Young researchers present on the global stage (Part 8)
In this eighth edition of the researcher series, three rising stars, competing for Sparrho’s Early Career Researcher Prize tell us about their research and why they chose to become scientists.
Alexandra Yarger
PhD Candidate at Case Western Reserve University, USA
#neuroethology #neurobiology #mechanosensation #bioinspired #drone
Alexandra will be speaking at Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB), San Francisco, California in January 2018.
How would you introduce your research to a non-expert? To develop bio-inspired technologies, we must first understand how natural systems behave. If we want to build fast, flexible flying machines, what better inspiration than a fly?
“Flies are able to maintain stability during flight more quickly and efficiently than existing drones are currently able, and my research begins to answer the question of how.”
What can your field of research contribute to the world? All of human experience is a product of a nervous system, and we are only beginning to understand how nervous systems function. My research advances our understanding of how the nervous system detects and encodes sensory inputs from the environment, and transforms that input into an appropriate behavioural response. It is important to explore how nervous systems normally function, not only so that we can use the information to inspire new technologies (such as more energetically efficient drones), but also to determine how dysfunction and disease differ from the normal state and in the future, develop a means of prevention.
Why are you a scientist and what are you most excited about? I’m curious! I love to learn and I love to find answers, but my primary goal as a scientist is to inspire genuine excitement in the field of biology and to pass on my knowledge, discoveries, and curiosity to others.
There is a lot to be excited about in the world of systems neuroscience! I think the biggest thing people are talking about is optogenetics. Optogenetics basically allows us to activate different parts of the brain by shining lights on the nervous system. Using this technique, we can learn how different neurons influence behaviour without having to open the animals up. Another exciting technology is a device that can be fitted on the back of a dragonfly (like a backpack) that allows us to record neural activity while the animal is flying freely. Finally, high-speed videography has allowed us to observe behaviours in detail that we weren’t able to see before, and to understand how the brain controls these behaviours.
What advice would you give to younger students regarding attending a conference? The best part of presenting your work at a conference is the feedback you get from fellow scientists. Almost all of my best ideas have come from talking about my research with colleagues and collaborators. Even just listening to a different perspective may lead you to something unexpected.
“Ask questions! Scientists LOVE talking about their research and no question is ever too basic or tangential.”
As soon as I stopped being afraid of looking stupid and just started asking whatever questions came to mind, I began learning and progressing at a much faster rate. Try not to be intimidated and remember we are all just people. Everybody knows something you don’t, but they can certainly learn something new from you too!
Read more about Alexandra’s research here.
Raymond Ho
PhD Student at Queensland University of Technology
#heartsurgery #embolism #cardiopulmonary
Raymond will be speaking at 37th Annual Cardiothoracic Surgery Symposium (CREF 2017), San Diego, California in October 2017.
How would you introduce your research to a non-expert? There are thousands of heart surgeries conducted every day, but this type of surgery can often produce floating debris within the main arteries, that may cause a patient to suffer a mild to severe brain injury. To better understand this problem, my research aims to simulate how the debris travels from the heart towards the brain during cardiovascular surgery. This type of new data may improve surgical techniques and medical component design, for ultimately providing increased safety and quality of care for cardiovascular patients.
“A weakness in clinical experimentation is the difficulty in comparing one event to another as there are so many confounding variables.”
What can your field of research contribute to the world? Invasive and non-invasive clinical trials on human and animal patients have always been a sensitive moral and ethical issue. A weakness in clinical experimentation is the difficulty in comparing one event to another as there are so many confounding variables. However, this weakness can be overcome by the use of quantifiable cardiovascular pathology analysis in the form of computer modelling. These numerical simulations can provide an infinite number of “what if” scenarios that can identify trends and association of variables, which means that there is a significant reduction in emotional and monetarily cost of conducting human and animal experimentation.
Why are you a scientist and what are you most excited about? I have a deep desire for knowing the truth, so I use science as a guide to help me find the clues, produce evidence and interpret the results, with the excitement of how the data could lead to new knowledge. More so, the experimental results can be so surprising, as it can show how my intuition can be wrong, and sometimes can be right.
The most exciting advancement is in the field of computational analysis for surgical planning and real-time intervention, with the eventual interfacing with robotic surgery. Currently, robotic surgery is conducted by surgeons, for example, robots are used to find veins in patient’s arms, it inserts a needle and then extracts the blood. However, eventually, artificial intelligent autonomous robots will be able to perform surgery, where science fiction will become a reality.
