Visitor of the Week: Kate Nesbit

Meet Katherine “Kate” Nesbit of San Diego State University! Kate is a postdoctoral researcher in Dr. Nicholas Shikuma’s lab and is taking part in the 2022 course of Advanced Bacterial Genetics. This is her first course at CSHL and the first in-person course since COVID-19 began in 2020. Here is what Kate has to say of her experience so far:

I would just like to commend the instructors and the course organizers from CSHL for all of the work they did to ensure the class ran as smoothly as possible. It was so refreshing to come together for an intensive science experience and I have really enjoyed the opportunity to be here and be inspired by everyone’s work.

Tell us about your research.
Bacteria in the ocean play essential roles in the lives of marine animals. I study how larvae (the babies) of marine animals can sense and respond to bacterial cues that drive major changes in development (like turning into an adult).

How did you decide to focus on this area/project?
Life evolved in the worlds’ oceans, the epicenter for microbial life. The microbes around us play major roles in our biology. Relationships with bacteria, often thought of as “good” or “bad”, in reality, exist on a spectrum. At the end of my PhD, I was curious to learn more about the context surrounding microbes and their relationships with marine invertebrates. So many marine larvae rely on bacteria during their life cycles and have diverse interactions with bacteria. The opportunity to work with the Shikuma Group and our model system, the tube worm Hydroides and its microbes, was an exciting opportunity. This humble worm is actually a powerful model for understanding symbioses. Bacteria are required for the larva of the worm to undergo metamorphosis which is a process where they transition to the adult body plan. My interests in marine invertebrates, developmental biology, and how animals interact with bacteria all led me to build my research questions around this area.

What and/or who is the inspiration behind your scientific journey?
I have been very fortunate to work with some fantastic mentors during my training, and of course my family has been immeasurably supportive. I also have been learning alongside some really amazing peers, and the summation of my interactions with all of these people have helped keep my excited and motivated to continue moving forward towards a career in science.

What impact do you hope to make through your work?
I hope that the work I do will encourage other minority women in science to embrace their curiosity and make new discoveries that help us understand fundamental processes of life. I also hope my work can impact others by encouraging them to protect our oceans and all of the amazing biology that happens within them. Finally, I hope to impact others by making some meaningful scientific discoveries, leaving behind a legacy of collaboration and of creating opportunities for others to be part of science.

Where do you see yourself in five years?
In five years, I would love to be starting up my own lab. I hope to establish an independent research program that works on answering questions at the interface of marine cell-, developmental-, and micro- biology.

What do you love most about being a researcher?
The thing that I love the most about being a researcher is that my days are always different. I never get bored doing the same thing because some days I am reading, some days I am writing papers or working on a presentation for a conference, and still other days I get to be at the bench doing experiments or imaging on the microscope. It never gets dull because there is always something new to do and learn. Also, I have a soft spot in my heart for all the squishy, crunchy, gooey critters of the ocean. There’s so much interesting biology going on in these critters that is understudied.

What drew you to apply to this course?
When I started in research as an undergraduate, I immediately fell in love with developmental biology, but it wasn’t until much later that I started learning about the ways that microbes influence development. The course on Advanced Bacterial Genetics is the ideal way to learn modern tools and techniques for understanding the relationships between bacteria and the animals that they interact with. Without tools for manipulating microbes, we can’t fully grasp the contributions they make at the molecular and genetic level to the biology of their symbionts and hosts. The reputation of CSHL as being an immersive and inspiring place, as well as the fact that I know colleagues who spoke highly of the course, were all contributing factors in my desire to attend this course.

What is your key takeaway from the Course; and how do you plan to apply it to your work?
I think one of the most influential lessons that I have learned in the course is that bacterial genetics offers a multitude of approaches for answering big questions in biology, and these tools can be applied in various permutations to all sorts of different systems. This experience has helped me to brainstorm new ideas for experiments in my own work. For example, I would love to take the tools I’ve learned about here (like generating gDNA libraries, transposon libraries, CRISPRi, and RIVET) and apply them in marine bacteria – which currently lack a lot of the accessible tools that are available to more widely studied model microbes. This would help us to better understand what genes in diverse marine microbes contribute to their ability to induce developmental changes in the tube worm model (and maybe even other invertebrates too).

What feedback or advice would you share with someone considering to participate in this course?
My biggest piece of advice would be to come with an open mind. You will meet so many people with diverse scientific backgrounds and with diverse identities. You can learn so much from your peers and the instructors if you approach the experience with the goal of learning from everyone.

What’s the most memorable thing that happened during the Course?
The most memorable moment of the course for me so far has been the unbridled enthusiasm of one of our instructors over their model microbe – it’s not uncommon to hear her shout “Staphylococcus!” and I think it’s so awesome that people can build their careers and still maintain that level of excitement for their work!

