To mark Signals’ 10-year anniversary, we caught up with some of our active current bloggers — Lyla El-Fayomi, David Kent and Sara Nolte — to get to know them a little better, talk science communication and, in next week’s follow-up post, predict what a science-enabled utopia of the future might look like.
Who is your favourite science communicator?
Lyla: Ziya Tong and Dan Riskin! I was so disappointed when their show “Daily Planet” finished its run on Discovery, but they’ve since gone on to continue their amazing work making science more accessible to everyone.
Sara: My old-school favourite would have to be Bill Nye (loved those days in science class)! A new-age choice would be Mark Rober (check out his channel). He’s super engaging, visibly enthusiastic about sharing engineering principles (in very fun ways), and empowers his audience to learn and build for themselves.
David: I think Bob MacDonald wins the prize for me – he (in a good way) is a massive nerd about science and conveys the idea that it’s OK to be excited about how cool stuff is, just because.
Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
Sara: When writing articles for scientific journals, it was probably “ectopic gene expression.” Now, maybe “life-long immunosuppressive medication?” My editor probably has a top-ten list of which I am blissfully unaware….
David: I binge on phrases – they hang around for months to years and then it’s hard to recall the last time I used them. Currently I think I’m trying to purge “D’you know what I mean?”
Lyla: In previous years, I would overuse “basically” while explaining ideas or concepts, but have since worked to eliminate it from my vocabulary. What if the person I’m explaining something to still doesn’t understand? Not grasping or arriving at “basic” concepts can be discouraging. I think that one person’s basic is another person’s complicated.
Which quality do you most value in your best friend?
David: Timelessness: no matter the circumstances or gap in communication, we always just get on.
Lyla: It’s a tie between boundless empathy and total honesty.
Sara: Being an empathetic listener. Which reminds me, I should work on reciprocating!
Tell us about a recent study that you think hasn’t received enough attention.
Lyla: I love this question, because it’s one of the things I try to do with Regenerative Medicine News Under the Microscope every month.
For this, I’ll go with a COVID-19-themed study: “Senolytics reduce coronavirus-related mortality in old mice.” Senescence and senolytics have been discussed at length by Signals bloggers, most notably at our last blog carnival. However, I thought it was really interesting that senolytics, like the flavonoid fisetin (found in strawberries and other fruits/veggies, believe it or not), are currently being tested in COVID-19 clinical trials (e.g. this one and this one) after promising results in rodents, like the above Science paper. For more on the topic, check out this great review article by some of the same authors: Role of senescence in the chronic health consequences of COVID-19.
David: I like this paper because it challenges decades of dogma by stating that cytokines facilitate receptor dimerization (rather than receptors dimerizing first to permit cytokine binding). It’s always important to use new technology to look at old questions.
Sara: While briefly mentioned in a Signals blog post, this New England Journal of Medicine study about gene therapy for sickle cell disease (SCD) is pretty exciting! The study is a Phase I/II clinical trial where patients’ stem cells were genetically modified to produce antisickling hemoglobin molecules. Over a two-year period, patients receiving the treatment no longer experienced any sickle cell crisis events. This is great news as SCD has very few treatment options, which are largely limited to symptom management, and curative stem cell transplants are rare, as recipients need a donor with a 100% match (i.e. an unaffected sibling). I covered this article and SCD in more depth here.
Which historical figure do you most identify with?
David: I’ve always drawn inspiration from social reformists: the idea that we should constantly try to improve ourselves and the world around us is important to me. A lesser-known historical figure I identify with is Beatrice Webb who was a strong advocate for providing everyone with opportunities to improve, authored the Minority Report, and helped form the London School of Economics.
Lyla: I’ve never really identified with a historical figure. Hypatia of Alexandria (Egypt), however, is someone that I think about often; I’d absolutely love to sit down for a conversation with her. She was a 4th century mathematician, astronomer and philosopher who was incredibly respected in academic circles. She gave public lectures, dressed in scholars’ robes rather than regular women’s clothing, and never married or had children. She was a fascinating individual and, frankly, a feminist icon.
If you could wake up tomorrow with any area of niche expertise, which would you most like to have?
Sara: I’d have to go with carpentry expertise! We’re in the midst of sprucing up our home, and having some expertise in an area of home renovation would be great (and might be the nudge we need to finally start the projects we have in mind!).
Lyla: Pure mathematics!
David: Fluency in all languages. I think we miss out on so much by not understanding the multitude of ways to communicate.
What’s your motto?
Lyla: “The only way out is through,” (Robert Frost) is one of my favourites, especially in tough times like these.
Sara: I can’t say I have a particular motto, and certainly not any original ones! But if I had to pick, some words I aspire to live by would be: “No zero days” and “Be the person your dog thinks you are.”
David: Hire nice people.
If you have a favourite science communicator, let us know in the comments below. Join us next week for a blog post featuring these three bloggers, along with three CCRM executives, sharing their thoughts on the future of science and regenerative medicine in the year 2050.
Cal Strode
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