So today we have with us AJ, who is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Iowa. And he’s working on insulin dependent regulation of skeletal muscle mitochondria. So I welcome you, AJ, to our little stem, stemcognito interview. And maybe we can just start with the first question of like, can you summarise your research for our audience? What are you what is your research project on Research that I’m doing in the University of Iowa in the diabetes centre, which is ran by my boss, Dr. Dale, Abel, we study dilated cardiomyopathy and type two diabetes, I’m focused on type two diabetes, which is specifically in the skeletal muscle. And that’s my site of interest. And so what I’m doing is looking at a protein called Op1 Op1, regulates fusion cycles, meaning that it takes two mitochondria and joins them together to make one mitochondria. And then vision is when you separate the two. And so what’s interesting is that when you’re ageing, or you have type two diabetes, the levels of opl, one go down, which leads to early signs of insulin resistance in the skeletal muscle, and also potentially fat accumulation. So what I’m trying to do now is trying to develop intervention strategies when you’re losing important mitochondrial genes such as opl. One, what can you do to alter function and still restoring insulin sensitivity there. And so one way we’re doing that is through a drug called took it which is FDA approved. And this particular FDA approved drug allows for us to relax the ER stress that occurs and the ER is the endoplasmic reticulum. It’s a tubular structure that allows for you to fold proteins correctly, and it sends the proteins to other parts of organelles in the cell to help properly function and keep homeostasis meaning neutral level within the cell. And so when this occurs, we see that when you have type two diabetes, I also should say that your stress is increased meaning that the ER is overworked, and is producing too many proteins and not folding them properly. So this drug relaxes this. So now we’re trying to understand how this drug can help us actually join another two organelle communication factors together, meaning demand space, so we’re looking at ER and mitochondria. And with this particular drug, we’re trying to understand how it can increase the turnover of proteins in that space, so that it’s a stronger signalling hub. So meaning that it allows for proper homeostasis to occur again. And then the other thing that I’m looking at is actually trying to repurpose alkaloid compounds to report to refold, the cristae. And I’m taking this project with me to Vanderbilt and the Department of molecular physiology and biophysics. And we’re also looking at other alkaloid compounds that are in tropical plants, in certain regions across the globe that are tropical that I have an interest. And we’re using mastek to isolate those particular compounds, and then actually determine if they can refold the cristae. And if they can refer the cristae, then we’re able to establish a model of actually regenerating the mitochondria without having to give a like maybe a harsher chemical compound. So we could do something more natural that similar to like a took a compound, right. So that’s something that we’re trying to do now. And then we also believe that if we give back the alkaloid compound, and not only riffles cristae, but we’re restoring mitochondrial function, which leads to proper Merck communication, meaning the mitochondria in the ER joined together properly again, and then they work in unison and means that you decelerate ageing, and then you prevent the dysfunction of mitochondria that will cause type two diabetes. Okay, so one thing that is not really clear to me why, what is the connection between the mitochondria and the ER, what why is this signalling important between these two? Yes, that’s a great question. So there’s a number of proteins that actually work on both sides of the ER and the mitochondria. And this is a rare space because these proteins can be recruited there from other places, or specifically housed there permanently. And so on the outside of the ER and mitochondria, and other organelles, they interact with the set of proteins. And so these proteins do specific functions, so that you can actually have proper homeostasis. Sometimes you need to produce more limits in a cell. So the ER will be close to the mitochondria and shuffle liquids inside. But it requires specialised proteins that are in this space. Sometimes, let’s say The mitochondria are low on calcium. Well, with this space, when they interact this little small membrane in between, they’re able to transfer calcium from the ER to the mitochondria. Or if it’s too high, it can go the other way around as well. So the ER is not only folding proteins, it’s also producing lipids and transporting calcium. Exactly, exactly helps regulate calcium as well. Okay. And also it shapes their mitochondria as well. So there’s alternative mechanisms for the mitochondria to split apart. And so it helps to bring in actin and also er to split the mitochondria apart. So er is very important for actually proper segregation of the mitochondria to split apart his contents as well. And it’s delayed, it can create these nano tunnels that form right now the literature suggests that mitochondria mitochondria communication is split through this nano tube. And it’s because of delayed vision. So this er is very important for regulating these special events as well. Okay, so how does all of this tie in into diabetes? Great question. So, yes, so basically, what you have insulin resistance, you have alterations in calcium, we