<![CDATA[INet NYC - Blogs ]]>

<![CDATA[INet NYC - Blogs ]]>Sat, 02 Nov 2024 10:31:00 -0700Weebly<![CDATA[We braved the elements to see you!]]>Tue, 29 Oct 2024 02:10:21 GMThttp://inetnyc.com/blogs/we-braved-the-elements-to-see-youWords by: Dr. Jeannys F Nnemnbeng
Edited by: Dr. Aysegul Gungor Aydin

“When life throws you a rainy day, Play in puddles - Winnie the Pooh”

Who said we can only have a picnic on a sunny day? Certainly not us. On September 28th, we
braved the elements to see you, and boy it was worth it.

I woke up that Saturday wondering if the picnic we previously planned would still happen. I glanced at my window and the gray clouds dispersed on the somber sky on this late autumn day clearly showed it would rain all day. I texted some members of the board and we still agreed to meet.

I arrived in downtown New York and headed to the appointed meeting location (Great Hill at Central Park). The walk was short but I enjoyed every bit of it. The quiet dripping of the raindrops around me, the crackling sound of the leaves shaken by the light wind, the cooling breeze washing away my worries. I found myself contemplating how often I took the time to enjoy those little moments of serenity and quietly enjoyed the scenery around me.

I waited a couple of minutes and other members of the INET-NYC community (www.inetnyc.com) joined our party. We headed to Park Cafe (near the north western edge of Central Park) and spent the rest of the afternoon sharing laughter and stories over Turkish coffee and baklava!

If you ever see yourself in need of a postdoc and graduate student community with an
international background, do check us out. We’ll be glad to have you join us on our adventures,
socials, or networking events. We cannot wait to see you at the next one.
As always, keep on shining!

]]><![CDATA[Return of the after-work hangouts!]]>Fri, 19 Jul 2024 17:33:57 GMThttp://inetnyc.com/blogs/return-of-the-after-work-hangoutsWords by: Dr. Jeannys F Nnemnbeng
Edited by: Dr. Aysegul Gungor Aydin

“This is the power of gathering: it inspires us - delightfully - to be more hopeful, more joyful, more thoughtful, in a word: more alive.” - Alice Waters

I was running late. Trying to rush through the late afternoon traffic of downtown Manhattan. I had been waiting the entire week to finally unwind and I was just a couple of minutes away from a nice cold beer. I parked and walked towards the meeting location: Sutton Bar Room.

As I entered the dim and cozy atmosphere of the venue, I could already feel the stress of the previous week lifting from my shoulders. I scanned the room recognized the INet-NYC board members- Aysegul, Angelina & Deep- and headed toward the lively table.

I met people from NYU, CSHL, and MSKCC, met some board members for the first time, and met Derya, a Euraxess North America Regional Coordinator. Her organization promotes career paths and funding for international postdocs (Euraxess/North-America). Stay tuned for our future events in collaboration with Euraxess.

In short, I had an amazing time, met interesting people, and had fun along the way. Definitely recommend it if you want to relax, laugh, and drink with friendly people after a hectic week. Hope to see you around on the next one and as always keep on shining!

]]><![CDATA[Escapade to Cold Spring]]>Thu, 06 Jun 2024 16:36:23 GMThttp://inetnyc.com/blogs/escapade-to-cold-spring"I took a walk in the woods and came out taller than trees” - Henry David Thoreau

Author: Dr. Jeannys F Nnemnbeng

On April 27, 2024, INet NYC in collaboration with the NYC Postdoc Coalition organized a hiking trip to Cold Spring, and I was among the lucky ones to participate. We met on a cool Saturday at Grand Central Metro Station around 9 in the morning. The crew was easily recognizable because the organizers had created for the occasion a WhatsApp group where details about the event were described.
I did not know anybody yet, but the friendly atmosphere made it easy to talk with anybody. After about 15 min, we all headed to the platform, and off we went to Cold Spring, NY.

The ride took a little more than an hour. You could see the beautiful scenery of the Hudson river as we traveled towards our destination.

On arrival, the groups were divided in two based on the individuals’ capacity, and each crew leader guided their cohort into the woods.

The sun was high, the breeze was mild, perfect weather for a hike. My new friend and I took the “short” loop and after about three hours we made it back to the beginning. I needed a change from the fast pace of the Big Apple and this was definitely the break that I needed.

If you ever see yourself in need of a postdoc and graduate student community with an international background, do check us out. We’ll be glad to have you join us on our adventures, socials, or networking events.

We are grateful to the NYC Postdoc Coalition for co-organizing this event and we cannot wait to see you at the next one.

As always, keep on shining!

]]><![CDATA[Celebrating Women In Science]]>Fri, 11 Feb 2022 15:24:40 GMThttp://inetnyc.com/blogs/celebrating-women-in-scienceWords by: Dr. Lucie Yammine
Edited by: Dr. Conchi Izquierdo

In honor of the “International Women and Girls in Science” celebrated on february 11th, we wanted to celebrate the contribution of women to the sciences.

