Visitor of the Week: Tinaye Chiyaka

Meet Tinaye Leon Chiyaka of Stellenbosch University (South Africa)! The Zimbabwe national is a PhD Student in the Clinical Mycobacteriology and Epidemiology (CLIME) led by Prof. Grant Theron. Tinaye is also among the 700+ international researchers who make up the 2020 Microbiome – a virtual meeting attended represented by 50+ countries. This is Tinaye’s first meeting at CSHL and, based on his feedback, we doubt it’ll be his last.

Tell us about your research.
My research is investigating the pre- and post-treatment lung microbiome, metabolome, and immune signatures at the site of disease in patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis.

How did you decide to focus on this area/project?
My master’s research gave me a strong background in microbial genomics. For my PhD studies I was looking to apply my expertise in microbial genomics to infectious diseases (especially TB which is a public health crisis in both my home country Zimbabwe and here in South Africa). After a productive conversation with my current supervisor Prof. Grant Theron I decided to take up the challenge to study the association of the microbiome with metabolites and immune signatures at the site of disease in TB.

What and/or who is the inspiration behind your scientific journey?
I have always been passionate about science, but I have also learnt from the best notably my masters mentor Prof. Idah Sithole-Niang and my current supervisor Prof. Grant Theron.

What impact do you hope to make through your work?
Through my study, I hope to describe -- for the first time in the South African population -- the lung microbiome at the site of disease in TB and how it correlates with metabolic and immunological biomarkers at the site of disease in TB. This will hopefully lay a foundation for clinical trials on host directed therapies (HDT) or adjunct treatments to maintain specific microbes at the site of disease in TB for better clinical outcomes during, and after TB treatment.

Where do you see yourself in five years?
I hope to have concluded my PhD studies by then and doing a Post Doc preferably doing follow up research on my PhD research.

What do you love most about being a researcher?
As a researcher, it is never a dull day as you learn every day. I get to meet so many people who see the world in a different way. It also gives me great joy to know that my work can be instrumental in dealing with TB.

What drew you to attend this meeting?
Great minds give talks at the CSHL meetings; just a quick look at the speakers who presented their work during the CSHL Microbiome meeting tells you why I wanted to be here.

What is your key takeaway from the Meeting; and how do you plan to apply it to your work?
The microbiome is key player in human health and disease, and we are still learning so much about the microbiome in disease states. I was also encouraged by the number of researchers looking into the gut microbiomes and the high level of understanding of the gut microbiome their findings represented. This gives me hope that in the near future we will see more work on different anatomical sites. I intend to incorporate new analytical approaches I have learnt here into my PhD research.  

What feedback or advice would you share with someone considering to participate in this meeting?
I recommend my fellow scientists to attend at least one CSHL meeting in your respective disciplines. Research presented during the CSHL meetings is cutting edge and you get to network and meet so many people with similar research interest as yours. It is also worthwhile to mention that Slack makes the virtual experience memorable.

What’s the most memorable thing that happened during the Meeting?
I have so many memorable moments from this meeting but if am to choose one, the talk by Suzanne Devkota on “creeping fat” was mind blowing.  

Thank you to Tinaye 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 Tinaye Chiyaka.

Visitor of the Week: Tabita Ramirez-Puebla

Meet Tabita Ramirez-Puebla of The Forsyth Institute. The Mexican national is a postdoctoral scientist in Gary Borisy’s lab. Tabita is on campus for her maiden meeting at CSHL – Microbiome – where she presented a poster entitled “Application of CLASI-FISH to visualize the micron-scale spatial structure of the microbiome of the kelp Nereocystis luetkeana.”

What are your research interests? What are you working on?
I am a biologist interested in the study of microbiomes. Particularly, I am interested in the ecological implications of the distribution of microbes in relation to the micron-scale features of their environment. The spatial arrangement plays a key role in the interaction of bacteria with other microbes, hosts and their environment. In my current project I am working to establish a method to visualize the dynamics of the bacterial biofilms in the human mouth.

How did you know you wanted to study this/make it the focus of your research?
In previous projects, I have worked with symbiotic bacteria of eukaryotic hosts and realized the relevance of microorganisms to both the host biology and functioning of the ecosystems. The importance of microbiomes is increasingly recognized and High-throughput ‘omics approaches allow us to study them in an effective way. However, in such techniques the spatial arrangement is destroyed during sampling. Visualizing the micron-scale spatial organization provides clues about micro-habitats, intertaxon associations and metabolic partners. I am using the human oral microbiome as a model to understand the dynamics of microbial communities at micron-scale. I want to study the micron-scale biogeography of microbiomes to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of their function and the ecological role of the different members in a microbial community.

How did your scientific journey begin?
I don’t remember a time in my life when I wasn’t interested in nature. When I was a child, I spent much time watching documentaries which helped to develop a curiosity that drove me to become a scientist.

I have been inspired by different scientists, but women in science made the biggest impact in my life. I remember how encouraging it was to read papers by women scientists because it made me realize that I could do it too. I have since had the opportunity to work and learn from strong, intelligent, and passionate women and continue to do so.  

Was there something specific about the Microbiome meeting that drew you to attend?
I was particularly interested in the topics of Host-microbe community assembly, Microbe-microbe interactions, and Spatial studies of the microbiome. These subjects are very relevant for my current research and attending this meeting provides me with the opportunity to discuss them – and exchange ideas – with other scientists.

As of today, what is your key takeaway from the meeting?
There are many scientists studying the human microbiome to develop therapies and there are already successful examples. I find this very interesting and inspiring.

What and/or how will you apply what you’ve learned from the meeting to your work?
I think that I can learn something new just by talking with other attendants about their projects. I have learned of eye-catching approaches that I would like to apply to my future research in microbiomes.

If someone curious in attending this meeting asked you for feedback or advice on it, what would you tell him/her?
I think this conference has an outstanding panel of speakers and the chairs organized this event in such a way that attendees have many opportunities to engage in high-level discussions that can generate a lot of feedback.

What do you like most about your time at CSHL?
The landscape of CSHL is gorgeous! It’s the perfect environment that fosters creativity. This is my first meeting at the CSHL and it is what I expected it to be: beautiful location, and attendants are enthusiastic and willing to talk.

Thank you to Tabita 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.