Behind Our Science – Details, episodes & analysis

Woo! Happy New Year!

In our 26th episode, the Behind Our Science team interviews reflects on our past 7 episodes produced in 2024! We still can't believe we have made so many episodes and gotten the opportunities to travel and meet some amazing scientists along the way.

One of the highlights of the Behind Our Science team was our recent travel to Australia and New Zealand!!! The team submitted and presented our individual research abstracts at the 2024 Biomolecular Horizons Congress that took place in Melbourne, NSW, Australia. Dr. Roberto Mota-Alvidrez and Dr. Vik Meadows also got the opportunity to travel to Sydney to present at Dr. Daisy Shu's home institution, University of New South Wales. Dr. Mota-Alvidrez and Dr. Meadows also explored New Zealand - a once in a lifetime opportunity for our team! We hope you enjoy our segment highlighting the 12 apostles park, Jervis Bay, lemon lime and bitters tasting, Koala sightings, conference speed interviews, and the beauty of Australia.

We also celebrate some career and personal achievements this year including cross-country moves, grants, engagements, publications, and lots of conferences! We believe it is so important to celebrate all the wins, big or small, to combat imposter syndrome and survive as researchers. We want to hear your wins -  let us know in the comments below or tag us on our social media! As always, thank you for tuning in. Stay curious! 

#BiomolecularHorizons2024 #IUBMB #ASIP #HCS #Australia #NewZealand #ScienceCommunication #Research #NewYearReflection

Thank you for joining us for our 25th episode! 

In this episode, the Behind Our Science team interviews three leading scientists in the developing field of nano- and micro-plastics. Understanding the role of nano- and micro-plastics in biological systems has large implications on our individual and global health with potential to impact our government policy. Our international speaker line up is taking on the field of nano- and micro-plastics by investigating its impact on various biological systems including reproductive (placenta, testis), cardiovascular, and ocular. We are excited to showcase the value of collaboration and data driven discovery in the field of micro-plastics! 

Our first speaker is Dr. Phoebe Stapleton, Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the Ernest E Mario School of Pharmacy at Rutgers University. We invite you to read her recent work on nano-plastics in the peer reviewed articles below: 

1.    Identification of micro- and nanoplastic particles in postnatal sprague-dawley rat offspring after maternal inhalation exposure throughout gestation: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39117197

2.    Single inhalation exposure to polyamide micro and nanoplastic particles impairs vascular dilation without generating pulmonary inflammation in virgin female Sprague Dawley rats: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37088832

Our second speaker is Dr. Chris Lim, Associate Consultant in the Department of Ophthalmology at National University Hospital. We invite you to read his recent articles on micro-plastics in eye disease and his studies on the impact of COVID-19 vaccines on eye health below: 

1.    Impact of Microplastics on the Ocular Surface: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36835339

2.    Retinal vein occlusion following BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech) COVID-19 vaccination: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37675679

Our third speaker is Dr. Matthew Campen, Regents’ Professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of New Mexico. We invite you to read his recent work on micro-plastics in the peer reviewed articles below: 

1.    Microplastic presence in dog and human testis and its potential association with sperm count and weights of testis and epididymis: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38745431

2.    Quantitation and identification of microplastics accumulation in human placental specimens using pyrolysis gas chromatography mass spectrometry: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38366932

As our listeners, we want to hear from you! Have you heard of micro-plastics? What directions should the research go? Let us know in the comments below or tag us on our social media! Thank you for tuning in. Stay curious! 

#Microplastics #nanoplastics #polymerresearch #ramanspectometry #massspectrometry #rutgers #unm #nuh

This episode is all about celebrations! We celebrate our co-host Daisy's wedding and conference honeymoon as well as Roberto's new position as Assistant Professor at the University of New Mexico. Dr. Menglu Yang, Instructor in the Dept. of Ophthalmology of Harvard Medical School participates in our 7.3 Questions Segment. We also feature an interview with Dr. Heather Francis, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology in January, 2019 as the Scientific Director of the Indiana Center for Liver Research (ICLR) and a Professor of Medicine.

In our first episode of 2023 the team reflects on the career and life events that made 2022 so unique to each of us at BOS.

In episode 14  we discuss the impact of leadership in our careers and recap how events like Leadership Academy, co-hosted by ASIP & Catalysts of Awesomeness, help us become strong leaders as scientists, mentors, and community members. We also recap our experience at the first in-person SACNAS NDiSTEM, since the pandemic, that took place in San Juan, PR. If you're interested in joining and supporting the SACNAS mission of achieving true diversity and celebration of culture in STEM check them out at https://www.sacnas.org/.

We want to thank you for the support of our podcast! It has been an interesting journey and we love sharing science with you. Although this was a year of transition for many of us at BOS, we are eager to welcome the new year with new opportunities and are excited for the upcoming episodes we have planned.

