Today we want to introduce you to doctoral candidate Kelsey Johnson from the Biology Department. To learn more about her research with DNA and breast cancer check out our blog post!
What inspired you to pursue a career in STEM?
I, like many children, expressed an interest in science early on. I loved learning about plants, animals, stars, and planets. I loved going to museums (shoutout to the Museum of Life + Science in my hometown of Durham, NC!), and looking at objects through microscopes and telescopes. I centered my interest on being a biological researcher in high school, where my mom encouraged me to apply to a HHMI summer research program at Duke University. I was accepted and worked in an ecotoxicology lab over the summer. I was hooked! At the end of the experience, I was offered a position in the laboratory and I continued to work there, fueling my interest in biological research.
How would you describe your work to the public?
Each cell in our body, with the exception of red blood cells, contains the same instructions for life—our DNA. Even though each cell is given the same “book of instructions”, certain chapters are earmarked, some paragraphs contain special annotations, and some are chapters are hidden. The differences in how DNA is read account for our 200 different cell types. A similar phenomenon happens in cancer, and more specifically metastasis (the process where tumor spread to other parts of the body), which accounts for 90% of breast cancer-related fatalities. Breast cancer cells that metastasize to the lungs, brain, and liver may have the same “book of instructions” as the cancer cells contained in the breast, but they have different ways that the book is read. My research is centered on understanding how DNA changes its organization during a specific cell process called EMT, which enables cells to metastasize. By understanding how the DNA organization changes during EMT, we can find ways to suppress it to prevent metastasis and breast cancer patient death.
What do you enjoy doing the most?
I enjoy snuggling in bed with a good cup of coffee and a book. Or lounging outside in the sun. Nothing can beat summer in Texas.
Share an accomplishment that a younger you would have thought unachievable.
Young Kelsey would’ve been surprised that I moved to a whole state by myself. I enjoy being around my family and friends, and never would have considered that I’d move some 1,000 miles away from them to pursue graduate school. But what’s really wonderful is that I’ve been able to make a lil community of friends here, and I appreciate them tremendously. 🥺
If you can give a piece of advice to the younger generation, what would it be?
Take the time to understand yourself. Wholly. Completely.Genuinely.Assess and understand your feelings and what you gravitate towards. When do you feel the happiest? What’s a topic, place, idea that you’re curious to learn about? How do you react when you’re upset? Are there small indicators that you feel when you’re excited or disinterested about something?Is there a particular person that you admire and why?We all learn more and more about ourselves each day, but the act of intentionally investing time, energy, and emotion in discovering information about ourselves brings about a certain consciousness about yourself as well as life paths that are interesting to you. Sometimes things that we’re taught to want are not quite the things that want. Sometimes it is exactly what we want. Nonetheless, I encourage the younger generation to invest in the idea of surprising yourself and divest in the idea that things always have to be the way they are because “they’ve always been that way.”
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