have alterations and lipid accumulation. And you also have just get into this what is insulin resistant mean, on a molecular level? Okay, great. That’s your question. It’s where you’re no longer producing enough insulin to actually regulate glucose uptake. And so glute four is a particular transporter, or channel, if you will, I’m trying to think of a way that people can understand it, probably a transporter would be okay. And yeah, and you’re basically taking like from one side of some region to another side of the region to uptake glucose. And so basically, this transporter allows for you is activated through insulin signalling to allow for glucose to come inside and then be metabolised and used properly through the electron transport chain to make ATP, which is your energy source. But without the proper signalling clubs to do this, you’re no longer able to do this as regularly. And one of those signalling hubs is the merch space. So insulin resistance occurs because the merch space no longer has the communication needed to relay insulin signals to help maintain that transportation of glucose inside the cell. So basically, there’s molecules in the merch space, because I don’t want to get into the technical names of the proteins, but there’s three or four proteins that actually go into this merch space that help regulate insulin sensitivity. And so when they’re no longer there, those factors contribute to insulin resistance, because it takes longer for the factor to come inside and we see insulin present, or if you don’t see insulin present, as well. And this merch space can also cause inflammation, which can also lead to type one diabetes, where you have like an auto immune response. So really, the merch space is important, what we only studied in the context of type two diabetes, understanding, like what’s happening in the presence and absence of insulin, and the presence and absence of opa one and looking at how glucose is uptaken and being metabolised into ATP. So that’s kind of like the angle and the connection. And the reason that we started with the skeletal muscle is because insulin resistance first starts in the skeletal muscle sport starts in the pancreas, the liver, any other tissue, so it’s it’s very heavily involved. And because we have a lot of muscle throughout our body, this is why we study it because it’s very important as well. Okay, perfect. And now you said you’re already working on a drug that is somehow making all this better Tell me more about Yes, this drug. So I’m in my in my lab, I don’t want to say too much because in my lab, we’re still in the process of working on it. But when I officially started, Vanderbilt will be studying a series of alkaloid compounds that are How can I say they’re Phyto, oestrogen rich, I guess I could say that and xeno estrogens. It say that, because I don’t want to tell you which ones they are, in particular. And so we know that these compounds may be important for regulating folding, because in the laboratory, another investigator and Dr. Ava’s lab, Dr. Rhonda souvenier, will publish a paper that I’m a part of that talks about how different types of steroid compounds can regulate cristae folding again. And so what I’m interested in is understanding are there alternatives and the actual plant world where we don’t have to give you know isolated compounds of 17, beta and sugar which is cashback oestrogen, and we can actually be of Phyto estrogens, maybe in a in a diet that actually could help refold cristae properly and then that way, we just need that Figure out how to be more nutrition rich on certain Phyto estrogens. So refold cristae appropriately. And then this would also help regulate insulin sensitivity because oestrogen is known to regulate different aspects of glucose sensing neurons in the brain and then also peripherally as well regulating insulin sensitivity in the skeletal muscle. Okay, so what exactly is it folding? Or what is it helpfor? Sorry? Good question. So cristae are the foals inside of a mitochondria. So if you have a mitochondria, they have imaginations. Yeah. Exactly. Nice. Yes. Okay. And so opa one regulates all of these folds. So okay, if it’s not there, all of those folds fall apart, and you just have like, like a cookie monster mouth, where it’s just teeth at the top and teeth at the bottom, but no, like, going accross. And so that’s why opl one’s so important. I guess I should have told you that earlier, then you obviously have the member of the inner mitochondrial membrane and less electron transport complex. Exactly. Right. And less energy. Yeah, that makes sense. Okay, yes. And so that is why we focus on right looking at over one. And because it helps follow these cristae. And those complexes that opa one associates with, that actually helped protect the folding of the cristae are other proteins in the mitochondria alpha one interacts with that help regulate insulin sensitivity. And so it’s kind of like a master regulator cristae dynamics, as well as inner membrane fusion. And so what we’re interested in is just trying to figure out if there’s a way to actually not have your mitochondria look like a cookie monster mouth, but actually look normal. And so we’re trying to restore those cristae that go across the membrane, from side to side, and basically make them all fold directly as lamellar cristae. When you lose opa one, they’re like little dots called tubular cristae. And so we’re just trying to restore the normal function of those. And we believe that Phyto estrogens can do that. And so I believe that there’s a group of other cristae proteins that I’m studying in my laboratory called the micos