What do you like most about your time at CSHL?
My favorite thing about my time at CSHL so far has been the campus. It’s just beautiful and it has been a real treat to see this part of the state, especially since I have never been to New York before!

Kate received a scholarship from the Regeneron to cover a portion of her course tuition. On behalf of Kate, thank you to Regeneron for supporting and enabling our young scientists to attend a CSHL course where they expand their skills, knowledge, and network.

Thank you to Kate for being this week's featured visitor. To meet other featured scientists - and discover the wide range of science that takes part in a CSHL meeting or course - go here.

Images provided by Kate Nesbit

Visitor of the Week: Merissa Xiao

Meet Merissa Xiao of the Van Andel Institute. The postdoc in Dr. Huilin Li’s lab is at Protein Homeostasis in Health & Disease. This is her first meeting at CSHL and she found it “more efficient and convenient to meet and talk with people than virtual meetings. [She] felt the passion, perseverance and critical spirit of science from those attending the meeting.”

Tell us about your research.
My research focuses on understanding the mechanism of protein degradation, disaggregation, refolding and signal transduction in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). During host infection, Mtb encounters various stresses that result in reversible or irreversible damage to proteins, leading to protein misfolding or aggregation. Molecular machinery, such as proteasome-mediated degradation, heat shock protein (Hsp100, Hsp70 and Hsp40) mediated protein unfolding or refolding, and two component system (TCS) mediated regulation of gene expression. Given the importance of the molecular machineries in Mtb virulence in the host, these proteins may present as potential drug targets for TB chemotherapy.

How did you decide to focus on this area/project?
I have been working on the Mtb system--and have been interested in this research field--since I was a graduate student. Starting from then, I was very interested in this research field. Dr. Huilin Li and Dr. Heran Darwin’s lab have been working on the mechanistic studies of potential drug targets in Mtb for many years, which they have reported many exciting findings. Though, there are still many things that need to be addressed, considering the resistance and multi-resistance occurring in Mtb. Continuing from my previous research, I want to dig into this system on the basis of current findings.  

What and/or who is the inspiration behind your scientific journey?
My long scientific journey was inspired by those who mentored me during my PhD and Postdoc studies, as well as by the research itself. The efforts of my mentors to elucidate the mechanisms of molecular machineries in Mtb and their exciting discoveries inspire me to figure out more from this system and ultimately contribute to the drug design and development of Mtb.

What impact do you hope to make through your work?
I would like my work to be significant, unique and useful. I hope the systems work well and our findings lead to more drugs being developed for the benefit people suffering from tuberculosis.

Where do you see yourself in five years?
I would like to move towards becoming an independent researcher on the basis of being fully skilled and qualified. I hope five years worth of research will allow me to have quality publications and to have a social network with top scientists in my research field.

What do you love most about being a researcher?
Doing research shares some common aspects with living:  raising questions, making plans and solving the problem. The process of problem solving could be very tough but through reading and investigating papers, I learn, get inspired, and experience. Other people’s findings help us and our research, in turn, will help other people. That’s the way scientific research moves forward.

What drew you to attend this meeting?
Protein Homeostasis in Health and Disease meeting held by CSHL is famous in this research field. There are intensive talks by great scientists from all over the world. It is a great opportunity to learn new techniques from the talks and posters, and to meet with people.

What is your key takeaway from the Meeting; and how do you plan to apply it to your work?
My key takeaway is regarding scientific thinking, writing and presenting. I was motivated by the passion of the other participants, and I would definitely like to keep scientific thinking active and critical through my research career. I also received useful suggestions for my project and, such insight will definitely help me and my research going forward.

What feedback or advice would you share with someone considering to participate in this meeting?
I highly recommend people attend this meeting. The number of fantastic talks is astounding that it can sometimes be difficult to keep up.  The active and passionate atmosphere greatly facilitated scientific communications. Prepare to return to your lab inspired and teeming with new techniques and knowledge.

What’s the most memorable thing that happened during the Meeting?
The most memorable thing is meeting and talking to the speakers, whose papers and books I have frequently read and online seminars I have attended. They provided with very valuable suggestions that motivated me a lot.

What do you like most about your time at CSHL?
I like the academic and historic atmosphere in CSHL. The landscape is also amazingly beautiful. All the buildings have special names (after famous scientists) and there are pictures of famous scientists on the walls of the canteen. Walking around CSHL inspired me and my work a lot.

Thank you to Merissa for being this week's featured visitor. To meet other featured researchers - and discover the wide range of science that takes part in a CSHL meeting or course - go here.

Image provided by Merissa Xiao

Visitor of the Week: Julia Nepper

Meet Julia Nepper of the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery at the University of Wisconsin-Madison! Julia is a postdoctoral trainee in Jo Handelsman’s lab and is with us this week at The Biology of Genomes meeting. This is Julia’s first meeting at CSHL and she presented a poster titled “Genetic regulation of soil microbe biofilm formation in response to sublethal antibiotic treatment”.

