengue). She also enjoys doing renovation projects in her century-old home.
The post 552: Dr. Ana Luisa Trejos: Making a Mechatronic Tremor Suppression Glove for People with Parkinson’s Disease appeared first on People Behind the Science Podcast.
42 min
April 27, 2020 551: Dr. Tim Behrens: Applying Insights from Human Genetics to Create New Cancer Therapies
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Dr. Tim Behrens is Senior Vice President of Human Genetics at the biotech company Maze Therapeutics and Adjunct Professor of Medicine in Rheumatology at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Tim received his B.S. in biology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and his M.D. from Southern Illinois University School of Medicine. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine and a fellowship in Rheumatology/Immunology at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Afterwards, Tim worked as an emergency room physician at Brookfield Memorial Hospital in Wisconsin for about a year before accepting a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health. Tim joined the faculty at the University of Minnesota Medical School in 1992, and he worked there until 2006 when he accepted the position of Senior Director and Head of the Department of Human Genetics at Genentech, Inc. After over a decade at Genentech, Tim became an independent consultant and later accepted his current position at Maze Therapeutics. Tim has received numerous awards and honors over the course of his career, including recognition for one of the Top 10 Advances in Rheumatology in 2003 and 2004 by the Arthritis Foundation, being named the John F. Finn Arthritis Foundation Land Grant Endowed Chair at the University of Minnesota Medical School, as well as receipt of the Edmund L. Dubois Memorial Award for Research in Lupus from the American College of Rheumatology, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Scholar Award, the Feltl Family Award for Research in Rheumatic Disease, and other honors. In our interview, Tim shares more about his life and science.
People Behind the Science Podcast Show Notes
Life Outside of Science (3:02)
Tim is an avid outdoors enthusiast, and he loves spending his free time canoeing, fishing, and going on wilderness trips. He also enjoys playing the guitar, hanging out with his wife and two children, and playing fetch with the family dogs.
The Scientific Side (4:28)
In his research, Tim is applying lessons and insights from human genetics to develop new drugs for different diseases. For example, Tim and the team at Maze Therapeutics are developing a drug that activates the immune system in new ways to fight cancer.
A Dose of Motivation (8:16)
“Always do the next obvious experiment.” – David Baltimore
What Got You Hooked on Science? (11:36)
When Tim was in high school, he was fortunate to have a phenomenal science teacher. His teacher had been an anatomy professor at a four-year college, and his enthusiasm for science and anatomy was contagious. The class was difficult, but it got Tim interested in science. He decided he wanted to go to medical school to become a family practice doctor. During medical school, Tim had an opportunity to work in a research lab. The experience of designing his own experiments, conducting research, and interpreting his results was thrilling, and it completely changed Tim’s career trajectory. He went on afterwards to accept a postdoctoral position at the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and this further solidified his desire to pursue a career as a physician scientist.
The Low Points: Failures and Challenges (18:14)
While a postdoctoral fellow at the NIH, Tim was trying to identify new genes that were activated in the immune system. This was before the Human Genome Project had been completed, so it was much more complicated to work on human genes at that time. Tim knew that he only had three years for his fellowship, so he had to complete his project quickly, but everything took longer than he expected. Tim spent the first 1.5 years just setting up and finalizing the assays he was using in his research. During this period, he came into the lab every day and struggled to figure out what went wrong in the previous day’s experiments before trying again. Tim was fortunate that his mentor was extremely patient and encouraging. Eventually, he had a few successful experiments, and they were able to identify genetic factors involved in the immune system. From there, he picked one factor to focus on and spent the next 1.5 years studying one gene. Tim worked as hard as he could in the lab until the very last day of his fellowship, and when he left the NIH, he hadn’t published a single paper from his research there. He had a lot of data and some papers in progress, but he still had to work hard to get the work published.
A Shining Success! (21:34)
When Tim on the faculty at the University of Minnesota, he was fortunate to have a talented fellow in rheumatology join his lab. They worked together on one of the early studies to identify genetic factors involved in the disease lupus. It was known that lupus was a genetic disease and that it was more common in women, so they designed a study examining pairs of sisters with lupus. This was in the early 1990s, so Tim and his trainee learned early genetic mapping techniques, and there were a lot of failures along the way. By the late 1990’s, they were able to take advantage of newly available gene expression analyses to measure gene expression in cells from human blood. No one had ever measured all of the genes that are turned on and the RNA that is produced in patients with lupus. Tim and the fellow started with a very small experiment with samples from just 10 patients with lupus and 10 individuals without the disease. This experiment produced the most stunning results he has ever had in his career. Comparing the two groups, there were dozens of genes that were very clearly turned on at much higher levels in individuals with lupus than in people without lupus. They knew they had discovered something really important. As they dug deeper, they discovered that all of the genes they identified were related to interferon type I, a signaling molecule released by cells in response to pathogens. The overexpression of interferons may be one of the fundamental factors driving the disease. Now, there is a lot of research and drug development surrounding blocking interferon in lupus patients. Their pioneering work may lead to a new therapy for patients with lupus who don’t have a lot of therapy options.
Book Recommendations (28:53)
The Genius Biographies: Benjamin Franklin, Einstein, Steve Jobs, and Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson; How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence by Michael Pollan; Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams by Matthew Walker.
Most Treasured Travel (30:51)
Tim was invited to visit Tokyo to give a presentation about his research and meet with faculty at the University of Tokyo. He was excited to bring his twelve year old daughter on this trip, and he was delighted when the graduate students in the lab he visited really took her under their wing. His daughter had incredible tours of Tokyo, got to see so many cool places, and try different restaurants. It was great to spend quality time with his daughter as well, checking out the nearby tempura bars with delicious fresh seafood fried right in front of you.
Quirky Traditions and Funny Memories (33:10)
Beginning over 20 years ago, Tim’s lab developed a tradition of celebrating when laboratory members were ready to move on to the next stage of their career. As part of these lab celebrations, Tim wrote a funny poem to commemorate each individual’s quirks, successes, major disasters, and funny moments in the lab. These poems were memorable and definitely appreciated by his lab members. Towards the end of his academic career, he even started to present the poems through rap and song.