complex, as well as other particular interesting proteins that I won’t mention. So they’re published, we found some more novel proteins that regulate cristae dynamics besides opa one in the Nico’s complex. So what we’re interested in is restoring that function, because everyone’s not going to have opa one mutation. But maybe people have damaged cristae as an alternative alternative to like, let’s say mitochondrial dysfunction, or abnormal mitochondrial function. So if we were repairing the cristae, they issue, we repair the energetics of the mitochondria, the membrane potential, which allows for more calcium to be regulated in the mitochondria, which allows for you to have more energy because it’s being used as a byproduct of the glucose that you brought into the cell to produce ATP. Okay, that kind of makes sense now, yeah. Awesome. Okay, so maybe we should switch gears then. Because yesterday, we already talked about your other passion, which is mentoring and improving students health in the academic community? And maybe we can chat a bit about this. So what Yeah, what is your passion about this? And what does it have to do with mentoring? And how did you get into this? So I got into mentor and because I’ve had excellent mentors along the way, some of my excellent mentors would actually also include Dale, I met him in graduate school. And then before that, in undergrad, it was my first interaction with what a amazing mentor would be like. And so that was Dr. high status Schuler, as well as Dr. Clark. And then with time, they became colleagues and I got my PhD as well. But one thing was that I learned about holistic and intentional mentoring from them, meaning that they created the mentorian plan just specific for me. So that’s what holistic mentoring is an intentional mentoring is going above the positive or negative manatorian influences that may occur a normal day, you know, life in a lab, but actually checking up on an individual and making sure that their health is okay making sure that their mental health is okay, making sure that they’re all well rounded person, making sure that they’re only not accomplishing the research, but accomplishing life goals. So that’s kind of more intentional mentoring is very thought for thought provoking mentoring, meaning that you have to develop strategies around what’s going to make that person a better person, and allow them to reach their goals. And so intentional mentoring also means challenging the mentor, mentee excuse me to be able to reach goals that they thought that they were loosely fitting to. So it’s a combination of a mentor, working with them to reach their goals, but also a mentee reaching their goals by a little bit of a push from their mentor as well. Yeah. Okay. And he also published a paper and sell that I just found about scientific success. It is mainly supported by mentoring. Yeah. So last year during the pandemic, when it hit, I, myself didn’t have that great of an experience with my mentor. So I felt pretty much left alone. What one advice or two advisors would you give to a mentor? Like in this challenging situation? Now, during the pandemic? Yeah. Um, so that’s a great question. So I wrote another paper for pathogens and disease that will come out pretty soon, called intention about intention or mentoring. But one thing that I can say, just in general, is that until this paper comes out, I would like to pull from some of my papers learning to actually tell the mentor how to say no, sometimes when a student may bring you awesome ideas, if you’re shooting down a student in a way that is not productive, that actually causes more harm than decreases productivity and scientific curiosity. So that’s one thing that I would love for, for mentors to learn how to do better, because it’s essential, because there’s a fine balance between uplifting a student and being firm with the student, but you don’t want to destroy a student’s confidence or a training. So that’s one thing. The other thing is, since you mentioned the cell paper that was published last year, it’s about the pipeline, where we lose trainees across the stages. And so one thing that I can also encourage that mentors do is to always keep in mind, what stages this individual on the pipeline, meaning are they at the very beginning, where they’re undergrad, or even a tech? Are they a postback? Student, are they a graduate student or postdoc. And the reason this matters is because maybe that means that you have to tailor how you mentor someone to be able to give them the most appropriate advice to be able to survive and make it to the next step. So what I mean is that I want to encourage mentors to start to be more intentional, find out what the mentee is interested in, develop an individual development plan that allows for you to check on them every three months, if they’re reaching their goals, and you can reassess so that you don’t have to just sit there and say, Oh, I wonder how they’re doing and wait six months until committee, you’re saying this is wrong. But if you have three months to actually fix that, and check in every time, that’s gonna make a difference. And the other little tidbit of advice that I have is make a mentoring contract, find out how to make a happy marriage. So everyone says, you know, you’re always married to your PII. So you get your PhD or your, your into your faculty position or your career position? Well, that’s kind of true. But maybe, oh, you haven’t made it? No, that’s the first American. But a lot of times, we’ll say like, you know, like, you’re stuck with your PI maybe another way you could have heard, it’s like, you’re stuck with