Table 14: Communicating Science to the Public

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Jessica Hebert

What is Your Current Position?

PhD Candidate, Portland State University/Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU); Portland, OR

What are your current research endeavors and/or other academic contributions?

Preeclampsia is a potentially fatal condition, affecting 5-10% of human pregnancies with lifelong negative health effects for the babies, especially when the baby is male. My current research focuses on a maternal genetic predisposition for preeclampsia and the role fetal sex plays in placental development, since the placenta is critical to proper fetal growth. By understanding placental pathology, we can detect preeclampsia earlier and create better interventional treatments to prevent long-term disease.

Communicating science to the public is critical. I am a Science Communication Fellow at Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, Admissions Chair for ComSciCon-Pacific Northwest, which trains new investigators in science communication, and the US representative on SRI's In-Training Committee. I've been featured by This Week in Science, the AAAS blog, and as a curator for I Am SciComm and I Am SciArt on Twitter, where you can follow me as @Dame_DNA and #teamplacenta.

What has been the most pivotal moment in your career?

The first time our lab used microbubble technology to monitor the placenta of our mouse model and we saw a dramatic change in the rate of blood flow, I knew we had found something special. It's been my driving question: what is the impact of this change on development? When does it happen? How does it happen? Finding your question changes everything, and nothing brings me greater joy than finding the answers and then sharing the news with others, scientists and the science-enthusiastic public alike.

What is one piece of advice you would give to a trainee?

Often new trainees are told that their only options are academia or industry, and that's not necessarily true anymore. Science communication is one of those new areas, a booming, multifaceted field that includes policy advisors, writers and editors for media, artists and musicians, educators, and more. When I started my PhD, I had no idea that it was an option, and now it's my passion to tell anyone who will listen about how amazing the placenta is. The perfect scientific career is out there for you, you just may not have heard of it yet.

 

Helen Jones, PhD

What is Your Current Position?

R01 grant holder, Independent PI, NIH reviewer, course co- director for grant writing course in MDB phd program, collaborator

What are your current research endeavors and/or other academic contributions?

1. Development of placental-specific nanoparticle for in utero therapeutics
2. Investigation into placental role in Congenital Heart Disease
3. Environmental impacts on placental extracellular vesicles

What has been the most pivotal moment in your career?

Leaving the comfort of my first postdoc to join a group not focused on placenta and establishing my own research project

What is one piece of advice you would give to a trainee?

Believe in yourself and listen to your mentors when they show confidence in you

 

Claire Roberts, PhD

What is Your Current Position?

I am a Lloyd Cox Professorial Research Fellow. My position is research only. I have several leadership positions including Deputy Director of the Robinson Research Institute where I lead its Pregnancy and Birth Theme and the Placental Development Laboratory, a research group with 20 staff and students. I am also the President of the International Federation of Placenta Associations and a former President and current Executive Member of the Australian and New Zealand Placenta Research Association.

What are your current research endeavors and/or other academic contributions?

My research is quite broad from cellular and molecular mechanisms in placental development, the effects of multiple micronutrients on placental differentiation and pregnancy success, and I have developed screening tests to predict which women are at risk of the big 4 pregnancy complications, preeclampsia, preterm birth, intrauterine growth restriction and gestational diabetes mellitus. I take part in peer review for a number of journals, for the Australian NHMRC and ARC and numerous other national and international funding bodies. I also lead other organisations that bring multidisciplinary researchers in the broad field of maternal and child health together and communicate research to the public and allied health professionals. I also write for non-academic journals including The Conversation and Australasian Science.

What has been the most pivotal moment in your career?

In 2005 I was awarded a $2.4 million grant from our state government to recruit pregnant women as part of an international cohort that aimed to develop risk prediction screening tools for pregnancy complications. This facilitated a lot of work, several more grant successes and my patented screening tools. It has dominated my career since that time.

What is one piece of advice you would give to a trainee?

Publish everything you can. That will necessitate selecting a research group to work in that also publishes well and gives young researchers opportunities to access grant funds, students and to be first named author on their work. It will also be most effective if you can collaborate with others.