How long have you worked at UAMS? How long have you been in your current position?
I’ve been at UAMS for nine years working in the Aykin-Burns lab and I’ve operated the SARRP for the Division of Radiation Health in the College of Pharmacy for the past five years.
What is your favorite part of the job?
I love interacting with different researchers, students, scientists and clinicians across not only our campus, but across the country. Each investigator brings different dynamics and new ideas to our ever-changing field.
Are there any challenges?
Every day. Being a part of the Radiation core as well as redox metabolism that we perform in our lab, I have people bringing in different proposals and you have to determine exactly what needs to be done to ensure they are successful. Just in our division we investigate hepatotoxicity, cardiotoxicity, neurobiology and gut microbiome in an effort to protect normal tissue from radiation induced damage. With all the different projects, I can go from helping a student with an experiment in the tissue culture lab to imaging/irradiating for another project in one morning.
How does your work assignment interact with others?
Investigating redox/oxidative stress and radiation, our lab interacts with faculty from several departments as well as medical, pharmacy and graduate students. I do everything from assisting students with their lab experiments to writing proposals and journal articles. I even have the opportunity to work with high school students through the summer research program and greatly enjoy helping to inspire the next generation of scientists.
How do you/your group handle problematic issues?
I work with a fantastic group that has expertise in several fields and are always willing to assist in teaching new lab techniques or trouble shooting issues that may come up with a project. Whatever needs to be done to accomplish the goal we will do it.
Can you describe that more fully?
We lost power during an irradiation once. When it came back online the SARRP (our irradiator) unfortunately did not. I ended up on the phone with tech support, pulling the machine apart to fix the problem. At the end of the day I was able to fix the issues and finish the experiment for the professor.
How many proposals/samples do you work on annually?
I’m currently working on five different proposals.
How about after hours? What do you do for fun?
I like being outside, either hiking, biking or fishing. Arkansas is beautiful and if I can be outside enjoying it I will.
What personal skill or hobby don’t most people know about you?
I love taking pictures. I can easily spend hours outside taking pictures of the wildlife or scenery.
Any last thoughts on your research work?
If you would like to discuss new research ideas, we love forming new collaborations!