When we talk about women in Science, one of the first names that would come to mind would be the double Nobel Prize winner Marie Curie, Physics laureate in 1903 for her researches on the radiation phenomena discovered by Professor Henri Becquerel and Chemistry laureate in 1911 for the discovery of the elements radium and polonium. Or the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureates Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna for their discovery of the CRISPR-Cas9 system.

However, awarded women are still an exception at receiving this recognition for their work. Since its launch in 1901, only 58 women were awarded the Nobel Prize in all categories and only 22 women (23, with Marie Curie winning twice) were Chemistry, Physics or Medicine laureates, when the total number of laureates for these categories is 631 laureates.

In this article, we decided to acknowledge less publicly recognized women scientists for their work and contribution to the advance of science. This list is not exhaustive and many more women’s impact should be celebrated.

We would love to know more about your role models and the women who inspired you in your scientific career. Tell us about it!

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Henrietta Leavitt, astronomer (1868-1921)

Henrietta Leavitt was a human “computer” at the Harvard College Observatory. The “computer” position was given to women tasked to observe the stars and analyze the data they collect. In 1912, while observing a class of variable stars called Cepheids, Leavitt discovered that their period was closely linked to their luminosity. Her discovery revolutionized Astronomy and led to the possibility of calculating the distance of variable stars to Earth.
www.britannica.com

Lise Meitner, physicist (1878-1968)

Lise Meitner was born in Austria in 1878, but built most of her career as a professor of physics in Berlin, Germany and then in Stockholm, Sweden.
While she was in Berlin she started a collaboration with the chemist Otto Hahn, who stayed her long lasting collaborator even after the Jewish physicist Lise Meitner had to flee to Sweden when Nazi Germany rose in 1938.
Together with Otto Hahn, they studied nuclear physics and their work led to the discovery of nuclear fission.
However, Otto Hahn published their work under his name only and got all the credit for this major discovery by winning the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1944.
Meitner did get nominated several times afterwards to the Nobel Prize without ever being awarded. But her contributions didn’t go unnoticed as the element 109 Meitnerium was named after her and she went on to win many other prizes. Albert Einstein also called her Germany’s Marie Curie.
www.britannica.com

Alice Ball, chemist (1892-1916)

Although Alice Ball had a very short life, she was able to make breakthrough discoveries in the treatment of leprosy or Hansen’s disease. Alice Ball, an African American chemist, was born in Seattle and became the first woman to graduate with a Master’s degree from the University of Hawaii where she was then offered a professorship at only 23.
She developed what was called the “Ball Method” that consisted into an safe, absorbable injection of chaulmoogra extract to treat leprosy.
Unfortunately Ball died at 24 before publishing her work, and Samuel L. Dean, another chemist and later President of the University of Hawaii, stole her work to publish the method under his own name. It’s only years later that Ball was given credits for her revolutionary discovery. Alic Ball day is celebrated in Hawaii every four years on February 29th as a recognition of her contributions.
www.biography.com

Barbara McClintock, biologist (1902-1992)

Barbara McClintock is an American cytogeneticist who received her PhD at Cornell University. She studied genetic changes in maize. She built a theory about jumping genes that could determine the fate of a cell and allowing for diversity of cell types from the same organism.
Although she was first criticized for her discoveries, her perseverance got her to win the first unshared Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine for a woman in 1983.
www.nobelprize.org

Grace Murray Hopper, mathematician (1906-1992)

Grace Murray Hopper was an American computer scientist and mathematician. She is the reason we say “there is a bug in my computer”. She was born in New York City and attended Yale where she received a PhD in mathematics in 1934. During World War II, she joined the navy and became a rear Admiral. She is known as one of the first programmers, and learned to program the first computer Mark I at Harvard University.
For her contributions, she was awarded several Prizes, including Computer Science Man-of-the-Year Award and was the first woman to receive the National Medal of Technology in 1991.
www.smoda.elpais.com

Dorothy Hodgkin, chemist (1910-1994)

Dorothy Hodgkin made her way to obtain a PhD from the University of Cambridge in 1936. She spent her career mapping by crystallography the structure of penicillin and later insulin. Her work was essentially to be able to make synthetic versions that could be used in patients. Hodgkin was awarded a Nobel Prize for her work in 1964 and she remains to date the only British woman to ever be awarded this distinction.
www.iucr.org
www.nobelprize.org

Chien-Shiung Wu, physicist (1912-1997)

Chien-Shiung Wu is a Chinese physicist, she attended the University of California, Berkeley. During World War II, she was recruited by Columbia University to be part of the Manhattan Project on the development of nuclear weapons. She then worked with Tsung-Dao Lee and Chen Ning Yang on the law of parity.
Her two men colleagues were awarded the Nobel Prize in 1957, but she didn’t get recognition for her contribution.
Chein-Shiung Wu in 1964: “I wonder, whether the tiny atoms and nuclei, or the mathematical symbols, or the DNA molecules have any preference for either masculine or feminine treatment.”
www.biography.com
www.carnegiestemgirls.org