your PI, and so they let you go. But anyway, basically, one way is to create a mentoring contract, which allows for your mentor and you to sit down and actually develop specific goals that you want to reach, um, separate from your IDP plan and the expectations of your mentor versus the expectations that you have. So that you can actually find the happy medium. Sometimes they’re negotiable terms. And sometimes they’re not as negotiable, depending on what’s going on. But that’s okay. But at least you can find something that’s going to make you happy, and that you can actually enjoy the environment you’re in. Because the community of your environment in the laboratory matters more than anything else, if you don’t have a healthy environment where everyone can flourish equally. Without favourites, it doesn’t matter if someone has, you know, amazing data today, and one person doesn’t have amazing data. But maybe later on that amazing data may lead to a nature or science or sell paper, right. And the person that had amazing data that she thought was amazing data may, you know, have a smaller paper, right? So it could be either way. And so what we have to do is take a step back from what our personal ideologies are our personal feelings towards the individual, but actually treat everyone the same. And having the IEP plan and the mentoring contract allows for you to create some home basis so that you stay in the lane of mentoring and intentional mentoring versus getting off and trying to pick favourites, which leads you into that negative mentoring space that we don’t want because it’s an ineffective type of mentor. Yeah, that leads us to the negative side of mentoring and everything that we discussed yesterday as well. Oh my gosh, yes. into the topic of microaggressions that you just published a paper in the in pathogens and disease. So what is microaggressions and and Why is it such an important topic in STEM in the STEM community? So microaggressions is very important, regardless of race, creed. ethnicity, and I want to kind of make it clear that microaggressions can happen on both sides, whether you’re someone of the majority in a certain country or a majority of overall, versus someone that may be a minority individually in that country, or a gender, minorities, individual may be women versus men. All these things matter in the context of understanding who an individual is, but it doesn’t mean that that’s all of who they are. And sometimes microaggressions arise, because we don’t understand who that individual is culturally. So a definition of microaggressions would be a statement or action or incident where there’s indirect are subtle, unintentional discrimination that occurs that people may be not aware what they’re doing to a marginalised group. Examples of other marginalised groups also be sexual gender minorities, or maybe a certain type of religious group, that’s not as common as some of the majority religious groups. And so this is something that we want to keep in mind, because it can stem as a way that needs to be very cautious when you’re doing microaggressions. You really want to apologise after you’re aware what’s going on. There’s sometimes you may not know that it’s a microaggression. And that’s okay. And then also in the paper, we talk about macro aggressions. Some people call macro aggressions, latent acts of racism, but I don’t like to kind of say that, what I like to say is that macro aggressions are intentional, discriminatory acts that are around certain different biases that someone has that are being recognised over and over again, that they’ve no longer become unconscious biases, which I think is the incorporation of microaggressions. Versus we’re conscious biases, where they have a certain stereotypical view that’s embedded, regardless of that individual. And those type of thoughts come out in the end, the macro aggression, both can be changed with ally ship. Macro aggressions may take longer to change, but they can change. So that’s why I say that I don’t want to say that there always acts of high level discriminatory acts like racism, there could just be discriminatory acts that are in nature in biassing brain and then from maybe learned behaviour. And so we have to kind of reinforce that positive behaviour, hopefully, with this paper and other papers that are out about microaggressions. Yeah. And I just said, Some of this is like really unconscious. So there’s a huge thing I feel whenever you’re faced with conscious bias and implicit bias, and all of this, like, assume you already know the person and then you say something, it’s like, no, that’s, that’s just so not exactly, for example, like, I’m a big guy, but I played tennis when I was in college, and I still play now. And I did Taekwondo, but nobody would think that I do that, let alone being a scientist, sometimes a lot of people assume I’m a basketball player. And so you know, those are things that are kind of like, little microaggressions, because people make assumptions, because I’m super tall, right? And so that’s things that we all have to kind of take a step back and say, Oh, well, do you play sports? versus Oh, how was the game yesterday, you know, if you see me, like in workout gear, maybe I played tennis, not basketball, right, you know, or football even, you know. So those are types of things that we just have to work to together and be aware of. And then kind of, you know, we also need to think about the different types of microaggressions. There are some that are behavioural, and then there’s some that are verbal, and then they break down into specific types. Dr. Su was the person that actually