“By discussing my work with others, I develop a clearer understanding on my own topic.”
What advice would you give to younger students regarding attending a conference? Presenting my research at conferences helps me to develop my confidence, and communication skills, by learning how to concisely articulate the ideas that are important. By discussing my work with others, I develop a clearer understanding on my own topic. As my work is critiqued by peers, their feedback improves the quality of my research output, and it is an excellent opportunity and satisfying experience, to talk about the exciting findings of my research, and to gauge the interest from others in my study.
“My advice is to identify the end users or stakeholders to whom your area of study would be related and attend their conferences, as this can help expand your knowledge and the research impact.”
For example, my project is essentially an engineering study, yet the data is medically based, so I also target surgical conferences as well as engineering conferences.
Read more about Raymond’s research here.
Catherine Herzog,
PhD Candidate at Pennsylvania State University, USA
#disease #transmission #livestock #ecology #virus #africa #tanzania
Catherine will be speaking at 103rd Ecological Society of America (ESA), New Orleans in August 2018
How would you introduce your research to a non-expert? My research uses statistical and mathematical models of disease to learn as much possible about patterns of disease transmission. Currently, I am working on a highly infectious viral disease called peste des petits ruminants (PPR), which affects mainly sheep and goats, and which impacts over 330 million people whose livelihoods rely on small livestock in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. After testing a large amount of serum samples from northern Tanzania in the lab, I am now creating models to explore the serological and survey data to better understand which species are involved in PPR virus transmission in this region and which management practices may impact PPR virus transmission.
What can your field of research contribute to the world? By improving our understanding of the disease transmission process, including which species are involved and which management practices may have the most impact on transmission, this research can inform upcoming disease eradication campaign efforts and increase their chances of success. Furthermore, this knowledge can immediately assist those raising sheep and goats to adjust their management practices to reduce PPR virus transmission.
Why are you a scientist and what are you most excited about? I am a naturally curious and detail oriented person, interested in all that is going on around me. This insatiable curiosity drives me as a scientist and helps push me through when the going gets tough during research. I also really enjoy the scientific community and how ideas are shared and revised over time. There is always something new to learn or explore and I enjoy the challenges available in a scientific career. It is also incredibly fun to share science with those still in school and see them become passionate about science.
“I am a naturally curious and detail oriented person, interested in all that is going on around me. This insatiable curiosity drives me as a scientist and helps push me through when the going gets tough during research.”
Recent advances in computational power and the mixture of statistical and mathematical models have enabled disease ecologists and epidemiologists to better describe disease transmission and predict epidemic behavior. This is exciting because now it is easier than ever to simulate datasets to better understand the effects of missing data and the assumptions that are used to make a suitable model. With this knowledge, we can better understand what disease patterns to expect in complex systems, even when data sets are missing information.
What advice would you give to younger students regarding attending a conference? I benefit greatly from presenting my research at conferences, which is a great venue to highlight your work among your peers. It gives me valuable experience sharing my research in a manner that is understandable to scientists both in my field and outside of it, and to get feedback and new research ideas from other experts. Additionally, invaluable connections to future collaborators are often made in person at conferences through networking.
Whether you are giving an oral presentation or a poster presentation, make sure to prepare the presentation in advance and give your talk or poster speech a few times to your office peers before going. In doing so, you will get valuable feedback and they will help you make sure you have communicated the most important story or stories from your research. It is also good to make sure you understand what audience you will be presenting to, so that you explain your research in an approachable way and so you know whom you might be meeting!
“Having professional looking business cards is helpful for others to connect with you after the conference. Make sure to write down which conference you met at and what the topic of your conversation was on the back of the cards you collect so you remember your conversation later when you write a follow-up email.”
Lastly, be rested and ready to spend a good deal of time networking over breakfast, lunch, dinner, and evening activities. Science is social and many great collaborations and friendships can be made, or strengthened, at conferences.
Read more about Catherine’s research here.
The above applicants are finalists in Sparrho’s Early Career Researcher Prize that awards £500 to early career scientists who is presenting their work at an academic conference. To apply, follow this link to the 5-minute application form and use the Sparrho platform to share your research. Applications close at the end of each month and reviewed on a rolling basis.