Katherine Johnson, mathematician (1918-2020)

Katherine Johnson is an American mathematician who has helped shape the space missions at NASA during the 1950-1960's.
She was one of the first African American women to join NASA and work on complex calculations for the first American in space Alan Shepherd in 1961. John Glenn, the first man in orbit, specifically asked her to double check by hand the trajectory calculations of one of the first computers before launching.
Johnson was then involved in subsequent NASA missions in space, including Apollo 11 flight to the moon.
Katherine Johnson is celebrated as a pioneer African American woman in sciences.
In 2015 she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The 2016 movie Hidden Figures depicts Johnson and two of her colleagues Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson as human computers for NASA.
www.nasa.gov

Rosalind Franklin, chemist (1920-1958)

Rosalind Franklin is an English chemist and X-ray crystallographer who revolutionized DNA imaging.
She worked as an associate researcher at King’s College London where she made her major discovery of DNA double helix structure, “Photo 51” in 1952. James Watson, Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkinsused Franklin’s x-ray image to confirm the 3D structure of DNA and used the image without her permission to publish their work on DNA structure. The three men received a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1962, while Franklin’s contribution was not acknowledged. Her story has since become the greatest example of sexism in science and academic professions.
www.britannica.com
www.sciencedirect.com

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Women have been shaping science for centuries, and continue to do so today. Their contributions are now better recognized and their work is inspiring new generations of female scientists to always move forward despite the difficulties.

Sources
www.biography.com
www.nobelprize.org
www.nasa.gov
www.wikipedia.org
www.britannica.com
www.news.yale.edu

]]><![CDATA[Professional Development Webinar Series Summary]]>Fri, 03 Dec 2021 12:00:00 GMThttp://inetnyc.com/blogs/professional-development-webinar-series-summary

Words by Dr. Sindhuja Devanapally
Edited by Dr. Lucie Yammine, Dr. Laurie Herviou, and Dr. Conchi Izquierdo

Recently, INet-NYC hosted an informative and timely career development seminar series led by professional development coach, Dr. Valentina Schneeberger. By day, Valentina is an Associate Director of Market Research at Sanofi, but her other passion lies in coaching PhD-holders for career success. After a PhD in cancer biology at University of South Florida and a postdoctoral research career in Memorial Sloan Kettering, New York, Valentina transitioned out of academics into the world of life-sciences consulting at Charles River Associates. She sets an example for how scientists with expertise in biology can still contribute to career sectors most academics are unfamiliar with. In this four-part webinar series, Valentina exemplified the plethora of opportunities there are for anyone with a PhD degree, outside of academia. As part of the series, I summarize a list of actionable steps that Valentina provided for career exploration and successfully landing a job.

Part 1: How to plan for your post-PhD career

There are many opportunities that exist for postdocs outside of an academic career. Slide from Valentina Schneeberger’s talk. Content credit: Christie Ojiaku, PhD.

While the academic work environment is the most familiar for many of us, many individuals realize along the way that perhaps other professional directions are better to explore. However, the problem arises when one does not know where to begin. Through sequential steps broadly divided into three phases, Valentina used this seminar to provide the attendees with a guide to getting started on the career exploration path:

i) Identify interests and priorities through self-assessment:

Valentina suggests self-introspection and reflection on personal priorities in addition to examining your professional interests. Combining these aspects can help you develop a list of must-haves you can focus on during a career search. You can prioritize in order of importance these factors: intellectual stimulation, income level, work culture, flexibility in work hours, location of the job and amount of social interaction and travel. There are several self-assessment resources that exist, such as the Yale self-assessment worksheet and the more popular myIDP by Science Careers. These resources help you expand your thoughts to imagine a career you previously never considered. Valentina emphasized that one must not set their limited expectations of oneself to inhibit exploring with an open mind when it comes to career exploration.

ii) Research the career options that align with your interests and priorities:

As a PhD-holder, there are many ways we can delve deeper into finding roles that match our interests. All of them somehow relate to professional networking. Some examples include:

Institute- or university-specific career development office or postdoctoral office: these can be a good starting place to find resources and they often conduct career development events, which makes it easy to start building a network of professionals.
Professional networks such as LinkedIn or alumni organizations: these are huge resources to find out more about career opportunities, although one must step out of their comfort zone a little more to start conversations with professionals of interest.
Self-motivated online research: this is more of an open-ended exploration to see what internet resources there are. For example, there could be blogs (e.g. INet-NYC career blog) or Twitter accounts of career coaches (e.g. Roostervane) that you could follow to find out more about roles that would strike your interest.
Career building resources: Some websites provide foundational resources for career building among PhDs. One example is the Cheeky Scientist Association, which offers free resources but also includes paid resources, including access to a network of thousands of professionals that are members of the association.

iii) Design an approach to explore the career option of your interest:

If you are in the first step of transitioning out of academia, job preparation can be an almost full time job. Yet, it is a necessary step to successfully make the career switch. In this phase, Valentina strongly suggests committing a time chunk dedicated to job searching. This means that clear boundaries are set and expectations are met while balancing it with your day job. A schedule of tasks needs to be drafted to check off the list as part of necessary job skills preparation or for the job interview. Finally, you need to simply execute this list of tasks and keep yourself accountable as you track your progress towards the new job applications.

