The fat layer in our skin has the ability to expand and shrink. Yet, the regulatory mechanisms for skin fat growth and shrinking are not well understood. In this Share Your Research Talk, Edriss Yousuf describes his thesis research on the regulation of skin fat. He discovered a non-immune function of regulatory T cells and showed that they can induce autophagy in skin fat cells to decrease their lipid droplet size. These findings have implications for scarring and scleroderma, disorders which...

In this session, you will learn how to thoughtfully choose your next job opportunity and successfully negotiate with both your current research advisor and prospective one. You will learn how to strategically apply your negotiation skills as you navigate the process of securing a job offer; deciding which job opportunity is a good fit; and transitioning out of your PhD lab to begin a new chapter in your career. You will also learn how to execute each step with intention, clarity, and...

In this session, you will learn how to thoughtfully choose your next job opportunity and successfully negotiate with both your current research advisor and prospective one. You will learn how to strategically apply your negotiation skills as you navigate the process of securing a job offer; deciding which job opportunity is a good fit; and transitioning out of your PhD lab to begin a new chapter in your career. You will also learn how to execute each step with intention, clarity, and confidence.

In this session, you will learn how to thoughtfully choose your next job opportunity and successfully negotiate with both your current research advisor and prospective one. You will learn how to strategically apply your negotiation skills as you navigate the process of securing a job offer; deciding which job opportunity is a good fit; and transitioning out of your PhD lab to begin a new chapter in your career. You will also learn how to execute each step with intention, clarity, and...

After receiving an invitation to interview from your prospective postdoc lab you need to develop an interview game plan. Your ultimate goal is to demonstrate why you are a good fit for the position. A postdoc interview usually includes meeting and talking with the principal investigator and members of your prospective lab. In this session, you will learn how to strategically highlight your strengths during the interview process and prepare a postdoc job talk that is relevant to your audience...

After receiving an invitation to interview from your prospective postdoc lab you need to develop an interview game plan. Your ultimate goal is to demonstrate why you are a good fit for the position. A postdoc interview usually includes meeting and talking with the principal investigator and members of your prospective lab. In this session, you will learn how to strategically highlight your strengths during the interview process and prepare a postdoc job talk that is relevant to your audience...

When you apply for postdocs and other types of jobs, you typically need to submit a curriculum vitae and a cover letter as part of your application package. This session will teach you strategies to assemble an effective application package geared towards getting the position that you want.

As you start thinking about doing a postdoc, there are a few key questions you need to consider. What type of position will allow you to build the profile needed to be competitive for your ideal career? What skills, knowledge, experiences, and type of environment will support your success and productivity? Knowing this will help you prioritize what to look for in a postdoc and begin scouting for opportunities that fit your goals. This session will help you organize your postdoc search and...

As you start thinking about doing a postdoc, there are a few key questions you need to consider. What type of position will allow you to build the profile needed to be competitive for your ideal career? What skills, knowledge, experiences, and type of environment will support your success and productivity? Knowing this will help you prioritize what to look for in a postdoc and begin scouting for opportunities that fit your goals. This session will help you organize your postdoc search and...

The third video is a recording of a panel discussion moderated by SCL producer Rosa Veguilla on February 3, 2022. In this conversation, we asked the speakers follow-up questions about whether we can and should use CRISPR in the natural forest to combat climate change, and if so, what that might look like.

Coral reefs are truly magnificent ecosystems that support an abundance of marine life, and they are under threat. As climate change warms the oceans, corals become stressed by the heat and struggle to survive. Can modern genetic tools, like CRISPR-Cas9, help save them? Some scientists say it is our responsibility to make sure corals adapt to climate change. 

Hearing loss, caused by the death of hair cells in the inner ear, is the third most common public health issue in the United States. Currently, there are no therapeutic strategies to restore hearing. In her thesis research, Dr. Amrita A. Iyer investigated the possibility of regenerating functional hair cells by reprogramming non-hair cells of the mouse inner ear. She found that overexpression of a single transcription factor, ATOH1, can successfully reprogram non-sensory cells into hair cells...