developed the three types of microaggressions. And so there’s micro-saults micro insults and micro invalidations. And there’s also kind of situational or environmental microaggressions, if you will, environmental microaggressions is very easy. It might be there say there’s someone that did some things back in history that were not acceptable, but they had tonnes of money to be able to donate to the institution, right. And so their legacies on a building, but to other individuals, it may be harmful, right. And so that is a way to actually assert, you know, my microaggressions in the form of environmental microaggressions. Because every day that individual gets to see that building over and over again, it’s kind of causing some harm. And so that’s something that, you know, has to be done on an institutional level. I’ve tackled things that could be done on a PI level or mentor level, which is more than micro assaults, micro insults, and micro invalidations. This quickly, micro assault is where you’re looking intentionally, at someone’s behaviour. And you say certain things that are discriminatory that you don’t mean intended to be offensive, but they are. So for example, like if someone’s saying something, but at the end, they say like, you know, if it’s a comma there, I was just only joking, you know, but it could actually be harmful, you know, I’m in. So we have to be really careful. When we’re doing things like that, you know, I was talking to one of my students yesterday, and she was so sad about how someone was talking about, they were saying things about women. And they were saying she was only joking. And she was saying, but I go through, you know, things as well. And she’s mixed. So it’s a very interesting setup of, you know, different racial dynamics that’s going on. So she’s a minoritized individual, and she’s of the majority, and she sees through a different lens than most people. And so it’s a really weird space for her to be in. So we’re talking about strategies on how to properly combat micro assaults, how to talk about them. And then she’s also talked to me about some micro insults where people have done commented on one of her actions and said, Oh, that is so you know, this, you know, of this particular group, right? Yeah, so I, because I’m German, and I used to work in a lab in Spain, and you know, Spanish people are really relaxed with time. Well, for Germans, it’s always assumed that they’re always on time, and they’re never late. But that one time that I’m late, like two minutes to a meeting, it’s like, oh, you shouldn’t be late you’re Germany supposed to be on time. And so I’m supposed to be on time, but everybody else is allowed here to be late. That is not fair, that is just not fair, exactly. So these are stereotypical views that are associated with people’s behaviour, right. And I think German people are lovely, by the way, my uncle’s stay in Germany, they love it, actually. Um, but I just, you know, I just think that, you know, we all have to be careful about how we speak. But it’s not to the point where, you know, like, if you say something, because we’ve all said microaggressions. And we don’t mean them, but it’s just that you have to have room to have them addressed and open to change. That’s the key thing. It’s not if you save them something is how you actually respond to when someone’s correcting, you are suggesting, if you will, not necessarily a correction, right. And then the last thing is micro invalidations, where people are invalidating what you’ve accomplished, basically. So if someone’s talking about, you know, do what’s your instance, talking about, you know, one group versus another, they’re, they’re saying, Well, you know, you were always on time until this one time, but then now, you know, you’re invalidated for being on time, you know, you’re never viewed as the person that’s on time again, right? Okay. And then that’s something that actually comes up. And it undermines an individual’s experience and you know, it actually can hurt an individual much more. So we have to be careful about what we say, another example of micro invalidations would be telling an individual telling another minoritized group that, let’s say, this particular instance didn’t occur, because you don’t know what you’re talking about. Just because they didn’t see it from their eyes doesn’t mean that it didn’t occur. It’s also you know, the reflection of the individual. So we have to be careful to listen to people’s experiences. If we are not there, especially. And if we’re there in a moment, still try to listen, maybe not have such a quick response. be slow to speak. Listen, gather your thoughts and say, That’s interesting, if you don’t necessarily agree, say maybe let’s reconvene on this conversation after I’ve had time to think about it. And then let it play in other people’s counselling advice, and then come back to addressing the microaggression when everyone can be even killed. Yeah, so sometimes it’s not good to address it right on just sometimes it’s kind of like, okay, let this play out, then you come back the next day and say this happened, I would love to address it. So this is just, you know, some of the things that we cover in the paper, always good to give it some time that everybody come down with their emotions, and yeah, exactly, exactly. So why do you think that the STEM fields or the academic community is suffering so much from this behaviour, because people would think, again, stereotypical unconscious bias, genuine scientists are meant to be intelligent and to, like, you know, behave in the right way and not show such a such discriminating behaviour. So