Advice For Us All (38:15)
Everyone should have one or more mentors, and it is surprisingly easy to find a mentor. All you have to do is ask. There are so many scientists who want to give back by supporting early career scientists. Also, if you can be persistent and stay positive, things have a way of turning out okay.
Guest Bio
Tim has more than 25 years of expertise in research of the immune system and the genetics of human disease. Prior to joining the team at Maze, Tim was a senior director at Genentech, where he led new drug development across several therapeutic areas, including research in the discovery of genes and biomarkers that characterize basic disease mechanisms in various autoimmune and other disorders. Prior to his career in industry, Tim served on the faculty at the University of Minnesota, most recently as the John F. Finn Arthritis Foundation Land Grant Endowed Chair. There, he studied the genetics of lupus and basic mechanisms contributing to autoimmunity. Previously, Tim worked in the laboratory of Dr. Louis Staudt at the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland.
The post 551: Dr. Tim Behrens: Applying Insights from Human Genetics to Create New Cancer Therapies appeared first on People Behind the Science Podcast.
41 min
April 20, 2020 550: Dr. Paul Changelian: Developing Novel Drugs to Treat Autoimmune Disease and Inflammation
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Dr. Paul Changelian is Vice President of Biology at Aclaris Therapeutics and Director of Biology at Confluence Discovery Technologies. Paul received his B.S. in chemistry from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and his Ph.D. in immunology from Harvard University in Cambridge. Afterwards, he conducted postdoctoral research in neurobiology at Washington University in St. Louis. Paul then worked in various roles at Pfizer for about 18 years. He served briefly on the faculty at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor before becoming Director of Biology at Lycera Corporation. From 2012 – 2014, Paul served as Senior Director of Pharmacology at Infinity Pharmaceuticals before accepting his current positions. Paul shares more about his life and research in this podcast interview.
People Behind the Science Podcast Show Notes
Life Outside of Science (2:32)
Some of Paul’s passions outside of science include exercising, walking around in nature, and music. He listens to hard rock and jazz music, and he enjoys playing jazz music on the trumpet.
The Scientific Side (3:06)
Paul is working to discover new drugs to treat autoimmune disease and inflammation in conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, and multiple sclerosis. In these conditions, the immune system inadvertently attacks cells in your body. He and his team are working to identify and test small molecule drugs that patients could take by pill that would inhibit this abnormal activation of the immune system to slow down damage to joints or other areas that may be under attack. They have also recently begun working on potential cancer treatments that can impact inflammation around tumors to improve the body’s ability to clear tumors.
A Dose of Motivation (6:40)
Paul is motivated and inspired by a personal connection with his research. As a kid, Paul had a wonderful pediatrician who helped treat his allergies and asthma. She explained to him when he wasn’t feeling well that pollen from the blossoms outside was bothering his lungs. This was Paul’s first introduction to the immune system, and it piqued his interest in science. Later when he was eight years old, one of Paul’s cousins became very sick and passed away. This tragic event, and subsequent experiences his family members had with autoimmune disease, made Paul think more about medicine and how to treat autoimmune disease.
What Got You Hooked on Science? (8:31)
As a result of his childhood interest in science, Paul decided to pursue science in college. Initially he planned on becoming a synthetic organic chemist, but as graduation quickly approached, he began to think more and more about biology. However, he didn’t know how to make a transition to a new field at that point. One of Paul’s professors recommended he speak to Dr. Phillip Sharp at MIT who had made a similar transition himself. Dr. Sharp offered Paul a job as a technician in his lab to get some experience working in the field. Paul didn’t realize that Dr. Sharp was a remarkable scientist who had just finished working on the research that would lead to his receipt of a Nobel Prize in Biology. This was an amazing opportunity. After completing his academic training, Paul accepted a position at Pfizer. The mission for his research group there was to develop a new drug to prevent a patient’s immune system from rejecting a transplanted kidney. The drug most commonly used to prevent rejection of a transplanted organ was known to be toxic to the kidney, so they wanted to find an alternative that wouldn’t destroy the kidney over time. Through this project, Paul and his team discovered that by inhibiting an enzyme called JAK3, they could slow the process of the immune system rejection in kidney transplant. These were Paul’s first forays in drug discovery, and he was captivated by the research.
The Low Points: Failures and Challenges (24:54)
When Paul’s team at Pfizer was trying to develop a drug to prevent the rejection of kidney transplants, it was clear from the beginning that they needed to develop a drug that would inhibit JAK3. However, they also knew that inhibiting JAK enzymes may cause immunosuppression which could hinder people’s ability to fight off infection from viruses, bacteria, or fungi they may be exposed to in everyday life. It became clear from previous studies that there are important immune system differences between captive-bred and wild-caught animals that would impact their initial studies on the safety and efficacy of drugs for transplant rejection. Though it was difficult to convince the team to go this route, the cost was higher, and there were more logistical challenges in doing these studies with wild-caught animals, Paul knew this would increase the likelihood of developing a drug that would be safe and effective in people.
A Shining Success! (31:31)
Though Paul’s work on JAK3 inhibitors started out with the goal of developing a drug to prevent rejection of kidney transplants, they ultimately did not end up proceeding to Phase 3 clinical trials in this patient population. However, Paul and his team began thinking of how this drug may affect the immune system in other conditions, particularly autoimmune disease. They started to investigate using this drug for various autoimmune conditions including rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis, and psoriatic arthritis, and the preliminary results looked promising. The drug could be used to treat these conditions at much lower doses than were needed for kidney transplant patients. After a lot of hard work, the drug tofacitinib was approved for use in these patient populations. Tofacitinib is known by the brand name Xeljanz and was the first new pill-based treatment for rheumatoid arthritis in over ten years. It has been rewarding to hear positive feedback from patients and doctors who appreciate their work developing this drug. Paul and his team led the way in using JAK3 inhibitors to treat autoimmune disease, and now other drug companies and research groups are also developing new treatments in this area.
Book Recommendations (38:07)
All the light we cannot see by Anthony Doerr and Brave Genius: A Scientist, a Philosopher, and Their Daring Adventures from the French Resistance to the Nobel Prize by Sean B. Carroll.
