CCR SSSC Organization

I joined NCI in 2001 as a visiting fellow and became a Staff Scientist in 2009 in Dr. Rubin’s lab, Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Biology. After his retirement, I transferred to Dr. Lipkowitz lab, Women’s Malignancies Branch in 2014, and have been conducting basic and translational research focused on breast cancer. Over the years, I have been very fortunate to cultivate wonderful friendships and nurture productive collaborations with SS/SC in NCI.  As central workforce of NCI, every SS/SC is a busy multi-tasker conducting research, learning new technologies, mentoring young fellows. SS/SC organization is a unique community filled with many talented, driven, creative people with various expertise. I believe connecting with peers promotes personal growth and helps to advance science. Therefore, I’m interested in contributing to the SS/SC community. I’ve been working in SS/SC retreat committee since 2016 and served as a Co-Chair of SS/SC retreat 2018. I’m also one of the facilitators of SS/SC brown bag seminar series started 2017. I’d like to continue to assist SS/SC organization and enrich our professional advancement. 

I currently serve as a structural biologist in the Protein-Nucleic Acid Interaction (PNAI) Section of CCR’s Structural Biophysics Laboratory. After completing my postdoc at NCI-Frederick in 2012, I spent two years as a Health Science Policy Analyst in the NIH Office of Biotechnology Activities. This time away from the bench provided me a unique opportunity to apply my scientific knowledge and experience in diverse ways, giving me new perspective and deeper appreciation for science and just how important our work truly is. My passion for scientific research ultimately led me back to the bench at NCI as a Staff Scientist in 2016. With the help and support of colleagues, I have made major contributions to the fields of structural biology, most notably time-resolved crystallographic methods using X-ray free electron lasers to observe, in real time, RNA conformational changes triggered by ligand binding. Our work in this area not only resulted in a major publication, but has been highlighted in numerous press releases, CCR Milestones, PDB molecule of the month, and several invited seminars.

Despite my initial success as a Staff Scientist, however, I acquired a yearning to contribute more to the SS/SC community, primarily in addressing two key areas of concern. First, which I believe is (or should be) a concern of all SS/SCs, is professional development. The position of SS/SC is wonderfully unique; it allows for rigorous scientific research at the highest level with minimal administrative or other obligations, such as those associated with the position of PI. The rarity and exceptional nature of the SS/SC, however, makes professional development complicated, and success difficult to measure. During my first quadrennial review period, a myriad of questions plagued my mind, such as “What specific criteria are used to review the SS/SC, and what weight is given to each?” “Are these criteria fair and adequate?” “What additional factors might affect the accuracy of those review criteria, and are such factors even considered?” “What are my career possibilities (if any) toward which I should be working, and how do I measure how close I am to achieving them?” The second area, which is of grave concern, is the lack of interest and involvement amongst members of the organization. In my experience (albeit limited), meetings seem to be very poorly attended, and often involve very little contribution from members to the discussions and topics raised by committee Chairs. What are the reasons for this? Is it the style/structure of the meetings? Is it the topics/issues discussed (or not discussed)? Is it complacency or apathy? If people think the meetings (or worse the SS/SC organization in general) are a waste of time, they will not attend. However, the SS/SC organization exists for a specific purpose: to advance our professional goals and scientific careers. If we don’t want that for ourselves, no one else is going to fight for it on our behalf. The success and potential impact of our organization hinges on our level of involvement. WE need to be the impetus for change. WE need to pave the way for our advancing our careers. And to do that, WE need greater involvement in our organization.

I served as one of the co-chairs of the 13th annual retreat committee in 2017 and co-chair of the 14th annual retreat communication subcommittee in 2018. Additionally, I was serving as a moderator of the sessions in 2016, 2017, 2018 annual SS/SC retreats.  I was the one proposed the idea of having a separate nomination and award for outstanding mentoring award for staff scientists/staff clinicians, which was duly executed by Dr. Abdul Waheed in 2016. If I get an opportunity to serve as a co-chair for 2019-2020, I will definitely speak for the entire SS/SC community.