Specialty: Food Allergy (Allergy/Immunology)
Current position/s: Associate Professor, Pediatrics; Team Leader, Berin Laboratory
- Can you describe what inspired your interest in science?
I had always intended to be a physician based on a somewhat naïve idea that it was a good career path and I had excelled in science and math in school. During my undergraduate studies in Life Sciences, my physiology and pathology courses sparked an interest to understand what happens when things go wrong in the human body, leading to disease. During a senior thesis project related to Inflammatory Bowel Disease, I realized that this curiosity would be better satisfied by a career dedicated to biomedical research rather than patient care, and I chose to pursue graduate work in gastrointestinal physiology. I didn’t know any scientists growing up, so until I did bench research as a student I hadn’t really considered science as a career option.
- What engages you the most about your research?
I enjoy interpreting data, I am always eager to see the results of each experiment and to think about how our findings relate to disease (in my case, food allergy). But the most rewarding part of my job is mentoring. I love to see trainees get excited about their results, and it’s also very rewarding to see them get external validation of their work through fellowships, awards, or being selected to speak at conferences. A lot of the mentoring work is about encouraging them to keep going when experiments don’t work or results aren’t exciting.
- Do you currently have a mentor? Describe how a mentor has been of professional and/or academic assistance to you as you’ve strived to fulfill your career goals
I have many mentors, although I currently do not have a formal mentor. Mentors have played an invaluable part in my career. In my early career, it was very important to have mentors who believed in me and provided strong emotional support when things got difficult, because rejection and career uncertainty are unavoidable in science. I have had mentors who opened doors for me, either through financial support for my research, or through inviting me to be involved in collaborative projects, or who suggested a new research path that they thought I would be good at.
- What is one of your more challenging career experiences?
Dealing with aspects of running a lab that you don’t typically learn when you are a graduate student or a postdoctoral fellow. These include many important administrative aspects (financial management and planning, keeping up with protocol approvals for conducting human subjects research or animal research) as well as management skills for ensuring that the lab is a productive and enjoyable workplace for all its members.
- What advice would you give to other aspiring female scientists?
Network as much as possible. Find scientists whose careers you admire and want to emulate. Find scientists who you enjoy collaborating with. Find scientists who will read your grant applications. This kind of networking can be difficult for some, but we can’t do science alone.
Learn more about Cecilia and the Berin Laboratory.