Most Treasured Travel (41:04)
Paul will never forget a whirlwind trip he took with colleagues to various countries in Western Europe to meet with national agencies responsible for overseeing drug approvals and public health (analogous to the FDA in the United States). Being able to see how these similar organizations operate across different countries and cultures was fascinating. He remembers a more relaxed atmosphere in Portugal where their team was served tea and cookies. The environment was less relaxed in England, and the tone of the meeting in Germany was even more serious. Despite the different experiences in each country, the organizations were all interested in the same aspects of the science. The trip had a full itinerary, but Paul was able to spend some time in Hyde Park in London taking in the sights and listening to people on soapboxes.
Quirky Traditions and Funny Memories (43:56)
When Paul was working with Phillip Sharp at MIT, he became friends with wonderful scientists who he continued to keep in touch with over the years. In that lab, they had a running joke about how, as a person of Armenian descent, Paul and his family were enthusiastic about sheep and lamb. When he had an engagement party years later, his friends arrived wearing sheepskin coats. They continued to wear the coats for the duration of the party despite the temperatures exceeding one hundred degrees on that unusually hot and humid July day. Paul appreciated this tribute, and their commitment to the ongoing joke.
When Paul worked at Pfizer, he had an opportunity to participate in their Scientific Ambassadors program. Through this program, he had a chance to talk to patients and hospital groups about his research. It was wonderful to see that people were really interested in hearing about the stories, the successes, and the challenges of drug discovery that he shared. Paul has also done guest presentations in his kids’ science classes at school, and these have been very rewarding as well.
Advice For Us All (51:59)
It is important to read about science and medicine from many sources and different points of view to make balanced decisions. We need more thoughtful discussions and more engagement in scientific thinking in our world today, and helping get more young people excited about science is part of the solution. Read as much as you can and talk to as many people as you can to come to your own decision because the decisions that we make will impact everything in the life of the planet going forward.
Guest Bio
Paul’s introduction to immunology began when he was 5 or 6 years old – in the office of his pediatrician, Dr. Mary Perry. She took the time to explain to me why I always felt so bad when the apple blossoms came out in the orchard adjacent to our home – things flying through the air – my immune system mistaking them for a threat and making immunoglobulin E antibodies. He doubts he completely understood her at such a young age, but it had a huge impact and launched his interest in the immune system, medicine, and physiology. That interest lead to graduate school in Immunology, to Pfizer where his initial focus was finding drugs to block the immune response to a transplanted kidney, to his current efforts on modulating the immune system for autoimmune disease like rheumatoid arthritis, as well as the role of immune system in fighting cancer. When not reviewing the latest set of data delivered by the wonderful scientists in his group at Aclaris – Paul enjoys his family (wife, three kids and first grandchild) in suburban Boston, long walks in the various seasons offered by New England, occasionally playing his trumpet, and working on assembling the history of his grandparents – who escaped the Armenian genocide at the height of World War I to give his family a new life in America. There is, however, solid data that his occasional trumpet playing has led to more than one neighborhood dog trying to bite their own ears off.

Support for this episode of People Behind the Science was provided by BioGenerator.
The post 550: Dr. Paul Changelian: Developing Novel Drugs to Treat Autoimmune Disease and Inflammation appeared first on People Behind the Science Podcast.
55 min
April 13, 2020 549: Dr. Verónica Pérez Rodríguez: Unearthing Clues to Reveal How People Lived in Early Mesoamerican Cities
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Dr. Verónica Pérez Rodríguez is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University at Albany, State University of New York (SUNY). She earned a B.A. in Anthropology as well as a B.A. in Linguistics from the University of Texas at El Paso. Verónica then attended graduate school at the University of Georgia where she was awarded her Ph.D. in Ecological and Environmental Anthropology. She served on the faculty at Northern Arizona University before joining the faculty at the University at Albany, SUNY in 2013. In our interview, Verónica shares more about her life and science.
People Behind the Science Podcast Show Notes
Life Outside of Science (2:08)
When she’s not working, Verónica loves relaxing at home, watching movies, and hiking with her children and husband. She also loves running outdoors, knitting, and reading fiction books in her free time.
The Scientific Side (3:37)
Verónica is an archaeologist and anthropologist who is interested in studying people and life in cities over time. Through her work, she examines how people lived many years ago, what brought them to cities, what made them stay, what were the tradeoffs, and what were the environmental impacts. Her work focuses on the highlands of the Mixteca Alta in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca. This region was a cradle of urbanism, innovation, and complex societies as early as 300 BC.
A Dose of Motivation (5:24)
Her children have been very motivating and inspiring. Seeing their curiosity when she brings them to work with her in the field is amazing. Verónica has also drawn great inspiration from, and developed strong friendships with, people in the communities in which she works. As a person who was born and raised in Mexico, it is rewarding for Verónica to be able to help teach people more about their history and culture prior to European contact.
What Got You Hooked on Science? (9:28)
Visiting archaeological sites was a formative part of Verónica’s childhood. Her grandfather was a worker at a field site led by a famous female archaeologist. However, Verónica’s family was not pleased when she announced her interest in becoming an archaeologist, because they associated the career with hard labor outdoors. Verónica remembers writing papers about the ancient Phoenicias and their civilization as early as elementary school. At the time, Verónica was reluctant to study Mesoamerican archaeology because she wanted to explore other areas. However, she had a great opportunity to do field work as an undergraduate student in Oaxaca, Mexico, and she fell in love with the place and its history. While working at this field site, Verónica met the scientist who would later become her graduate school advisor, and she continues to study this region in her lab today.
The Low Points: Failures and Challenges (22:08)
During graduate school, Verónica worked in a community in Mexico doing excavations for her dissertation research. Verónica was a young woman who was fairly tall with relatively light hair, so she didn’t match what many people in the community expected an archaeologist or a Mexican person to look like. At first, her project was progressing well. However, after few months, she ran into a major obstacle. Some members of the community were worried that she was exploiting the town, and they demanded that she surrender all of the artifacts she had collected. Verónica tried to explain that she had a permit to do her research, these artifacts were under her care by federal law, and she could not surrender them. Fortunately people in the community who knew Verónica came to her aid. It took a series of negotiations, trips to the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), and explanations from a fellow researcher to resolve the situation. This was scary because it was her first independent research project, and she really struggled to convince people that she was there to conduct authorized research. In the end, she was invited to continue her work there.
