Meet the Researcher
Jisca Majolee, PhD
Hubrecht Insitute
Utrecht, Netherlands
Current Research
What is your research focus?
I am currently working on a zebrafish model to study different aspects of Noonan Syndrome. People with this syndrome have very diverse symptoms, and by making genetically modified zebrafish with the same mutations as the patients I try to find out what causes these symptoms and how to deal with them or prevent them.
What current project are you excited about?
For one of the mutations I am studying, I clearly see resemblance of the symptoms that we also see in patients. The embryos also respond very well to the inhibitor I have tried so far, which makes me hopeful that this will be useful as a translational model for the disease
What do you like about working with zebrafish? What don’t you like about it?
During my PhD, I was almost exclusively working with cells. Being able to study the whole organism is very interesting since it is of course the ‘real’ situation, and not isolated. A downside is that most experiments take a lot longer and the fish are less predictable – they may sometimes not lay eggs, of course. Also, it seems more difficult to do pathway analyses, although this has definitely become easier the last years with al the single cell RNA sequencing options.
Getting to know you better
Where were you born/where did you grow up?
I was born in Gouda, in the west of the Netherlands. Pretty soon we moved and I and grew up near Utrecht in the middle of the Netherlands.
When did you realize you wanted to have a career as a scientist? /What made you realize you wanted to have a career as a scientist?
I was always interested in how the human body works, one of the earliest memories of this is that I was wondering how it could be that your brain tells your arm to move and then your arm moves immediately. My interest in biology, mostly of the human body, stayed throughout my primary school and high school. I did know that I would not be interested to work in medicine, meaning as a doctor or nurse – to be honest, I didn’t feel like dealing with people and their problems all the time. Then it was quite an easy choice to start studying Biomedical Sciences.
Where did you do your undergraduate studies? Did you do research with anyone?
For my undergraduate studies, I moved to Amsterdam. This was partially because there are good universities there, but a big part of the choice was also my sports in which I was very active, and did in Amsterdam. This allowed me to continue to do the sport that I loved next to my studies and even while doing my PhD. During my undergraduate studies in the field of Biomedical and Biomolecular Sciences, I did several internships in research departments in Amsterdam.
Where did you do your graduate studies and with whom? What did you work on?
I did my undergraduate studies also in Amsterdam, at the VUmc in the lab of prof. P. L. Hordijk. I did my first Master internship in his lab, and then was happy I could come to do my PhD there. I worked on the role of post-translational modifications on Rho GTPases in endothelial barrier regulation – quite the mouthful. So I was mainly working with endothelial cells, and analyzing their signaling either in response to several stimuli or when I would overexpress Rho GTPases and mutants thereof.
Where did you do postdoctoral studies and with whom? What did you work on?
Currently I am in my first postdoc position at the Hubrecht Insitute in Utrecht, in the group of prof. J. Den Hertog. I pretty much switched fields – from working mainly with cells to working mainly with zebrafish. We are currently making and investigating zebrafish with a patient-specific mutation of Noonan Syndrome, to elucidate the pathways involved and try to map how these exact mutations contribute to the disease.
What other jobs have you had?
Other than some side jobs during high school and during my studies, I have only done research.
Science and Careers
Share a turning point or defining moment in your science/career.
I experienced a major setback in the 3rd year of my PhD, when a project I worked on for 1.5 years basically fell apart because of a stupid mistake I made in one of my analyses. I was actually ready to quit science, but I got a lot of support from the scientists around me. I didn’t receive any harsh comments, only sympathy and also people sharing some of their mistakes. This really helped me get over it, and take it as a big learning moment – to double check the important steps, maybe even together with somebody else to have some fresh eyes on it. And I think it is definitely important to keep supporting each other!
If you could be present for any "Eureka" moment in history (i.e. the moment some scientific discovery was made), which moment would you choose? Why?
The moment it was realized that the Earth orbits the Sun and not the other way around!
What advice would you give to someone considering a career in science/research?
Celebrate the small wins you make in the lab! Of course we are all aiming to reach a big goal, but this will likely take long and you will encounter many setbacks, so be happy about achieving small goals to stay motivated.
Where do you think the next scientific breakthroughs are going to occur?
I am really not too sure for this – but I think we could try to use artificial intelligence more, maybe to make links we don’t see ourselves.
What is the most challenging part about your science or obtaining your career goals? This may be the fact that everybody’s career paths are so diverse, so it is difficult – but in the end, also not necessary – to compare yourself to others. I find it sometimes then difficult to estimate whether you are on the right path.
