Scientist Spotlight

Scientists facing a research problem often look for innovative ways to challenge the status quo to drive change. For Shuying (Linda) Xu, a third-year PhD candidate at Tufts University in Boston, that involves a focus on neutrophil cell therapy as an option for treating pneumonia, which can have severe complications after an active infection.

The spark of creativity that inspires a lifelong passion for research can originate from many places.

Carolyn Jones embarked on her academic science career as a mature student in 1967, continues to work in the field of electron microscopy and lectin histochemistry, and describes herself as a microscopist and glycobiologist.

As a child, Andrea Jeffers Wellington was fascinated with all the life forms in the ocean and secretly wished that all the water would disappear so that she could walk on the sea floor and observe all the cool creatures.

Nathan Martin studies developmental neurotoxicology, using a variety of techniques to examine the effects of persistent and emerging toxins on hundreds of zebrafish each week, often using live imaging to visualize their early development in vivo.

As Natalie Chen closes in on the end of her PhD studies in Molecular Cellular Integrative Physiology at UCLA focusing on the nuclear lamina meshwork, she has learned to hope for the best but also be prepared to expect the worst.

Newly minted PhD, Mark B. Jones, investigates the influence that Siglecs (sialic-acid-binding immunoglobulin-like lectins) have on cellular behavior and assesses candidate proteins for novel therapeutic applications.

Jennifer Kielczewski (MS, PhD) has been at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) since 2011. After completing her postdoctoral work there, focusing on the retina in the Lab of Immunology, she began her current staff scientist position in 2016 at the Biological Imaging Core (BIC) within the NIH National Eye Institute (NEI).

Dr. Enrico Radaelli, DVM, PhD, DECVP has been the Technical Director of the Comparative Pathology Core (CPC) since the spring of 2017 where he supervises the day-to-day scientific activities for a small core team of fellows and technicians within the Department of Pathobiology at the Ryan Veterinary Hospital.

Estrella Lopez-Gordo has always been drawn to nature, with its interconnectivity and complex processes, and is keenly aware that not only are functions often redundant but replaceable, as organisms find ways to adapt to changing environmental conditions.