More recently, Verónica encountered a situation where a senior researcher in her field tried to block her from receiving a grant to study pottery in an area called Cerro Jazmin in the highland region of Oaxaca, Mexico. The senior researcher had worked there decades ago and felt Verónica was encroaching on his research. Navigating some of the social and political aspects of academia can be frustrating, but Verónica was persistent, and she was ultimately successful in getting funding to work on this project.
A Shining Success! (28:41)
Her research project on pottery in Cerro Jazmin has been very rewarding. As part of the project, they conducted interviews with people who live in the area. Verónica’s team was the first to systematically record with video how to make traditional pottery with the local clay. They ended up putting together a documentary about the local pottery and its history, and it was incredible to return to the community to share the finished film with the community members, including local children. Since the documentary showing, there has been renewed interest in pottery making in the community. As part of this project, Verónica’s team recorded where the clays came from, conducted chemical analysis, and mapped the clay sources. They discovered that Cerro Jazmin has been home to a community of pottery makers for centuries, if not longer, further increasing the perceived value of the craft.
Book Recommendations (2:37)
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami and Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
Most Treasured Travel (32:13)
A former student from Verónica’s lab is from Japan, and he currently works as an archaeologist on the Island of Kikaijima. A few years ago, the World Archaeological Congress was held in Kyoto, and Verónica had a wonderful time catching up with her former student and talking about their common interests in archaeology. The conference was phenomenal, and it provided great opportunities to talk to scholars from all over the world. Verónica is also a baseball fan, and she’ll never forget the experience of going to a baseball game in Japan during the trip.
Another memorable travel experience was visiting Paris to serve as a member of a student’s doctoral thesis committee. When the student was planning their defense, Verónica was worried because the proposed date coincided with the date she was expecting to give birth to her second child. Verónica convinced the student to postpone the defense for about six weeks so she could participate. As the big day approached, Veronica, her husband, and their four year old and six week old children boarded a flight to Paris. They attended the defense together, and it was great to be there in person to celebrate all of the student’s hard work and accomplishments. It was also nice for Verónica to give her children a chance to see the world and to show people that you can have a family and still be a productive researcher.
Quirky Traditions and Funny Memories (35:53)
Archaeology is a field-based science, and this means that archaeologists spend a lot of time living and working together in the field. Sometimes after a long, cold day working in the rain and mud, it’s really nice to come back to the field house and relax with colleagues over a pot of hot coffee. Verónica has enjoyed bringing her children on field expeditions, and for many of her colleagues, these trips are their first experiences living with children. While it is impossible to completely childproof a field house and lab, she appreciates their efforts to make activities kid-friendly and keep sharp tools and artifacts out of reach. It has also become a tradition for Verónica’s field groups to come together on Sundays for pit-roasted barbacoa and to celebrate the end of each field season with a party.
Advice For Us All (41:31)
Sometimes it really pays to be an optimist. Everyone has doubts, but don’t let them stop you. Keep moving forward. Also, it doesn’t matter what you choose to do in life, just make sure you try to do it well. In addition, remember that science is more than people wearing lab coats working in labs. People from many different backgrounds, fields of study, cultures, parts of the world, and time periods have been generating new knowledge and contributing to science.
Guest Bio
Verónica’s research focuses on understanding different ways that humans have experimented with urban living. Through the powerful lens of archaeology, she does this by looking at examples of ancient urbanism, especially in the Mixteca Alta region of Oaxaca, Mexico. Her work seeks to learn about the impact that urban living had on urban dwellers and the environment. Her research is informed by her training as an ecological and environmental anthropologist. Also, she tries to integrate into her research the interests and concerns of the people and local communities in which her field research takes place. It is striking how populous early cities developed and thrived in a highland region like the Mixteca where current socioeconomic conditions push young people into out-migration. She hopes that her research can ultimately contribute answers to questions regarding how we can make life in cities more sustainable and just for all.
When not at working on her research and teaching, Verónica likes to spend time with her immediate and extended family, traveling to Mexico to be with her extended family whenever possible. She also enjoys just being with her kids and husband, reading, hiking, cooking, and watching movies about whatever they are into at the moment. When she can get some “mommy alone time”, she enjoys running, hitting the yoga mat, knitting, and reading, mostly fiction (from Elena Poniatowska to Pilar Quintana, some children’s fiction from Laura Gallego García or Jaume Copons, and she is currently reading about Alexander von Humboldt’s travels and writings).
The post 549: Dr. Verónica Pérez Rodríguez: Unearthing Clues to Reveal How People Lived in Early Mesoamerican Cities appeared first on People Behind the Science Podcast.
45 min
April 06, 2020 548: Dr. Douglas Fields: Studying New Cellular Mechanisms of Memory Involving Myelin
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Dr. R. Douglas Fields is Chief of the Nervous System Development and Plasticity Section at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Adjunct Professor in the Neuroscience and Cognitive Science Program at the University of Maryland, College Park. In addition, Doug is the author of numerous books and magazine articles about the brain, including the recently released book Electric Brain: How the New Science of Brainwaves Reads Minds, Tells Us How We Learn, and Helps Us Change for the Better. He received his B.A. in biology from the University of California, Berkeley, his M.A. degree in marine biology from San Jose State University, and his Ph.D. degree in marine biology from the University of California, San Diego, working jointly in the Medical School and Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Afterwards, Doug conducted postdoctoral research at Stanford University, Yale University, and the NIH before starting his research laboratory at the NIH in 1994. Doug is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and he is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of the scientific journal Neuron Glia Biology. In our interview, Doug tells us more about his life and science.
People Behind the Science Podcast Show Notes
Life Outside of Science (2:38)
When he’s not doing research or writing about science, Doug enjoys rock climbing, mountain climbing, building acoustic guitars, and making his own beer and wine.
The Scientific Side (4:52)
Doug studies how the brain develops and the mechanisms involved in changes to the brain’s structure and function (plasticity). He is particularly interested in how experience regulates development and plasticity in the brain, as well as the mechanisms at a cellular level that are involved in learning.