As you may notice, career exploration demands a good amount of time and energy from you but for a favorable outcome, you would need to have a clear channel of communication with your PI. This begins with setting your expectations with your PI on the progression of your publication and your timeline of exit from the lab. At the same time, Valentina suggests communicating your future needs about aiming for a different career path while balancing current expectations from your PI and delivering results within your current role as a postdoc.

How to network for success

In this webinar, Valentina showed the importance of networking towards building chances for a career opportunity. She advised that successful networking significantly improves your ability to be hired and provides a series of steps to effectively network.

Prepare
Perform
Follow-up

]]><![CDATA[Many Faces of Science Communication - Interview with the voice behind Biofilm Podcast]]>Fri, 30 Jul 2021 14:55:30 GMThttp://inetnyc.com/blogs/many-faces-of-science-communication-interview-with-the-voice-behind-biofilm-podcast

Interview and words by Dr. Rupali Gund and Dr. Pavel Ryzhov
Edited by Dr. Rinki Saha, Dr. Laurie Herviou, and Dr. Conchi Izquierdo

Social media is a great technological gift for our generation that allows new ways of communicating and expressing one’s ideas with a wider audience in various formats. For our second session in the science communication series, INet-NYC interviewed Dr. Pavel Ryzhov who is the creator of an online platform and Youtube channel called Biofilm News and Biofilm Podcasts. This platform covers the latest news in healthcare and life sciences and interviews experts in the biotech industry. Here are the excerpts from the conversation with Dr. Ryzhov.

1. Please share your scientific journey and path to becoming a science communicator.

I had a couple of different transition points in my career trajectory. I’m originally from Russia and after graduating high school there, I came to the US in 2010 to attend community college in San Diego, California. After that, I went to Germany to continue my undergraduate studies in a little town called Rheinbach, where I got my Bachelor’s in Applied Biology. I went back to San Diego for my PhD programme in Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute where I worked in the membrane protein NMR field for several years and I graduated in Feb 2020. I moved to the East Coast in the fall of 2020 to start my current job as an Application Scientist at Applied Photophysics. I believe my communication skills definitely helped me excel in my career. For my current job, I communicated with the company’s representatives over many years as part of my networking and apply my communication skills in this role to interface with the scientists, our existing and prospective new customers and to share the new products that the company is making and troubleshoot if they are having issues using our instruments.

2. It’s great to see that you had an intercontinental work experience with multi-lingual team members and how effective communication helped you land in your current role. You have created Biofilm News, would you like to share what Biofilm News is and what inspired you to start this initiative?

Thank you for bringing this up! The way to describe the inspiration behind Biofilm News is to say I watch a lot of youtube videos and I am inspired by watching various podcasts or people covering news and talking about the latest tech by developing movies. As a user of these virtual platforms, I was always curious about how to create such similar content. So during my PhD, I thought of creating some videos because I realized that there is not much content available exclusively for life science students. So, I started doing short videos on some of the topics that I used to read about on a daily basis. I had to put it on hold while I was trying to finish my PhD and when I got my current job. But this year I’m taking it rather more seriously and creating content for PhD students based on my own experience, interviewing people from the industry and covering biopharma industry news that I find interesting.

3. It is fascinating to see how you are using your past career experiences and communication skills to help the wider community of life sciences students navigate their scientific journey.

Exactly, I feel PhD students can have tunnel vision and I'm the first to say I'm guilty of that because we're so focused on getting our research done. We do that at the expense of knowing the larger trends in the pharma industry or life science field as a whole. Finishing a Phd could be a daunting experience, so I believe sharing some advice with students as well as sharing some of the larger things that are going on in the industry is how I would like to help a younger group of scientists.

4. What kind of content are you developing for Biofilm News and where do you publish your work in social media?

There are three things that I like to focus on- 1) talking about the latest news in the industry that I find myself either on Linkedin or elsewhere, 2) interview people from the biopharma industry to learn about their experiences, and 3) sharing my own PhD experience. As far as putting it out there, I put it on YouTube and occasionally I put it on some other outlets like LinkedIn, Facebook or other personal social media channels.

5. Did you take any special courses or training to develop videos or podcasts? What suggestions do you have for our audience if they want to start their own podcasts?

