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Science Behind ScienceSeason One Recap: Common Threads Amongst our Conversations with Practitioners and Educators in ScienceDennis and Ann recap Season 1 of the Science Behind Science podcast by sharing personal highlights and illuminating a few common threads they identified in the conversations recorded thus far. We also share our future plans for season 2 and provide information for how you can connect with us!
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Email: sciencebehindsciencepodcast@gmail.com2022-10-2920 minScience Behind ScienceScience + Education: The Road Less Traveled; Exploring Nontraditional MD/PhD PathwaysDr. Takae Brewer, a cancer genomics fellow at Cleveland Clinic and a PhD student in Case Western Reserve University’s Physician Researchers Innovating in Science and Medicine (PRISM) program, tells us about her experiences getting a PhD after medical school. Takae outlines the typical trajectory for students pursuing an MD/PhD in the US and contrasts it with her own, more nontraditional path of pursuing a PhD after fellowship. She gives details about PRISM: how it compares to a typical PhD program and what it looks like for her as a fellow. Takae also introspects on why a PhD af...2022-09-1856 minScience Behind ScienceScience + Communication: Improving Networking Skills and Culture Building in ResearchDr. Justin Lathia is the Director of Faculty Development and the Vice Chair of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Sciences at Cleveland Clinic’s Lerner Research Institute. Dr. Lathia is a wonderful communicator in the scientific community and is a fantastic advocate and mentor for scientists looking to take the next step in academia. We wanted to interview Dr. Lathia about how he builds relationships in research, specifically including how he has cultivated a positive culture in his lab, the advice he gives to young faculty, and how he establishes and maintains professional friendships and ongoing collaborations. In this conversation, expect to...2022-09-0146 minScience Behind ScienceScience + Education: Dennis' Backstory - How He got into Research and What He Loves about ScienceIn this episode, Ann interviews Dennis about his scientific background. Dennis shares how his love for science began in high school, why he ended up at Haverford College for undergrad, and describes the mentorship he received there. He talks in-depth about his research experiences at the Cleveland Clinic as a student researcher and a technician, and what motivates him to pursue medicine. He gives advice to students looking to apply to medical school or who are looking for a lab to work in and inspires us with stories of how he pushed past discouragement and challenges to pursue what...2022-08-1448 minScience Behind ScienceScience + Education: Ann's Backstory - How She got into Research and What She Loves about ScienceIn this episode, Dennis interviews Ann about her background in science thus far. Ann tells her story as to how she became interested in research, starting back from enjoyment and success in Chemistry classes during high school and through a few early role models in her life. She goes on to discuss her undergrad scientific training, her academic passions from college, an impactful summer internship she had, and how she landed in her current position as a research technician at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute. Ann talks about what she does as a tech, what her goals are...2022-07-3141 minScience Behind ScienceScience + Careers: The Life of a Professional Biomedical WriterDr. Cassandra Talerico is a Biomedical Writer for the Department of Cancer Biology at Cleveland Clinic’s Lerner Research Institute. Dr. Talerico completed her undergraduate training in Psychobiology and Biology at Hiram College, where she was a Phi Beta Kappa member. She then earned an M.A. in English from Case Western Reserve University and a PhD in Regulatory Biology with Specialization in Molecular Medicine from a joint Cleveland State University and Cleveland Clinic program. Dr. Talerico shares her story as to how she became a professional writer, including her training, how she realized she enjoyed writing more than ex...2022-07-1650 min
Science Behind ScienceScience + Careers: Achieving Work-Life Balance as a Scientist (Yes, it’s Possible!)Dr. Lou Charkoudian, a Professor of Chemistry at Haverford College and return guest to the podcast, discusses how she manages to avoid job creep and keep a work-life balance and integration. Beyond being a wonderful scientist and mentor, Lou continuously works to make sure she is a supportive and present parent and spouse. In this episode, we discuss how Lou manages to control her incredibly busy schedule, how to effectively allocate time to tasks, and how to actively reassess her balance in order to optimize both her work efficiency and her family time. Lou offers many great pieces of...2022-07-0253 minScience Behind ScienceScience + Careers: Launching and Building a Career as a Marine EcologistDr. Jamie Becker, an Assistant Professor of Biology at Alvernia University and return guest to the podcast, discusses how he got started on the path of Marine Ecology and what the real life of a Marine Ecologist is like. Jamie describes the qualifications and training necessary to pursue a career in Marine Ecology, and also shares several colorful anecdotes about fieldwork and the importance of