that’s a great question. One thing that we need to really think about is, you know, there’s literature that suggests that when microaggressions occur, people’s behaviour or loss, or their self esteem is lower. And so just in general, having better more work more out just in general, from a business sector, actually demonstrates that people are more productive. Okay. So that’s something that we should just think about as a baseline. So now, if you think about that, how is this important for our field? Well, if you’re able to actually push the individual with positive affirmation and positive mentoring, they can produce a lot. But if everyone in the entire group is included, and doesn’t feel like they’re, you know, antagonised in a way, such as microaggressions everyday, they too can be productive, and there’s more productivity that goes on in the laboratory. So that’s the first point that I want to make microaggressions interrupt individual self esteem, which also interrupts people’s creativity and innovation, and also discredits their ability to be able to perform in an environment that may not be for them. And so that’s one thing. The other thing that we want to think about, as we all are scientists, we also have to learn to understand other people’s cultures, if we understand about CQ, which is cultural intelligence or cultural or cultural importance, we’re able to actually embrace a more well rounded environment. And it allows for us to actually understand things and have different thoughts, and, and from different perspectives. Because individuals think differently all across the world, you and I don’t necessarily maybe think the same about everything, but some things are the same. So start with the commonalities, and actually and build around that, so that you can actually enforce a beautiful environment so that you don’t harm harmful and stressful ideologies for an individual. And they continue to experience that, because stress can actually lead to alternative health outcomes that they don’t want to see in their own life. And so we’re trying to avoid those things. And we’re also trying to increase better mental health and allow for individuals to have real knowledge and power to be able to empower themselves to be a great individual. And when we have so many microaggressions, every day that actually pushes down the individual from being great, and just performing the task at the optimum level. Yeah, I, I can agree with it. Definitely. That has been so amazing. So interesting. Thank you so much. So now at the end, we always have a couple of like, personal random question. I can ask those to you as well, of course, of course. Um, so what was your favourite subject at school? And how did you get into science? Oh, my gosh, you’re gonna think I’m a little crazy. But it’s, um, it has nothing to really do with science, per se. I would say I had actual class that was really fun. And then I also had, I had two classes that are really fun. And then I also had an experience with like my grandparents, it wasn’t a formalised training, but we learned a lot at home. My grandfather was an auto mechanic. So I learned a lot about like Engineering Physics from him. Hence the first take on the car example. And then, and then it goes up. And then also, I learned a lot about botany. So we grew a lot of our own vegetables, and we gardened. And so actually learn how to actually cultivate different strains of veggies, things like that. So it was really nice. And that was one of the courses I loved. When I got to undergrad it was the Salem State was actually taken botany with Dr. Boylan. Dr. Boyle got her degree, I think it was from Yale. And she decided to come to historically black college to be able to increase everyone’s understanding of biotechnology, ability to understand why protecting crops were so important. And so I took botany with her made a it was so phenomenal. I decided to actually do my summer internships at Duke and Wisconsin, in actual plant physiology or plant pathology. And so that was one course, the other course was a combination of this one instructor just teaching multiple courses. So every course that I was with, with Dr. Clark was just bad was pharmacology was really bad pharmacology for pharmacology, cell biology, and then medical terminology. And then there was one other course, like, it was like bio seminar, anything that I was in with him, I just loved. And so it just made me just get into science science. I was just like, Oh, my gosh, I want to be just like him. And so I, you know, it just it just the thought process, and everything was just so amazing. And it’s just something that I just couldn’t live without, you know, I’m so happy and fortunate that I went to my undergraduate school to be able to immerse myself and different types of research. And as you can see, I’m still talking about them today, botany and cell biology so much together. Right, exactly. And so that’s something that, you know, I still want to carry on in my department of molecular physiology and biophysics. But I’ve added some new loves like structural biology that I picked up during my on my my degree without my degree, I guess my extra training I call everything an extra degree because I feel like a postdoc is an extra degree. Because as much as you do, but yeah, I don’t know. That was kind of one thing that I really, you know, even though it’s a multitude of things that inspired me. Okay, so that’s kind of brings us to our next question as well. Like, just one sentence. What are you really passionate about? Um, Ah ha, ha, ha. When I’m passionate about travel, travel, okay, where do you want to