I believe that the best way to start is to actually look up youtube tutorials on selecting camera gear, formatting the podcast, editing, and publishing videos, and also there are resources on how to market your content. There is so much educational content that is completely free and available. That’s how I started. I also took "The Art of Science Communication" online course offered by the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology that helped me to learn how to present my research work to the lay audience. Also, I got many opportunities during my PhD to practice science communication by doing poster presentations and sharing my research progress to my lab peers, or by having casual conversations with my friends who are not from life sciences and responding to their questions about how vaccines work or about coronavirus, all of which helped me to hone my communication skills.

6. How do you balance your work with managing Biofilms? How much time/effort goes in developing this content?

The short answer is it is hard. It's definitely a fine balancing act between the work that I do and this hobby, so I try to be creative and find ways to simplify making videos and minimize the time I spend on the individual project. Sometimes perfectionism comes in my way and I keep editing a video and never publish it because you are never satisfied with the final version. So, I like to streamline that process and make it as easy as possible. Sometimes I just publish and move on to the next one. I believe setting deadlines is important and sticking to the schedule helps me to continue developing my content.

7. Where do you see Biofilm News in the next few years? Are you open to collaborating with other scientists to contribute to Biofilm News?

I am looking for a co-host for a specific iteration of my podcast where I discuss the latest news because it gets really boring talking to myself while discussing the news alone on a podcast. So I feel having somebody for a banter or exchange of ideas would be awesome. So anybody who might be interested can connect with me on LinkedIn.

8. Would you like to be a science communicator full time, or keep this as a hobby?

It is an interesting question now that I’m thinking. I am doing science communication as an application scientist in a full time job, because my current role is all about communicating science effectively and I enjoy doing that a lot. And, my YouTube channel is just another outlet for that. I know I will be a Science Communicator for many years and my goal is to evolve and try to develop different kinds of content and reach a wider audience.

9. What advice do you have for those who want to begin their journey in becoming a science communicator?

The best way to do that is just to start talking to somebody. I've done a lot of tutoring over the years that definitely helps with learning how to talk about complex topics that would make sense to another person. Consider taking some specific communication courses if you can. I think there are vast amounts of resources and tutorials that are available on YouTube or other platforms that are freely available that I explore to develop my content. I also use Davinci Resolve free software for video editing, Microsoft Powerpoint, Affinity Designer, Canva, and Adobe illustrator. I am happy to help and share some personal tricks, if somebody wants any advice from me.

The entire team of INet NYC would like to thank Dr. Pavel Ryzhov for taking time to interact with us and sharing his exciting journey of becoming a science communicator. You can connect with Dr. Ryzhov via his LinkedIn if you want to collaborate or participate in Biofilm podcasts. To follow the latest healthcare/pharma news and interviews on Biofilm News, please subscribe to Dr. Ryzhov youtube channel here.

]]><![CDATA[INet-NYC Recommends: the book "Why we sleep"]]>Thu, 22 Jul 2021 11:00:00 GMThttp://inetnyc.com/blogs/inet-nyc-recommends-the-book-why-we-sleep

INet-NYC launches the Series INet-NYC Recommends, where board members will share their favorite books, podcasts, movies, NYC restaurants and more to inspire you to make the most of your free time!

The series begins with our Administrative Manager Marta Collu's recommendation for the book "Why We Sleep" by author Matthew Walker, PhD.

     1. What is the book about? Why did you decide to read it?

Written by Matthew Walker, PhD, professor of Neuroscience and Psychology at UC Berkeley, this book is about the vital importance of sleep. Based on countless scientific evidence it is a 360-degree exploration of sleep, from how and why we sleep and dream, to the beneficial effects for our brain and body, and to the impact that insufficient sleep has in education, medicine, healthcare, and business. I opted to read it because it was recommended on a YouTube channel on healthy habits that I follow.

     2. What did you already know about the book’s subject and what new things did you learn?

I had the idea that a good night's sleep, both in terms of quantity and quality, is beneficial to our body and brain regeneration, as well as scientific knowledge of how sleep and dreams occur. However, after reading this book, sleep now appears much more complex and health-relevant than I thought. I was fascinated by the power of sleep in boosting our immune system, preventing cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases, and enhancing memory, learning and productivity. At the same time, I discovered how easily our life-style leads to daily sleep deprivation and how serious the implications are.

     3. Share a quote from the book you liked. Why did this quote stand out?

I found many, but I will share the one that put a smile on my face:
“Should you feel drowsy and fall asleep while reading the book, unlike most authors, I will not be disheartened. [...] Knowing what I know about the relationship between sleep and memory, it is the greatest form of flattery for me to know that you, the reader, cannot resist the urge to strengthen and thus remember what I am telling you by falling asleep”.

     4. Why would you recommend this book?

If you want to broaden your understanding of this complex and vital function, I recommend reading this book. More importantly, I believe this reading makes us realize how often sleep is neglected in our society, and the repercussions are severe. It encourages everyone, especially in today's fast-paced environment, to think about how much (or how little) significance we place on sleep and to make a conscious effort to shift our personal and societal appreciation of it.