getting out to sea to properly study marine life. After fleshing out what it really means to be a Marine Ecologist, we discuss the relevance of studying Marine Ecology and Biology to the world...2022-06-1954 minScience Behind ScienceScience + Medicine: A Primer on Clinical ResearchMilana Leygerman, the Clinical Research Supervisor for Cleveland Clinic’s Genomic Medicine Institute, provides us with a broad overview of clinical research. With her experience at the bench and in various roles on clinical trials and projects, we felt Milana was a perfect fit for a discussion on clinical research as a whole and its relationship to basic science. In this conversation, we touch on the goals, regulatory procedures, ethical considerations, and types of clinical research. Milana also gives a framework for study design, lists the components of a research team, and explains the role of biorepositories. Woven into the di...2022-06-0446 minScience Behind ScienceScience + The Road to PI: Mindset and Motivation of a Rising Principal InvestigatorDr. Iris Nira Smith, a research associate in Dr. Charis Eng’s lab in Cleveland Clinic’s Lerner Research Institute, shares her journey toward independence in research. As a recent NIH K99/R00 recipient, Iris explains what a principal investigator is, what some of their responsibilities are, the qualifications for becoming one, and why she chose to pursue this career path. Through reflecting on her past and what keeps her going in the present, Iris places emphasis on the power of perseverance and varied life experiences while sharing numerous mindset shifts we can all make to help us reach our...2022-05-2157 minScience Behind ScienceScience + Communication: Exploring SciComm Beyond the Manuscript and ConferenceDr. Stetson Thacker, a Clinical Genomics Curator at GenomOncology and the Social Media Manager for the journal Human Molecular Genetics, returns to the podcast to discuss how scientists communicate outside of publications and conferences. Beyond his expertise in reading primary literature, Stetson has a fantastic understanding of how to actively engage in scientific communication, hence why we wanted to chat with him about this topic. In this conversation, we start off by talking about what he does for Go and as HMG’s Social Media Manager. We then move onto discussing several platforms in which researchers communicate, including Twitter, Su...2022-05-0745 minScience Behind ScienceScience + Education: Rebranding Organic ChemistryDr. Lou Charkoudian, a Professor of Chemistry at Haverford College, shares her wisdom for teaching and mentoring students through a notoriously difficult course: organic chemistry. Lou explains the relevance and importance of organic chemistry to our lives and unpacks why the course is so challenging for both students and instructors. She shares with us the various structures she’s implemented to set her students up for success and help them feel supported throughout the learning process. Through her course design and approach to teaching, we learn that organic chemistry can be a fun, accessible, and conquerable subject if approached wit...2022-04-2353 minScience Behind ScienceScience + Education: Why Everyone Needs "Superlab"Dr. Robert Fairman, a Professor of Biology at Haverford College, explains the value of in-depth lab education during undergrad and gives some insight into his mentorship philosophy. Rob was Dennis’ undergraduate research mentor and a number of the lessons Rob taught are worth sharing on a broader scale. In this conversation, Rob shares great tips about generating thoughtful undergrad research experiences while explaining a course at Haverford called Superlab. He also discusses the value of becoming close to students, standing as a fantastic example of someone who is a friend and advocate first, and a teacher, mentor, scientist, and ad...2022-04-1059 minScience Behind ScienceScience + Education: Tips and Tricks for Reading Scientific LiteratureDr. Stetson Thacker, a Clinical Genomics Curator at GenomOncology and a previous PhD candidate in Dr. Charis Eng’s Lab of the Genomic Medicine Institute of Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute, shares his insight into navigating the seas of scientific literature. We both worked with Stetson and mutually continue to agree that we haven’t interacted with someone who had a better handle on the lit than Stetson. So of course, we hoped to pull back the curtain on his tips and tricks through this conversation. We talk about methods for staying current, organized, and collected, as well as how...2022-03-2649 minScience Behind ScienceScience + Education: Elevating Undergrad Science CoursesDr. Jamie Becker, an Assistant Professor of Biology at Alvernia University, discusses undergraduate course design for the sciences. He starts off by describing how he began teaching before getting into the general curricular and course structure for undergraduate science majors. We then spend some time talking about the details of course design that Jamie likes implementing, including how he has developed engaging and exciting courses even in his early teaching career. We move to the students’ perspective, challenges in teaching, teaching science to non-majors, and finally Jamie’s own motivations in teaching. Ann and Dennis love how Jamie really driv...2022-03-261h 00Science Behind ScienceIntroduction: Science Behind Science PodcastWelcome to the Science Behind Science Podcast!2022-03-1301 min