A Dose of Motivation (7:40)
“Follow your dreams.”
What Got You Hooked on Science? (9:04, 14:56)
For as long as he can remember, Doug was fascinated by science. He even had a lab bench set up in his childhood bedroom. Fortunately, Doug’s high school biology teacher recognized his interest, and she excused him from regular biology classes to design and conduct his own experiments. This was when Doug performed his very first research projects on memory. From that point onwards, Doug had great mentors at every step of his career journey. After college, Doug pursued a master’s degree in marine biology, and he began studying deep sea fish that could sense electric fields. Through studying electric field receptors in fish, Doug was introduced to neuroscience and neurophysiology. He continued on to study the nervous system and electroreception in sharks in graduate school. In 1987, Doug accepted a two year postdoctoral position at the NIH, and he has been there ever since.
The Low Points: Failures and Challenges (22:49)
Currently, Doug has so many ideas for experiments that he would like to do, but he isn’t able to do them all right now. Difficulties in getting funding, equipment, personnel, and the right collaborations often limit the types and the number of research projects that scientists can pursue. For example, he hasn’t done research on electroreception in many years. It is still unknown how sharks can so sensitively detect very weak or distant electric fields emitted by other sea creatures. Doug has an idea of what the mechanism behind this extremely sensitive ability to detect electric fields may be, but he doesn’t have the resources right now to test his hypothesis. He would need access to sharks and specialized research facilities. Also, since this would be more of a basic science project, it is not work that he would be able to do at the NIH.
A Shining Success! (26:05)
Doug and his colleagues have shown that myelin, the insulating sheath surrounding nerve fibers, can change its structure. There are also gaps in myelin called nodes of Ranvier where neural signals are propagated. Doug’s group determined that these nodes of Ranvier can also change their structure, and they determined how this occurs. These structural changes are relevant because the speed at which information can pass through a nerve fiber depends on the thickness of the myelin sheath and the structure of the nodes of Ranvier. Doug’s research suggests that the ability of myelin and nodes of Ranvier to change their structure may be important in learning and memory because the timing of information arriving at different relay points within the brain can strengthen connections between neurons. Their most recent paper on this work was a major success because it represented over 10 years of work, it was published in a prestigious journal, and it presented data that strongly refuted the previously accepted dogma that myelin was static and unchanging.
Book Recommendations (29:30)
The Other Brain: From Dementia to Schizophrenia, How New Discoveries about the Brain Are Revolutionizing Medicine and Science by R. Douglas Fields, Why We Snap: Understanding the Rage Circuit in Your Brain by R. Douglas Fields, Electric Brain: How the New Science of Brainwaves Reads Minds, Tells Us How We Learn, and Helps Us Change for the Better by R. Douglas Fields, The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes Us Happier, Healthier, and More Creative by Florence Williams, Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, and Mind at the End of Its Tether by H. G. Wells.
Most Treasured Travel (40:03)
When Doug read about a scientist in Quito, Ecuador who had resurrected yeast from fermentation vessels found in a 1,500 year old pre-Incan tomb, he couldn’t resist learning more. This newly discovered yeast species was used by the pre-Incan people to make a traditional drink called chicha. It was fun to meet the person who resurrected the yeast, and Doug even had an opportunity to sample some beer made with it. Doug’s daughter accompanied him on the trip to Quito, and the mountains and volcanoes in Ecuador were absolutely stunning. After climbing Mount Cotopaxi, they went on an adventure to try to find the pre-Incan tombs where the yeast was found.
Quirky Traditions and Funny Memories (42:16)
During his marine biology days, Doug and his colleagues would go out to San Nicolas Island off the coast of California to do field research. This island is owned by the U.S. Navy, and it has been uninhabited for over 100 years. It was amazing to experience the pristine natural beauty there. Doug also has fond memories of his time as a graduate student experimenting with making beer and wine in the cold room of the lab (before stricter regulations on laboratory safety were established). It was fun and interesting to dabble in the science of fermentation with his labmates.
Advice For Us All (45:33)
The job of a scientist is to do something that has never been done before. You have to be able to predict the future and get there first. To do this, you must believe in yourself.
Guest Bio
Doug’s long-standing interest is in how functional activity (experience) affects development and plasticity of the brain and the cellular mechanisms of learning and memory. In addition to studying synaptic plasticity, Dr. Fields is interested in new mechanisms of nervous system plasticity and especially those involving non-neuronal brain cells (glia). His lab’s most recent research has advanced a new mechanism of learning and plasticity involving the glial cells that make electrical insulation on axons, called myelin. By sensing electrical activity in neural circuits, these cells can form myelin or remodel myelin to alter the speed of impulse transmission to achieve optimal timing of neural impulse arrival at relay points in neural circuits. Outside the lab Doug enjoys rock climbing, building guitars, brewing beer and wine, and writing about science for a general audience. He has authored three books about neuroscience for the general reader. His first book called The Other Brain, is about glia, which are brain cells that communicate without using electricity. Doug’s second book is called Why We Snap, and it covers the neuroscience of aggression. His new book released in Feburary, 2020 is called Electric Brain, and it talks about using brainwaves, brain-computer interfaces, neurofeedback, and brain stimulation to modify the brain’s electrical activity to treat neurological and psychiatric illness, as well as to improve cognition. He and his wife, who is a high school biology teacher, have been happily married for 42 years and they have three grown children. They all enjoy rock and mountain climbing together.
The post 548: Dr. Douglas Fields: Studying New Cellular Mechanisms of Memory Involving Myelin appeared first on People Behind the Science Podcast.
47 min
March 30, 2020 547: Dr. Ayanna Thomas: Examining Episodic Memory and Making Sense of Memory Failures
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Dr. Ayanna Thomas is Professor of Psychology and Director of the Graduate Program in Psychology at Tufts University. She was awarded her B.A. in psychology from Wesleyan University and her Ph.D. in cognitive psychology from the University of Washington. Afterwards, Ayanna conducted postdoctoral research at Washington University in St. Louis. She worked as an Assistant Professor at Colby College before joining the faculty at Tufts in 2007. In our interview, Ayanna tells us more about her life and science.