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the posts’ authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of INet-NYC. Any content provided by our bloggers or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, individual or anyone or anything. Bloggers and authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

]]><![CDATA[Many faces of Science Communication - An interview with the creator of Fuzzy Synapse]]>Sat, 26 Jun 2021 07:00:00 GMThttp://inetnyc.com/blogs/many-faces-of-science-communication-an-interview-with-the-creator-of-fuzzy-synapse

Interview and words by Dr. Rinki Saha
Edited by Dr. Laurie Herviou, Dr. Rupali Gund and Dr. Conchi Izquierdo

‘One picture is worth ten thousand words.’ How many times you have thought if there was a diagram, I would have memorized this easily.
Well, June is the month of effective science communication. We from INetNYC took this opportunity to launch our series where we will interview many science communicators from different backgrounds and different skill sets. This time we were lucky to interview the creator of Fuzzy Synapse – this platform explains various scientific topics in a fun and simple way. Fuzzy Synapse has covered various topics ranging from the theory of relativity while portraying the complex science behind microwave invention.

1. We would like to know the human behind the Fuzzy Synapse!

I am Dr. Vinita Bharat, Neuroscientist at Stanford University. I finished my doctoral studies; being an International Max Planck Research School (IMPRS) Neuroscience student at European Neuroscience Institute, Goettingen, Germany. My research was focused on the exciting topic of how our brain learns and memorizes. Science has always been compelling to me, while doing my Ph.D. I understood the need of communicating science to the world. I started an online platform in 2017 called Fuzzy Synapse. With this platform, I create content to simplify complex scientific concepts in an easy and fun way. So, you can call me “the scientist who loves communicating science to broader audience.”

2. When did you illustrate something for science for the first time? Was there someone in particular who inspired you to start Fuzzy Synapse?

I have always been keen on doodling; I would always love pictorially explaining myself any complex topic. I think visual illustration always makes a better impression on our minds. From our textbooks, we probably have forgotten many things, but some schematics are still in our minds.
There is a very fun story that happened during my Ph.D which I would love to share. During those years, CRISPR was a new discovery, everyone in the scientific community was talking about it. I made some doodles explaining CRISPR technique. My friends and colleagues really liked it and encouraged me to post it on social media, and to my surprise, it really got a huge appraisal. That was kind of the starting point of my journey as a science communicator through Fuzzy Synapse.

Fuzzy Synapse represented stem cell as "Swiss army knife” which basically holds the ability of multiple tools in one.

To answer your second question, it’s very hard to pinpoint one artist as a role model given the variety of mediums people use to communicate science. From my initial days, Stempeers have given me great support and opportunity to grow my platform. I found amazing sci-comm artists through STEMPEERS. I love following and learning from each and every one’s art and way of science communication. To add a few more names, I enjoy science sketches, exemplary work from Dr.David Goodsell. Also, PHD comic series is something that makes me laugh every time.

3. Is there any exciting story behind the name Fuzzy Synapse?

I want to give credit to my husband who coined this name for my platform. I think the connection between the world and science is fuzzy and being from a neuroscience background, connection means synapse. I think this name Fuzzy Synapse aligns very well with my interest and the mission of this platform really well.

4. The ratio between science communicators and scientists is not high: in your opinion, how should we tackle this issue?

I think scientists should learn the art of communicating their science to the broader audience. Especially from this pandemic, we learned that we are not just fighting pandemic but also infodemic. Through science communication we should bring science and society closer. Describing the significance of your work without using jargon could be very difficult as we the scientists have no formal training in that. I think teaching effective science communication from the very start can help. I am working on curating a seminar series on effective science communication which might also help in this direction.

5. What software/applications are you using to work on your projects?

When I started, I was simply using pen and paper to create illustrations. Now, I heavily use Procreate and Adobe illustrator to create all the artsy stuff. These softwares give more dimensions to my work but I feel the idea is the key.

6. How are you running the platform and how do you manage to balance your lab life and your passion side by side?

I try to balance both sides. I aim to cover at least one scientific topic every week through Fuzzy Synapse. So far, I have covered around 170 topics through my art. I make sure to bring the science correctly, hence do my homework too before starting the idea. I also make a conscious effort to make my content more diverse and inclusive. Collaborating with amazing groups and individual contributors gives me a great opportunity to fine tune my ideas. I learned a lot in this whole process which has kept me motivated so far.
I would say actually working in the lab brings a lot of ideas for Fuzzy Synapse. Let's say if I am running a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) or working with stem cells, I think then to create illustrations on those topics. After a long day of work at the lab, thinking and creating these illustrations give me immense joy. I would say it’s hard keeping a balance between lab work and Fuzzy Synapse, but the oxytocin I get from this creation keeps me going.