Tell us about your research.
My research centers around understanding how the chemicals that soil bacteria produce allow them to communicate with each other. Specifically, I study a system of bacteria that models the rhizosphere, the area of soil on and immediately surrounding plant roots.

How did you decide to focus on this area/project?
It’s been an interest of the lab for a long time, and there were preliminary results suggesting that some signal was causing a biofilm phenotype in one of the bacteria from our model system. Because I had previous experience with biofilm research, I decided to investigate further.

What and/or who is the inspiration behind your scientific journey?
I’ve been interested in science ever since I could remember, and that passion was nurtured and supported by my parents throughout my childhood education. My undergraduate research experience convinced me to pursue a PhD. When I finish my work with Prof. Handelsman, I’m hoping to pursue a career in communicating science to lay audiences.

What impact do you hope to make through your work?
I’m hoping that my work will pave the way for a better understanding of bacterial biofilms and communication. Our goal is to establish a model system that can be used by researchers across the globe to interrogate rhizosphere bacterial dynamics in a controlled and methodical manner.

Where do you see yourself in five years?
I would love to be the host of a podcast/video series about science in general, but especially biology.

What do you love most about being a researcher?
I love talking to other people about research, and learning not just about the science, but also about the human stories that are behind the work.

What drew you to attend this meeting?
It was brought to my attention by my training grant program director. It seemed like a great opportunity to learn more about what’s state-of-the-art in terms of genomic and transcriptomic research. I am still fairly new to ‘omics, so I appreciate any chance to improve my understanding of the area.

What is your key takeaway from the Meeting; and how do you plan to apply it to your work?
I found an interesting poster that discussed different methods for RNA sequencing with low input concentrations. Although the work was done in the context of immune cells, I think it could easily be applicable to my work with bacterial biofilms.

What feedback or advice would you share with someone considering to participate in this meeting?
Although it can be tempting to stick to the subject areas related to what you study, sometimes it’s fun to go to a “random” talk or poster and learn something totally new! And you never know when those insights can actually be super useful for thinking about your work in a different way.

What’s the most memorable thing that happened during the Meeting?
I virtually “ran into” an old colleague of mine and we had a great discussion catching up on what we’ve been working on the past few years.

Thank you to Julia for being this week's featured visitor. To meet other featured researchers - and discover the wide range of science that takes part in a CSHL meeting or course - go here.

Image provided by Julia Nepper.

Visitor of the Week: Gemma Camara

Meet Gemma Camara of the Bishop’s University in Quebec, Canada! The undergraduate student is completing her research studies under a second experiential learning course at Dr. Rona Graham’s lab at Sherbrooke University, that is co-supervised by Bishop’s University Psychology Department Chairperson Dr. Jonathan Carriere. She spent most of this week with us at the 2020 Neurodegenerative Diseases: Biology & Therapeutics virtual meeting where she presented her first-ever poster entitled “The relationship between cognitive scores and detection of specific odours in the elderly”.

 Tell us about your research.
Olfactory dysfunction is important as it is a common early sign of neurodegeneration. My research project looks at three important questions:

1. If seniors experience general loss or loss of specific scents,

2. The difference in scent identification abilities between males and females,

3. If there is a relationship between correct scent identification and cognitive test scores.

How did you decide to focus on this area/project?
I started studying under Dr. Graham in her lab during the winter of 2020 with the co-supervision of Dr. Adrianna Mendrek at Bishop's University. Throughout this research experience, I’ve discovered a passion for olfactory function by working on Dr. Graham's research.

What and/or who is the inspiration behind your scientific journey?
I always had a passion for health science. Bishop's University piqued my interest because it is an English University with smaller classes, which is not easy to find in Quebec. The field of Neuroscience spoke to me; I love the professors and opportunities that this program provides. It is the reason I am here today. Students get a tremendous amount of support to pursue whatever they desire.  

What impact do you hope to make through your work?
Many elderly do not self-report olfactory dysfunction because of its subtle change in daily life. If olfaction is related to cognitive decline and early-onset AD, we could prolong its function by introducing early interventions such as olfactory therapy.

Where do you see yourself in five years?
I see myself finishing my Ph.D. in five years, maybe even giving a TED Talk about my research. The subject will most likely be on the physiology of neural pathways and related to olfaction, but I am open to other issues. I am in my third and last year of undergrad for now, and there is still a lot of research to do in the field of olfactory dysfunction.

What do you love most about being a researcher?
The people and science! I love the fact that when you find another researcher who has a similar passion, two strangers can instantly connect and work together or give each other advice, suggestions, etc.

What drew you to attend this meeting?
My supervisor Dr. Graham had suggested this meeting. She is always looking to guide me through new opportunities that will allow me to grow and go beyond my comfort zone. I am very grateful to have such a good mentor.