People Behind the Science Podcast Show Notes
Life Outside of Science (2:20)
In her free time, Ayanna loves watching movies. She and her husband have a tradition where they watch a different horror movie every night throughout the month of October to celebrate Halloween.
The Scientific Side (3:25)
Ayanna conducts research to answer a wide variety of questions related to memory. She aims to better understand how our memories work, how our memories fail, how we perceive our memory function (metacognition), how memories change over time, and how these aspects of memory may impact our everyday lives.
A Dose of Motivation (5:06)
Throughout her life, Ayanna has been really motivated and inspired by her father’s work ethic and his drive to keep moving forward. She has also discovered, that it is more important to be happy with the balance of your life than it is to get everything done.
What Got You Hooked on Science? (8:14)
Ayanna attended a science-intensive high school where students took multiple science courses and rigorous lab courses each year. This early exposure to science in high school really piqued Ayanna’s interest in the scientific method, but she also developed a passion for Latin. In college, Ayanna took a senior level Latin seminar her first year, and she found this course incredibly boring. This made her begin to question what she wanted her major to be. In the second semester of her sophomore year, Ayanna signed up for an upper level psychology course on memory. This course introduced students to key studies in the primary literature, and some of the articles helped spark her curiosity in the field of memory. After class one day, Ayanna asked her professor about opportunities to get experience working in a laboratory, and she started working in his lab shortly afterwards. This was the beginning of Ayanna’s exciting career in scientific research.
The Low Points: Failures and Challenges (20:42)
In one project in the lab, Ayanna and her team are interested in understanding how physiological factors may affect our ability to remember and learn new information. They are hoping to build smart classrooms where they can capitalize on positive aspects of the stress response while minimizing the negative impacts of stress. This involves monitoring physiological factors like heart rate and the production of a stress-related hormone called cortisol. They have been wanting to be able to continuously monitor cortisol levels in people, but this is currently a substantial technological barrier that limits their research. Another challenge Ayanna faces is related to the extent to which their research can be generalized. Specifically, it is difficult to know whether the results you see with a small subset of individuals from a homogeneous sample apply to diverse groups of people around the world. They are working hard to figure out ways to increase the diversity of their samples in experiments so that their conclusions can be more robust and generalizable to more people. A third struggle Ayanna faces is related to making science available more globally. Ideally, scientists across the world could connect and have access to the research and publications from different countries. Access to science is improving internationally, but the process is slow, change is often incremental, and this can be a major frustration.
A Shining Success! (23:42)
The year Ayanna was accepted into graduate school was a fantastic year. She remembers feeling extremely validated when researchers from different institutions were reaching out to her to express interest and enthusiasm for supporting her training. Now that she is a faculty member, Ayanna loves celebrating the successes of her students. The graduation ceremony where she gets to put a hood over the head of one of the newly minted Ph.D. graduates from her lab is particularly meaningful. It’s also wonderful to see former students and have lab reunions at conferences.
Book Recommendations (25:18)
The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin, The Dark Forest by Liu Cixin, Death’s End by Liu Cixin
Most Treasured Travel (27:04)
Ayanna has visited so many remarkable places as part of her career in science. In 2009, she visited Japan for the first time for a conference. This trip was particularly memorable because it was the first international trip where she traveled alone, and she celebrated her birthday during the trip. Ayanna was in Japan for three weeks, and while she was there, she got a traditional Tebori tattoo from an artist outside of Tokyo. Her travels have also taken her to Southern Chile where she attended a conference and hiked through some of the beautiful parks of Patagonia. Recently, Ayanna and her husband spent about two months in the eastern part of France. During this trip, she met wonderful scientific colleagues and enjoyed learning about the culture.
Quirky Traditions and Funny Memories (29:20)
While she was in France, some of her French colleagues joked that Americans didn’t know much about food. Ayanna disagreed, and she was determined to impress them with her cooking. She was challenged to make a delicious traditional American meal for the group. After some deliberation, Ayanna decided to make a baked macaroni and cheese dish to share. She went to her colleague’s house to cook around 4:30 pm to get started. They went on a hike, hung out, and by 7 pm, they were just starting to cook. Some of their colleagues from the department came over with their families, and dinner was finally served at 9:00 pm. In France, dinner is typically served late, so there were no complaints, and everyone loved the macaroni and cheese.
Advice For Us All (33:04)
Be transparent about your goals and encourage those around you to be transparent. Doing so will make it easier for everyone to achieve their goals. Also, for students making a decision about where to go to graduate school, the most important thing to think about is your quality of life. Consider if you will have the support you need from friends, family, the lab, your advisor, and the department to get through this challenging phase of your career. Think about whether a particular program is a place where you can be happy, healthy, and supported while you are there.
Guest Bio
We frequently learn more about memory from its failures rather than its successes. Ayanna’s research delves into the various contexts that result in episodic memory failures. She takes the theoretical perspective that memory decisions are inferential in nature. An episodic event is not represented as a single unit, but rather a distribution of elements that can be differentially accessed at retrieval. Accessibility to those elements influences both memory and metamemorial decisions. By influencing the accessibility of specific elements, or attributes, she is able to bias retrieval. The result is memory and metamemorial failures. Ayanna’s research focuses on three specific situations related to retrieval bias: bias resulting from accessible encoded attributes; bias resulting from automatic processing at encoding and/or retrieval; and controlling bias by improving retrieval monitoring.
The post 547: Dr. Ayanna Thomas: Examining Episodic Memory and Making Sense of Memory Failures appeared first on People Behind the Science Podcast.