7. What is the future for the platform Fuzzy Synapse?

I am planning to launch a book series that will cover more scientific topics in greater detail. I am working on a book project called ‘draw your science’. Besides another ongoing series called “Draw your neuroscience” where I aim to make neuroscience fun and easy for all. I am aiming to soon launch a workshop series on effective science communication.
I envision Fuzzy Synapse will be a collaborative platform for scientists and artists to collaborate. Be it through visual illustrations, art performances, podcasts etc., we will see an amazing amalgamation of both sides to communicate science.

8. What advice would you give to people who want to start with Science Communication?

Just start, don’t complicate your thought process, don’t be hesitant. Please make sure to spread the right message through your content. It’s a learning process, so just put your ideas out. Collaborate with others in the field and keep learning and creating.

To enjoy illustrations from Fuzzy Synapse follow her on Facebook , Instagram and twitter too!

]]><![CDATA[Towards sustainable science, a discussion with My Green Lab®]]>Fri, 14 May 2021 11:00:00 GMThttp://inetnyc.com/blogs/towards-sustainable-science-a-discussion-with-my-green-labrWords by: Lucie Yammine
Edited by: Marta Collu and Laurie Herviou

To celebrate Earth Day during the month of April, INet-NYC has decided to partner up with My Green Lab® to raise awareness about energy consumption in our labs and to work together towards a more sustainable approach of science. My Green Lab® is a US based non profit organization that works with labs all over the world. Their goal is to bring awareness to the environmental impact of laboratory operations and share best practices to make changes that lead to science sustainability.
Together with our guest speaker Christina Greever, Sustainability Program Manager at My Green Lab®, Dr Marta Collu and myself hosted a webinar about laboratory sustainability and Green Labs movements you can watch or rewatch on our YouTube channel.

Reducing the environmental impact of research has not only interested researchers in the NYC area or the US, but also around the globe. We were very pleased to count among our attendees, scientists from Australia, Canada, Colombia, India and the UK!

When we think about waste in a lab environment we tend to only think about single use plastic consumables and packaging, and forget about the energy consumption and the amount of water used in our lab processes. Therefore, Christina walked us through the impact of our research, using very specific and striking examples. Did you know that one Ultra Low Temperature (ULT) Freezer consumes as much energy as one average US household per year? And chilling it up to -70°C instead of -80°C can save as much as 30% of the consumed energy.

*Laboratories discard 2% of the global plastic consumption*

According to Christina, Science is one of the final frontier of sustainability, because every lab is as complex as the research that is conducted. But sustainability can be reached in scientific processes in a lot of different ways. We do know that science is very resource intensive, then how can we combat this excess resource use?

There are more and more institutions-based green lab programs growing around the world.
There is interest and leadership towards sustainability coming not only from universities but also from industry and companies that are committing to greening their manufacturing processes.

“You are not alone in caring about reducing the environmental impact of science”

A few easy steps to get started:

Identify your largest waste streams. You might think it's gloves or pipette tips, but it actually could be something else depending on your usage.
Take advantage of vendor take-back recycling programs, for example New England Biolabs® and Sigma-Aldrich® participate in these kinds of programs.
Prevent over-purchasing by sharing supplies and common reagents.
Consolidate orders from the same vendors.

We can also reduce waste with green chemistry, and your lab doesn’t have to be a chemistry lab to follow the 12 principles of green chemistry!
Beyond Benign is an organization that focuses on these lab practices. “Green chemistry is the design of chemical products and processes that reduce and/or eliminate the use or generation of hazardous substances. This approach requires an open and interdisciplinary view of material and product design, applying the principle that it is better to consider waste and hazard prevention options during the design and development phase, rather than disposing, treating and handling waste and hazardous chemicals after a process or material has been developed.”

When we are at home, turning off lights after leaving a room or running dishwashers when they are full seem like a non-brainer. The simplest actions can have a big impact on the environmental cost of a lab in terms of energy consumption, because they have a much bigger impact in our labs than we can imagine.

“If every lab turned off one piece of equipment over night, it could save the equivalent of taking over 10,000 cars off the road.”

Among the best practices Christina listed, she also gave the examples of shutting the chemical hood sash to save two average US households worth of energy, defrosting and removing ice for our cold storage for them to operate at maximum efficiency.

To support scientists in their quest towards best practices, Christina said that My Green Lab has launched different programs designed so that individuals, laboratories, institutions, suppliers can interact and engage together to transform how science is done around the world.
Here are a few of them:

My Green Lab certification

An affordable program that focuses on behavior change and on actions that scientists have influence over. Focusing on equipment purchases and consumables. My Green Lab provides insight into areas for improvement and feedback into changes implementation.

Freezer Challenge

A free international program, running until July 1st, 2021 this year. Over the last 4 years, the combined effort of scientists participating in the Freezer Challenge have saved 9.9 million kWh.

The ACT label

ACT (Accountability Consistency Transparency) labels are eco-nutrition labels for laboratory products such as consumables, lab equipment and chemicals.
Using this label, as scientists and purchasers, we can standardly compare and choose the most sustainable and eco-friendly products.