go? Great question. Everywhere in the world, but one of the places that I love is the beach. And it allows for me to just sit there and reflect, and allows me to be one with nature allows me to just enjoy. Some people say the universe, I say God, and just see the beauty of everything that’s there. And it allows me to just have peace about myself and allows me to be whole and give that really nice reflection when everything in the world may be crazy. But as long as I can get a little beach time, sit, sit at the beach, and just sit there. I’m in. I just love it. My favourite beach right now, I would say it’s like Megan’s Bay in the Virgin Islands. It’s my favourite beach. I just love to sit there and just watch the beautiful. The beautiful sea is amazing. That is amazing. Maybe I’m gonna make a jealous No, but so the beginning of this year, I moved to Cancun Aria, and whenever I need some alone time, just some, you know, reflection time or just time to think about whatever. I’m going to go to the beach and just sit there and think and yeah, it’s just me. Basically. Yes, exactly. You I like it. I’m not jealous. I’m in Iowa. I’m like, landlocked Oh, so But I mean, you know, one thing is, though, when I go to Vanderbilt in Tennessee, it’s kind of closer to like major airports. Like I can take Nashville to Atlanta. And then maybe I can take a weekend trip from Atlanta to like a nice beach like Miami or Puerto Rico or, you know, somewhere that’s, you know, like, just really quick, and I could still be back on a Monday. Should I just tell you that I have the beach, like five minutes down the road? No you shoudn’t sat that, you should say that Oh, my gosh. Now, you’re not supposed to say that I was comfortable with you saying that you’re near the beach? Not five minutes away? Oh, my gosh, that is not. That’s I’m gonna stop it now. So Okay, the next personal question would then be what do you do in your free time? When you’re not in the lab? And you don’t write amazing research papers about microaggressions and the stem community? What do you actually do? So great question. So I actually do a lot of travel. For my fun time. Recently, I actually went to Florida. And it was really nice. I decided to just to go to several different beaches, just to enjoy myself. And then besides that, I love hanging out with my family and my friends and my my family, as in like my partner. So those things are so important to me. And it allows for me to be a whole person. And then I also like to play tennis as well. So it’s really fun. It’s good. It’s good. Okay, and the last question for today. What would you do if you were donated $10 million to a year research project? Wow. Wow. So, so separate? Wow. Okay, so several different things. So one is that I would first make sure that there are other minority labs that may need funding. And so if the fundings destinated, only for me, what I would try to do is find if there are ways that we could collaborate minorities, meaning, you know, ethnic racial minorities, or women that I could collaborate with on certain topics, and then maybe we could share funding that way. And then I wish that would maybe be like one or $2 million dollars, and then the $8 million, I would take 5 million and actually put it into like a trust so that I could actually be able to have it used for undergrads and grad students. So I would want to be able to only train you know, more, more students so that we can have an increase of diversity in science. And then the other part that would be set aside would be for just pure innovation. So like, take it on, like weird things, like, people call me crazy in the lab anyway, it’s kind of funny. So I like studying organelle organelle communication. And so I would want to stand out from just doing like Merck communications actually looking at other organelle communications, so er, plasma membrane, er, like Brock sussan, our mitochondria, crossover mitochondrial life some interactions, and really understand that because I could dive in deeper because out of the funds, and then I also would take more of a tour in the tropical areas, not only because of the beach, but actually go access their plants, because there’s certain places like for example, in Jamaica, they have certain plants that that you actually can drink as a tea that are specific for treating like cancer. So these things are not known to the public eye, right? So there’s a lot of different things that I could use because I could actually increase the production of mass mass spec production to look at Phyto oestrogen compounds and I could actually screen a lot more compounds and cell lines and actually determine what’s their function around mitochondria energetics. And so that would be what I’d focus on. And then I also would just leave some of the money because you never know, in the future, you might get an amazing idea. So you don’t want to spend all the money, right. So that’s kind of what I would do. And then I hopefully would be able to also set up like maybe a consulting company to help other people to be able to help them with their research, if they’re struggling, maybe to be able to, you know, teach them kind of like how to actually like push the envelope, it’s okay to have like these, you know, crazier ideas because they could lead to something amazing. And so that’s kind of what I would do. That’s a great question. Okay, this has been absolutely amazing. Thank you so much for taking the time with me Thank you so much. Yes. Thank you for watching with STEMcognito. Find more videos using the search box or the drop down menus above. 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