37 min
March 23, 2020 546: Dr. Michael Hochella: Investigating the Impacts of Geochemistry and Nanoscale Materials on our Planet
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Dr. Michael Hochella is a University Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Virginia Tech. He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Geological Sciences from Virginia Tech, and was awarded his Ph.D. in Earth Sciences from Stanford University. Michael served on the faculty at Stanford University before joining the faculty at Virginia Tech. He has been the recipient of many awards and honors throughout his career. Michael is an elected Fellow of the Geological Society of America, the Mineralogical Society of America, the American Geophysical Union, the European Association of Geochemistry, the Geochemical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the International Association of GeoChemistry, the Royal Society of Chemistry, and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. He has also been awarded a Senior Fulbright Scholar Award, an Alexander von Humboldt Award, the Dana Medal of the Mineralogical Society of America, the Department of Energy Outstanding Research Award for Geosciences, the Virginia Tech Alumni Award for Research Excellence, the Virginia Scientist of the Year Award, the Distinguished Service Medal from The Geochemical Society, the George W. Brindley Lecture Award from the Clay Minerals Society, and most recently the Virginia Outstanding Faculty award in 2016. In addition, Michael is a former President of both the Geochemical Society, as well as the Mineralogical Society of America. In our interview, Michael shares more about his life and science.
People Behind the Science Podcast Show Notes
Life Outside of Science (3:04)
Since childhood, Mike has been fascinated by airplanes and flying, and he received his pilot’s license as an undergraduate student. More than 45 years later, Mike still delights in seeing Earth from the pilot’s seat thousands of feet above ground. The technology, instrumentation, electronics, and science of flight are all elements that drew Mike in and have kept his interest over the years.
The Scientific Side (5:04)
Mike’s research is at the intersection of nanoscience and environmental geochemistry. He studies very small things that can impact the health of the planet and the health of humans.
A Dose of Motivation (7:19)
A major driving force for Mike is his insatiable urge to understand how things work. This has been an important motivating factor throughout his life and career.
What Got You Hooked on Science? (11:47)
During middle school, Mike remembers visiting one of his cousins who was a few years older. Mike was captivated when his cousin pulled up a blackboard and started teaching him about chemistry and algebra. Unfortunately, Mike didn’t have a great experience in his high school science classes. His geology, biology, chemistry, and physics classes were terrible. However, rather than deter him from pursuing science, this fueled Mike’s determination to learn these subjects when he went to college. Entering undergraduate, Mike wanted to be an aeronautical engineer. He decided to change course when he discovered that many aeronautical engineers at NASA were being laid off after the moon landing because their expertise was no longer needed. Earth science may have been Mike’s second choice, but he has had an immensely fulfilling career doing research in this field.
The Low Points: Failures and Challenges (28:35)
About six years ago, there was a major environmental mishap where a large amount of coal ash leaked out of a holding area into a nearby river in North Carolina. There were major impacts on the biology of the river for kilometers downstream. In response, Mike and his team came to study the contents of the coal ash and understand how it may be impacting the river and the organisms that depend on it. In addition to the materials they expected to find in the coal ash, they found a strange substance that they weren’t expecting and couldn’t initially identify. After a tremendous amount of work and many struggles, they managed to determine that the material from the coal ash was a kind of titanium suboxide that can form when coal burns. They were the first group to ever identify this titanium suboxide, and it is really hard to identify properly because the compound is so small. After use of various types of microscopy and other scientific techniques, they were able to identify this material and confirm that it likely has detrimental effects on living organisms, including humans.
In addition to the specific example above of a research challenge, Mike has experienced difficulties over the course of his career as a result of being minorly dyslexic. He reads more slowly, and he had to develop different ways of studying in school. When it came to taking the GRE for graduate school applications, Mike performed poorly because he needed more time to finish the test. Mike has been able to overcome these types of challenges through hard work and determination.
A Shining Success! (31:36)
One of the successes that Mike is most proud of is his involvement in establishing Virginia Tech’s NanoEarth nanoscience center. About eight years ago, the National Science Foundation opened up applications for nanoscience centers to serve as a resource for people from all over the world doing cutting-edge nanoscience research. Mike and his colleagues worked hard to prepare an application for a center focused on the intersection of nanoscience and earth science. Leading universities from across the country submitted proposals, and the National Science Foundation selected only 16 sites for these new centers. Mike was ecstatic when he got the news that their NanoEarth Center was selected. Opening up the center has connected them with these 15 other exceptional institutions, and it has provided an amazing opportunity to give back to and support the scientific community.
Book Recommendations (35:01)
Hillbilly Elegy by J. D. Vance
Most Treasured Travel (38:04)
Over the years, Mike has traveled to 23 different countries to attend conferences and give presentations about his research. One of his most memorable travel experiences was visiting Iran about seven years ago. Mike was fascinated by the country’s history, and it was incredible to experience the culture firsthand. Some of the world’s first astronomers and mathematicians came from this area of the world, and the education system in Iran is remarkable. He also enjoyed visiting some of the major sites in the cities of Tehran and Isfahan, including one of the oldest Mosques in the world. With help from some Iranian graduate students, Mike was even able to learn enough of the Persian language to present the introduction of his lecture in Persian.
Quirky Traditions and Funny Memories (41:27)
When Mike went to graduate school at Stanford University, there was still a lot he didn’t know. His colleagues gave him the nickname “Rookie”, and they still use his old nickname to this day. Being in California near many acclaimed wineries, his colleagues took it upon themselves to teach Mike about wine. Every Friday, they had wine at lunch. People brought bottles of wine to share, and they would try to guess the varietals of grapes and where they were grown.
Advice For Us All (46:21)
Mike will never forget one Nobel Laureate’s response when asked what it takes to become a Nobel Prize winner. He said, you need three things. First, you have to have normal or higher intelligence. Second, you must work hard. Finally, you have to have good fortune. You must be at the right place at the right time.
Guest Bio
Since he was an undergraduate, Michael has been interested in how the characteristics and behaviors of the smallest geologic components of the Earth actually end up making dramatic differences in how the Earth works, especially when these things impact the health and well-being of any living thing, with particular interest in human impacts. These smallest components go from atoms to molecules to nanomaterials, and he and his colleagues study their ability to make dramatic impacts to environmental conditions at local, regional, and even global scales. Michael has also reveled in teaching, and has taught about a dozen Earth related subjects over many years. Beyond his professional passions, his underlying foundation rests with his wife (also a professor) and their two children. Favorite activities include taking hikes nearly every day with their dogs, trying to play the piano, and flying his airplane for the shear enjoyment of playing in three dimensions and observing this spectacularly beautiful planet from the sky.
The post 546: Dr. Michael Hochella: Investigating the Impacts of Geochemistry and Nanoscale Materials on our Planet appeared first on People Behind the Science Podcast.