Our episode wraps with a reverse interview with our special guest podcaster. Thank you for tuning in!

In this episode we discuss the importance of SELF ESTEAM, the impact of art in science and how it relates to everything we do in and outside of academic research.
Daisy was able to interview Amir Bitran, a PhD candidate at Harvard, composer and scientist about his most recent classical music composition influenced by his research and science. We are sharing a piece of his art at the end of this video.

We are 28 days away from PISA ASIP 2022. There is still time to register and attend this wonderful program put together from the meeting chair, our very own Vik Meadows!!!
https://pisa22.asip.org/

Young Investigator Keynote Seminar Series – 2022
Thomas Gebert
October 19, 2022
12:00 PM (EDT)
Investigating Calcium Dysregulation and Viral Virulence Using Forward and Reverse Genetics
Thomas Gebert, MD-PhD Candidate
Baylor College of Medicine, Houston TX
Register to attend  https://asip.memberclicks.net/index.p...

Congratulations to the 2022 HCS Cornerstone Awardees!
These awardees were selected from the largest number of applicants yet! Awardees will embark on their proposed research in the coming year.
To learn more: https://hcs.memberclicks.net/2022-cor...

On this our episode 10 we talk about #CapitolHillDay2022. We also have highlights from Experimental Biology 2022, an interview with Dr. Bill Coleman about the last Experimntal Biology. We also have an EB 2022 Vlog with all of our favorite moments. We discussed the importance EB has been in our careers. ENJOY!!!

Producers and co-host:
Roberto Mota Alvidrez
Daisy Shu
Vik Meadows

Editor: Jeff Jenkins
Music: Jeff Jenkins, Roberto Mota, Azael Frayre

Thank you to the American Society for Investigative Pathology and the Histochemical Society

LIVE EPISODE 4

May is Women in Pathology Month and Behind Our Science is excited to celebrate with Drs. Mindy, Amy, and Kristen Engevik. We hear about their experience as women and sisters in science, navigating careers in academia, and their famous #FluorescentFriday tips for immunostaining.

In this episode we introduce funding opportunities for undergraduate and graduate trainees from the Histochemical Society due May 31 and June 30, respectively. 

Have a favorite woman in pathology? Tweet @behindourscienc with their name and #WomeninPath to be entered into a drawing for BOS swag and dunkin donuts gift cards! Have your next coffee on us!

#GITwitter #SisterLab #FluorescentFriday #SisterScientist

On this our episode 8 we celebrate #BlackHistoryMonth by highlighting very brilliant Black scientists and researchers. We also have article highlights, 7.3 Q's with Daisy Shu and a crossover interview with People of Pathology podcast. ENJOY!!!

1st segment: 1 on 1 interview with Dr. Bryan Wilson, PhD, MBA with Dr. Roberto Mota
2nd segment: Article Highlights "On Being Black in the Ivory Tower" published in Cell, "Chemokine-Based Therapeutics for the Treatment of Inflammatory and Fibrotic Convergent Pathways in COVID-19" published in Current Pathobiology Reports, and "Bile from Patients with Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis Contains Mucosal-Associated Invariant T-Cell Antigens" published in American Journal of Pathology with Dr. Vik Meadows
3rd segment: 7.3 Q's with Dr. Tessa Fitch with Dr. Daisy Shu
4th segment: Crossover interview with Dennis Strenk from "People of Pathology" Podcast & 7.3 questions segment with Dr. Roberto Mota

Producers and co-host:
Roberto Mota Alvidrez
Daisy Shu
Vik Meadows
Marina Anastasiou

Editor: Jeff Jenkins
Music: Jeff Jenkins, Roberto Mota, Azael Frayre

Thank you to the American Society for Investigative Pathology and the Histochemical Society

Articles cited:
1. Armstrong A, Lomax J, Traylor-Knowles N, Samba-Louaka A, Towers C. On Being Black in the Ivory Tower. Cell. 2020 Oct 29;183(3):559-560. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2020.10.006. PMID: 33125879.
2. Julian DR, Kazakoff MA, Patel A, Jaynes J, Willis MS, Yates CC. Chemokine-Based Therapeutics for the Treatment of Inflammatory and Fibrotic Convergent Pathways in COVID-19. Curr Pathobiol Rep. 2021;9(4):93-105. doi: 10.1007/s40139-021-00226-0. Epub 2021 Dec 8. PMID: 34900402; PMCID: PMC8651461.
3. Valestrand L, Zheng F, Hansen SH, Øgaard J, Hov JR, Björkström NK, Karlsen TH, Jiang X, Melum E. Bile from Patients with Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis Contains Mucosal-Associated Invariant T-Cell Antigens. Am J Pathol. 2022 Jan 19:S0002-9440(22)00008-6. doi: 10.1016/j.ajpath.2021.12.008. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35063408.

We explore days in the life of a scientist in different steps in academic research
Daisy did a 7.3 questions parody and favorite lab equipment