What is your key takeaway from the Meeting; and how do you plan to apply it to your work?
During the first night’s social event when Dr. Aaron Gitler asked me if I had applied to Stanford. I never thought to push myself to be a part of any of the “Ivy Leagues” before but his question made me think about the limitations I've set for myself. The sky's the limit, and there are tons of great Universities looking to take on smart ambitious students who are hardworking and who put themselves out there. I plan to continue working hard as a researcher so that soon I’ll be giving a presentation on one of our “groundbreaking” findings.

Also, during the Meet the Speakers event, I had the opportunity to meet and chat with Dr. Fenghua Hu and Dr. Goncalo Castelo-Branco, who both gave fantastic presentations on the first day.

What feedback or advice would you share with someone considering to participate in this meeting?
Participate in as many of the conference activities as possible! Fully immersing myself has been a great experience. The speaker and poster presentations enable an opportunity for feedback on published and unpublished data. You will have so many great interactions with the participants!

What’s the most memorable thing that happened during the Meeting?
The conference is still not over! But so far, the most memorable moment for me was the icebreaker on the first day. I love conversing with researchers from different universities. Everyone is extremely approachable and eager to give and receive feedback on their work. Thus far, every presentation has been impressive; I would highlight the presentation by Dr. Chloe Lee-Lopez on Male sex chromosomes attenuate cytokine response to inflammation in aging brain.

Thank you to Gemma for being this week's featured visitor. To meet other featured researchers - and discover the wide range of science that takes part in a CSHL meeting or course - go here.

Image provided by Gemma Camara

Visitor of the Week: Erika Estrada

Meet Erika Estrada of the University of California, Davis! Erika is a PhD Student in Linda Harris’ lab who serendipitously “flew” into science. She took part in this week’s Advanced Sequencing Technologies & Bioinformatics Analysis virtual course – her first at CSHL. Erika shares her career plans and we look forward to her shepherding the next generation of scientists.

Tell us about your research.
My research focuses on enhancing microbial food safety with an emphasizing on produce, and tree nuts.

How did you decide to focus on this area/project?
Honestly, serendipity. While I was flying back from a conference, the person sitting next to me was working on a presentation. I peeked on his screen and saw pictures of microbes, soil and water samples. I asked him about his job, he was an extension faculty at UC Davis and he offered me a job in his lab. After just a couple days of working in his lab, I knew that I wanted to study foodborne pathogens for the rest of my life.

What and/or who is the inspiration behind your scientific journey?
My future students. In the near future, I would like to become a professor in hopes to inspire, mentor and guide students through their academic career. I hope my story can show them that if I did it (got a PhD and become a scientist) then so can they.

Erika receiving the Developing Scientist Award at the 2019 International Association of Food Protection (IAFP) Meeting.

Where do you see yourself in five years?
My ultimate career goal is to become an extension faculty and a professor for an academic institution. As an extension specialist, I want to generate, transmit, and apply knowledge for the direct benefit of the food industry, farmers, and my community. I hope that through my research I am able to develop practices that enhance produce food safety.

As a professor, I want to share my knowledge and academic journey with the younger generations, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, like myself, to motivate them to pursue careers in science.

What do you love most about being a researcher?

I think what I love most about being a researcher is that I get to study something that no one has studied before. I get to provide answers to questions that ultimately have a positive impact in my community, and the food industry.

What drew you to apply to this course?
Currently, I am working on a project aiming to do comparative genomic analysis of multiple Salmonella isolates obtained from a 3-year pistachio survey in California. The ultimate goal of this project is to understand the underlying reasons for unique microbial contamination profile in pistachios.  However, this is the first time during my academic career that I have to do use advanced Bioinformatics tools and techniques. During this quarantine, I have taken a couple of free online courses on UNIX, and read about different software that would be beneficial to process my sequences. Honestly, learning the basics of UNIX, NCBI databases, and data processing software using YouTube, online classes and different websites has been one of the most challenging and satisfying things I have done in my whole academic career. However, I believe that attending this course would be a valuable opportunity to obtain formalized training in the topic and to keep instilling my passion for learning about the application of sequencing technologies and bioinformatics analyses.

What feedback or advice would you share with someone considering to participate in this course?
Definitely try to get familiar with R and Unix so that you are able to truly focus on learning about the bioinformatics tools and technologies covered rather than focusing on understanding the code.

What’s the most memorable thing that happened during the Course?
I think the most memorable thing that happened during the course was learning about the power of R when we were building visual tool, such as graphs, plots and heat maps, to actually see the results of our analysis. After this course, I am committed to learn more about R.

Thank you to Erika for being this week's featured visitor. To meet other featured researchers - and discover the wide range of science that takes part in a CSHL meeting or course - go here.

Images provided by Erika Estrada