Today we'd like to introduce you to Emily Taylor who is a doctoral candidate from the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department. To hear her amazing story of how she got into cancer research, check out our blog post!
What inspired you to pursue a career in STEM?
Like many cancer researchers, adversity from neoplastic disease has touched my life personally, starting as a childhood triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) survivor, at age 12. While I have passions in many areas, such as public advocacy for women and the disabled and entrepreneurship, I am especially connected to serving racial disparities in TNBC, especially for Black women, who are most affected by this deadly disease. Certainly, I enjoy the art of research and seek to master my craft daily, but it is fueled by a passion to equalize the chances for survival as my part of supporting Black lives, as predominant in younger peers of these communities in a way that breaks generational prosperity for the sum of their people. By depriving the nation of key female figures by poor detection methods and abysmal clinical outcomes in TNBC, we are losing much of our future, which is very much female. It is undignified for Black women to choose between the cost of life-saving treatment and their children’s education or buying their first home, or worse, giving up their professional standing in industry, academia, and government where they are most needed. Coming from a humble family in SC, I think it is unacceptable for this to continue and seek just inclusion in my own way. Whenever I go to a Komen event, my peers in TNBC are missing and I miss them. I believe the gifts of survival and talents for research are from God to ensure the survival of others from my heart. It drives me to fight hard for them in a humble and reverent gratitude.
How would you describe your work to the public?
Quite a love story! If I have loved anything, it is hard problems! Starting young at 17, I have been fortunate enough to have extensive research experiences in chemical approaches to medicinal synthesis of natural products, bioanalytic technical design, molecular biology and translational systems biochemistry, and molecular pharmacology, as well as computational methods in omics and compound target modeling. When I find that unique factor in a cancer system, be it an overexpressed protein or a rare microenvironment, I use all of my arsenal to devise a way to precisely target, attack, and immobilize disease. Often this is achieved through employing a novel compound or making a derivative of an existing drug or natural product, and essentially, I design a strategy for oncologists to potentially treat patients in the context of their total physiology, not merely in a vacuum. Any scientist knows that bleach can kill cancer, which we use on the petri dish level, but patients deserve sophisticated treatments that can seek out the complex tumors at the source. At the moment, in my chosen specialty of TNBC, I am actively interested in the developmental side of the disease to devise detection methods and define druggable targets in the earliest stages, while investigating the mechanism of action of an anti-tubulin agent, OXi8006, as a potentially useful and well tolerated intervention for later, more advanced disease that is common in the clinic.
What do you enjoy doing the most?
When I am not working with scientific instrumentation I am a professional level violinist, having played for 25 amazing years and made many lovely friends through memberships to many orchestras across the country. At Baylor University, I have adored opportunity to continue in developing my talents and currently preparing Vivaldi’s Winter as my first major solo. My new (old) violin for the performance was crowd funded by friends and colleagues around the world, which was really awesome to be supported as part of my art. In addition, I serve as a musical leadership mentor for non-major students to reach their higher artistic potential so they can remain active in community music programs following graduation. Considering many students veer away from music in their professional lives. My mission is to be a role model for the positive influence of the mental “cross-training” that music provides and show that they do not need to give up one passion for another when these are mutually beneficial.
Share an accomplishment that a younger you would have thought unachievable?
I never would have guessed that I would be Miss Pennsylvania in 2013 for a small women’s empowerment pageant system. Having a more ambiverted temperament, I am often more visible behind or beside my work than in the flesh; stepping out as a public figure for who I am was a brave move for me personally. Through this once in a lifetime experience, I gained a lot of confidence and had the chance to support many wonderful causes, including musical education and women in science. Accomplishing the balance of exploring my effeminate side in full glam, yet bringing the assertiveness and intellectual strength that is often associated with masculine features was a gamechanger.
If you can give a piece of advice to the younger generation, what would it be?
Follow your heart and be true to your beliefs. There will be times that people will try to convince you to abandon yourself and serve them, which is not how God intended us to be as his children. Although maybe not for some time, acting in alignment with your values will attract and manifest what is right for you, but you have to be lovingly loyal to how you were created to get what is rightful. Never give up on what gets you out of bed because that is worth living for
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