Dr. Tshaka Cunningham received his PhD in molecular biology from Rockefeller University and completed postdoctoral training at the Institut Pasteur in Paris. He is the co-founder and CSO of Polaris Genomics, a precision behavioral health company. Dr. Cunningham is a leading advocate for diversity and representation in genomics and is Executive Director of the Faith-Based Genetic Research Institute.

Dr. Tshaka Cunningham is a molecular biologist and a Black man of faith. In this short film, the Science Communication Lab explores Dr. Cunningham’s personal and professional identities, and how they unite to help him promote community health through personal genomics. This short film was produced in partnership with undergraduate biology educators at San Francisco State University and Princeton University. The learning objectives for this film include: * Recognize that...

The National Cancer Act was signed into law in 1971, declaring a “War on Cancer.” While cancer deaths have declined remarkably since then due to major advances in therapies, we are still far from eliminating cancer altogether. In her Share Your Research talk, Christina Cho discusses how we could make further progress in our fight against cancer by learning more about the tumor microenvironment and the role of the immune system on tumor growth. Her work focuses on the complicated functions...

More than 200 million people are infected with schistosomes, aquatic parasites that cycle between snails and humans, and cause the human disease schistosomiasis. Risk of contracting this disease is expected to rise in the coming years due to climate change, agricultural expansion, and population growth. In her Share Your Research Talk, Dr. Karena Nguyen provides an overview of the schistosome life cycle, including the points at which interventions can disrupt this cycle in order to reduce...

When we think of what makes two species distinct, we often think of their ability (or inability) to produce viable offspring. But is there anything we can learn from inviable offspring? In this Share Your Research talk, Maiko Kitaoka discusses her work on closely related Xenopus frogs. She reveals how examining hybridization between these species at the cellular level can provide insight into only the mechanisms that restrict cell division and development, but also broader patterns of how new...

Unlike most animals, plants don’t have the option to run away when something is trying to eat them. Instead, they develop all kinds of chemical and structural defenses. But these defenses can be energetically costly, and plants’ ability to defend themselves can change over time and with the environment. In her Share Your Research Talk, Dr. Mia Howard discusses how soil microbes can influence defensive traits in goldenrod (Solidago altissima) at various stages of succession. Her work reveals...

Exercise is like medicine for the mind and body, particularly in aging adults. Regular physical activity not only provides physiological benefits, it also reduces the risk of dementia, Alzheimer’s, and other declines in mental function associated with aging. In his Share Your Research Talk, Brandon Yates provides an overview how proper hydration during exercise can help maximize the health benefits associated with exercise. He also discusses why this is particularly important in older adults,...

Saving The American Chestnut: A Case Study, we explore more deeply the complicated question of using biotechnology to make forests more resistant to climate change. We look to the story of the American Chestnut as an example of how scientists are trying to bring a once-abundant tree back from near extinction through genetic engineering. We also consider the budding genome-editing technology CRISPR Cas-9 as a more precise tool with great promise but also great uncertainty. Can we do it and...

Some people harbor deleterious mutations in disease-relevant genes, yet they are completely healthy. How are scientists trying to understand these so-called ‘genetic superheros’? In this Share Your Research talk, Dr. Mohamed El-Brolosy describes his thesis research in the model organism zebrafish. Dr. El-Brolosy found that genetic compensation to deleterious mutations relies on degradation of the mutant mRNA, which triggers upregulation of compensatory genes in a homology-dependent manner....

Solid tumors, such as those in the brain, can be deadly when they expand or spread to other parts of the body. Before they spread, tumors send out molecular messages within small membranous structures known as extracellular vesicles (EVs). The proteins and small non-coding RNAs inside EVs can help tumors evade the immune system and seed new sites of growth. In this Share Your Research talk, Dr. Luz Cumba García describes her thesis research on extracellular vesicles released by aggressive...