52 min
March 16, 2020 545: Dr. Rodolphe Barrangou: Applying CRISPR Technologies to Advance Food Science, Health, and Sustainability
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Dr. Rodolphe Barrangou is the Todd R. Klaenhammer Distinguished Professor in the Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences at North Carolina State University. He is also Editor-In-Chief of The CRISPR Journal and co-founder of Intellia Therapeutics, Locus Biosciences, and TreeCo. Rodolphe received his B.S. degree in biological sciences from Rene Descartes University in France, a M.S. in biological engineering from the University of Technology in Compiegne in France, a M.S. in food science from North Carolina State University, and his Ph.D. in functional genomics from North Carolina State University. He worked as an R&D Director at Danisco (a company now affiliated with DuPont) before returning to school to earn his MBA in Executive Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has received numerous awards and honors for his research, including the National Academy of Sciences Prize in Food and Agriculture Sciences, the Award in Molecular Biology from the National Academy of Sciences, the Warren Alpert Foundation Prize, and the Canada Gairdner International Prize. In addition, Rodolphe is an Elected Member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Inventors. In our interview, Rodolphe shares more about his life and science.
People Behind the Science Podcast Show Notes
Life Outside of Science (2:49)
When he’s not working, Rodolphe enjoys spending time with his wife and three teenage children. He typically wakes up early and gets energized to greet each day with high intensity cardiovascular exercise as well as yoga.
The Scientific Side (3:56)
Rodolphe’s research is focused on CRISPR gene editing technologies that allow us to modify the DNA in organisms ranging from bacteria to trees to humans. These technologies can be used to address problems in the real world related to food, agriculture, forestry, medicine, biotechnology, and other areas. His lab primarily studies and applies CRISPR technologies in bacteria to make food healthier, promote beneficial gut microbes, and help us be healthier.
A Dose of Motivation (5:50)
“Proceed as if success is inevitable.”
What Got You Hooked on Science? (13:08)
Though Rodolphe had a general interest in science going into high school and college, it took him a long time to narrow down what he wanted to study. He attended graduate school multiple times for different subject areas at different institutions before identifying something he was really passionate about. In the end, microbes piqued Rodolphe’s curiosity the most. He wanted to understand how microbes functioned from a genetic perspective, as well as apply an engineering perspective to tinker with these organisms to harness them for various purposes. His PhD work changed the course of his career and his life. Working in the realm of food has been particularly appealing because Rodolphe can see, smell, and taste the products of his work in many cases.
The Low Points: Failures and Challenges (23:17)
Early in Rodolphe’s career, he gave a presentation about his research to an audience at a local science museum. He left that presentation feeling very frustrated about how difficult it was to make himself and his work relatable and interesting to a general audience. This was particularly disappointing because Rodolphe felt like he was working on really cool projects that had the potential to impact people’s lives, particularly related to our food supply chain. Food is something that he knew everyone values and could find relatable. This experience changed how Rodolphe talked to non-scientists about his work, and it made him want to continue improving how he communicated with others outside his field. He realized that it was important to introduce himself, convey his passion for his research, explain why he does this work, and share his best stories, rather than explain the details of how his research is done. Recently, Rodolphe has had an opportunity to participate in a movie called Human Nature. In this film, the team portrayed scientists as relatable people while also sharing the exciting scientific discoveries and stories in the field of CRISPR genome engineering.
A Shining Success! (27:51)
Rodolphe’s most exciting successes are the cases where they are able to bring some of the best science they are doing in the lab into the real world. Starting with an initial idea at the bench and seeing it evolve into a successful startup company has been an amazing experience. Thus far, Rodolphe has been involved in seven different startup companies. It has been immensely rewarding to see a tangible product created and used by consumers after many people dedicated years of research and effort. This process is difficult and full of challenges, but the ability to make a real impact in medicine, agriculture, biotechnology, and other fields at the end of a long journey is worth all of the time and energy invested in the process.
Book Recommendations (32:49)
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Most Treasured Travel (34:33)
Israel was an absolutely mesmerizing place to visit for Rodolphe. He traveled there to attend a CRISPR conference, and he was struck by the sense of timelessness there. In addition to attending the scientific meeting, Rodolphe had a chance to visit the Dead Sea and enjoy some iconic sights in Jerusalem. Walking the streets of Jerusalem was a powerful experience, and Rodolphe felt like the city provided a glimpse into what life was like many years ago.
Quirky Traditions and Funny Memories (37:01)
Over the years, Rodolphe has met some amazing scientists, including George Church and Jennifer Doudna. George is a talented scientist, entrepreneur, thinker, speaker, writer, and more. Rodolphe was impressed and inspired by George’s invigorating energy and sense of humor. Jennifer is an outstanding CRISPR scientist and gene editing pioneer. On top of all of her scientific accomplishments, she is an extremely approachable and relatable person. It has been fun for Rodolphe to join her for coffee, dinner, or a drink to talk about science, lab management, outreach, business, and other aspects of life.
Advice For Us All (44:03)
Trust science. Science and the scientific method have done so many great things for us. The vast majority of scientists are working very hard using the scientific method in respectable, valuable, and selfless ways to improve our society and our world. The solutions that we need to address many of the world’s largest problems will come from science, and trust will help us implement great solutions more easily and efficiently to everyone’s benefit.
Guest Bio
Rodolphe’s research is mainly focused on understanding the biology and genetics of CRISPR-Cas immune systems and the repurposing of these molecular machines for various applications in food bacteria, to enhance the food supply chain and develop healthier foods. His expertise comes from a variety of fields encompassing microbiology, molecular biology and genomics. Besides academic research and teaching activities, Rodolphe spends much time translating basic academic research into technologies and products with start up companies and industry partners to leverage CRISPR technologies in food, agriculture, biotechnology, and medicine. Outside of work, Rodolphe spends time in the gym and yoga studio, and he enjoys cooking and mixing the art and science of food with his spouse (also a food scientist and a baby food chef) and three children.
The post 545: Dr. Rodolphe Barrangou: Applying CRISPR Technologies to Advance Food Science, Health, and Sustainability appeared first on People Behind the Science Podcast.
47 min

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