My Green Lab Ambassadors

A free program designed for scientists and sustainability professionals. My Green Lab Ambassadors can brainstorm and engage together towards sustainable science and awareness in their institutions. It can also be a great networking opportunity.

In summary, the smallest changes in our daily work life can have a massive impact on our environmental cost.

“You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”
-Jane Goodall-

]]><![CDATA[Looking back onto Women in Science month!]]>Fri, 23 Apr 2021 11:00:00 GMThttp://inetnyc.com/blogs/looking-back-onto-women-in-science-monthWords by Dr Rebecca Caeser
Edited by Dr Lucie Yammine, Dr Vacha Patel and Dr Rinki Saha

Women in science have long gone underappreciated. INet-NYC did our part to redress this by hosting a Women in Science month. We featured a female scientist’s story and thoughts on our blog and social media (twitter and instagram) every day for the month of March.

We hope many of you walked away from it feeling inspired, relieved that things are changing already, yet still driven for more change. Here are three themes that stuck with us:

Motivation
One of the themes that ran through all of our interviews was our interviewees love of science. Dr Bhama Ramkhelawon (NYU Langone) spoke for many when she said that her motivation comes from performing “an experiment to address a question - and it works. Feels fantastic. Feels like the first bite of ice cream on a hot summer day”. Many also mentioned that their motivation is driven by a sense of doing something meaningful which is often fuelled by speaking to patients and/or their families.
But several argued that doing great science is not enough to progress equality. Dr Linda Molla (Regeneron Pharmaceuticals) believes that we need to shift our thinking about how leaders within science are rewarded. Currently, individual successes are recorded, but we need to put more focus on “how they manage and help employees or trainees to develop to achieve their goals”. These efforts will be vital to achieving greater gender equity, and are often currently unrecognised. As Dr Molla says, addressing “ineffective management practices would overall create healthier academic lab environments and help retain women in science.”
Several interviewees advised focusing on your productivity, rather than how many hours you put into a project. Dr Federica Valsecchi argued that "Being “workaholic” does not always mean being productive." A similar sentiment was shared by Dr Sandra Franco Iborra (New York Genome Center) who said that “one of the most dangerous rules is that you can’t have a work-life balance if you want to be a successful scientist”. We ought to let go of feeling guilty when not working 24/7. And Dr Itziar Irurzun Arana (AstraZeneca) had some good advice for staying motivated through adversity: “don’t be afraid of making the wrong choice, making mistakes is part of the path”.

Family
It’s no secret that women often feel a pressure to choose between starting a family and progressing their career. Dr Gayathri Srinivasan (Emory University) feels that “the roadblocks for women are that the biological clock and the tenure clock or climbing the corporate ladder are exactly at the same time. This makes for hard choices.” Yet, women should not feel like it’s either all science or nothing. Dr Elisa Venturini (Natera) gave some food for thought on this topic: “Mentors and colleagues who value our expertise will not make us choose. Finding that environment will not be easy, but we should not give up our dreams of starting a family, but rather we should focus on finding that workplace where we are valued even more because we have a family”.
Our interviewees had some good tips on how to achieve a healthy work-life balance. In prioritising her work, Dr Lilian Lamech (Chemeleon) said “I often re-evaluate based on the needs of the coming weeks and make sure the goals are manageable. It’s also okay to say no." And as Dr Thu Huynh (Midwestern University) told us, “work-life balance means setting boundaries.”
But they also argued for deeper structural changes, such as implementing better paternity and maternity leave, allowing for flexible work hours and affordable daycare for all. As Dr Hannah Meyer (Cold Spring Harbor) argues, women can’t fix equality on their own: “the burden of trying to make a change is often placed on the minority group, here women – this takes away from time that can be spent on research.”

Visibility
One of the key obstacles to equality in science identified by our interviewees was visibility. Dr Karuna Ganesh (MSK) points out that “girls are steered away from STEM early on.” This lack of role models is damaging and leads to a shortage of women higher up the scientific career ladder.
But role models don’t necessarily have to be celebrity scientists. As Dr Linda Molla (Regeneron Pharmaceuticals) said “If we want to impact change, each and every one of us needs to speak up in our workplaces”. Dr Gayathri Srinivasan (Emory University) agrees: “we will all have to come together as a society to improve women’s visibility in science”. Many suggested that we need equal representation and provide opportunities for junior/early career scientists. But to achieve this, there was a general consensus: we need male allies! Dr Alicia Perez Porro (CREAF) argues that “we need men to step down from manels, from all-men selection committees etc, and to fight with us for equal salaries, equal career opportunities, to take an active role for diversity and inclusion in STEM”.

Lastly, a general advice that many would have given themselves if they were starting their career today was to look for mentors early on in their career! As Dr Triparna Sen (MSK) argued “The right mentor will guide you to seize opportunities, open doors for you, will be a sounding board as you make difficult career choices and will champion for you”.

To dive deeper into all our female scientist life stories and thoughts on this topic, check out full interviews on our blog and also youtube channel!

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