Outside of work
What do you enjoy doing outside of work/lab?
I am a huge lover of swimming – I have done synchronized swimming for most of my life, and just this year I switched to ‘just’ lane swimming. Other than that, I like doing board games with friends and family.
What are you reading right now (not including research papers)?
I am currently reading Circe by Madeline Miller
Name a favorite song or musical piece.
I really like the music from Florence + the Machine
Favorite place you have lived or visited?
I don’t really have one favorite place, I have lived in big cities and small towns and all have their ups and downs.
What alternative career would you like to attempt if you could?
I would probably also enjoy being a sports coach – I have done this voluntarily for 5+ years in synchronized swimming and learned a lot about coaching in general, nutrition, training schedules… Unfortunately there is a very low demand for synchronized swimming coaches, but I think I could also find myself coaching kids in other (water) sports.
Provide a quote that speaks to you.
"I'm not going to continue knocking that old door that doesn't open for me. I'm going to create my own door and walk through that." - Ava DuVernay
Patrick I. Garrett
University of Wyoming
Laramie, Wyoming, USA
Current Research
What is your research focus?
I am currently focused on understanding the role oligodendrocyte precursor cells play during remyelination in response to spinal cord injury. Bioelectrical signals show a promising route of investigation as several ion channels are upregulated in response to multiple spinal cord injury types such as transection and crush.
What current project are you excited about?
I am excited to be working on a project looking at the possible causes for seeing reduced Olig2+ cells in a zebrafish spinal muscular atrophy model.
What do you like about working with zebrafish? What don’t you like about it?
I love most everything about working with zebrafish. The ability to get large numbers for an experiment, having many tools available to answer different types of questions, and the fact that they don't smell bad like other model systems. The only thing that I don't like, and it's more of an inconvenience than anything, is when the fish don't mate for me.
Getting to know you better
Where were you born/where did you grow up?
I was born and raised in Ogden, Utah. Which is a little north of Salt Lake City.
When did you realize you wanted to have a career as a scientist? /What made you realize you wanted to have a career as a scientist?
I realized that I wanted to pursue a career as a scientist after my first experiences with presenting undergraduate research at a conference. I was able to meet so many people from different backgrounds which helped me see various new opportunities I didn't know existed and motivated me to continue down this path.
Where did you do your undergraduate studies? Did you do research with anyone?
Weber State University in Ogden, Utah. I conducted research using zebrafish with Dr. Elizabeth Sandquist where we were looking at retinal regeneration.
Where did you do your graduate studies and with whom? What did you work on?
I am currently in the Neuroscience PhD program at the University of Wyoming, working in Dr. Karen Mruk's zebrafish lab where we study spinal cord injury.
What other jobs have you had?
I come from the automotive industry where I worked as a collision technician and then transitioned to the parts side.
Science and Careers
Share a turning point or defining moment in your science/career.
A very impactful turning point for me was being able to travel to an international conference to present undergraduate research. It opened up so many new doors for me.
If you could be present for any "Eureka" moment in history (i.e. the moment some scientific discovery was made), which moment would you choose? Why?
I think it would have been great to be there for the moment it was discovered that a wing can create lift and allow humans to fly.
What advice would you give to someone considering a career in science/research?
I would suggest considering what they are truly passionate about and whether or not that conflicts with any personal values. Being interested in something and being passionate about something can be very different things and that needs to be considered when making important career decisions.
Where do you think the next scientific breakthroughs are going to occur?
I think that the next scientific breakthrough will most likely come from new ways of looking at old problems. Technology has allowed the advancement of many different fields so I think that it could come from any of them.
What is the most challenging part about your science or obtaining your career goals?
Changing the way I look at, and interpret, the world around me in an objective manner is the most challenging part so far. I have always been a curious person, however, turning that into a career where rigorous attention to detail is crucial has been a difficult, yet welcome challenge.
Outside of work
What do you enjoy doing outside of work/lab?
I have many interests outside of work to keep me busy and balanced. I live in a place where I can get outdoors a lot to hike and camp or take photographs.
What are you reading right now (not including research papers)?
A book that talks about various experiments over the past hundred or so years which has led to many of the current guidelines we follow as researchers.
Name a favorite song or musical piece.
Fat the elephant by A Perfect Circle. It's wonderful reminder of what it takes to accomplish an overwhelming task.
Favorite place you have lived or visited?
I love a good road trip where you can travel over mountain ranges on long twisty roads.
What alternative career would you like to attempt if you could?
Open-wheeled racing.
Provide a quote that speaks to you.
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." --Wayne Gretzky