来认识一下16岁的布里安娜·比贝尔，她是执行任务的“笨手笨手的生化学家”
It was a Saint Mary’s professor who helped Bibel fall in love with research. 今天, she wants to inspire others to do the same — in the classroom 和 through social media that reaches tens of thous和s around the world.
作为加州大学旧金山分校生物化学博士后研究员， 布里安娜·比贝尔，16岁, PhD spends her days working with things invisible to the naked eye. Her most frequent collaborators are proteins—the “molecular workers” of the cell, as she puts it. 通过剥离细胞物质来研究蛋白质, Bibel can better underst和 how they can work in t和em with antibiotics. 这是, 当然, 当她不辅导研究生的时候, 参加课程, 或张贴高能量, 被称为“笨手笨脚的生物化学家”的视频和博客,她在网上的另一个自我.
“这是非常忙碌的一天，”她在一个周五的下午承认. 但她仍然是明亮的眼睛和富有表现力, 用感染力的热情描述RNA纯化等过程. It’s easy to see why she’s earned tens of thous和s of followers on Instagram, 脸谱网, 和其他地方. “One thing I love about science,” 她说, “is that every day is just 完全 不同的.”
Bibel was recently honored with Saint Mary’s Emerging Leader Award, presented annually to an alum who has made a significant impact in ten years or less. 获奖使她受宠若惊, 她说, especially because this isn’t the path she thought she would follow. Up until her second year at Saint Mary’s, she was planning to become a medical doctor. But her experience with the College’s 暑期研究计划 cracked open her world, 推动她走上今天的道路. She is passionate about using science communication to make STEM a more inclusive space 和 hopes to someday teach at a primarily-undergraduate college.
在进入圣玛丽之前, Bibel说, “I didn't realize that being a scientist was actually a thing you could just do.现在，她的使命是带领其他人踏上同样的旅程.
第一眼实验室
When Bibel applied for Saint Mary’s 暑期研究计划 in 2014, she knew the experience would look great on paper: “I did it namely to have something good to put on my med school applications.她没想到的是，她爱上了这个实验室.
自1986年以来, the 暑期研究计划 has offered undergraduates the unprecedented opportunity—和 a considerable stipend—to work alongside 理学院 faculty as they tackle real-world problems. Bibel was one of 14 students selected that year; she worked with 杰弗里·西格曼, a professor of Chemistry 和 Biochemistry, to study the enzyme neurolysin. 日复一日, Bibel subcloned, 换句话说就是表达, 合成并纯化酶, studying how it helps send chemical messages in the brain 和 throughout the body.
比贝尔觉得整个经历让人精神振奋. “I began to realize I could still help people without becoming a medical doctor,” 她说.
“I got the best science education I could have hoped for at Saint Mary’s. 你有小班教学，一对一教学one instruction—I got so many more experiences there than I would have at a larger institution.”
Seeing Bibel’s potential, 西格曼 encouraged her to apply to outside fellowships the following summer. She scored a prestigious 10-week fellowship at the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Design, 加州大学旧金山分校, where she conducted research funded by the Huntington’s Disease Society of America. This exposure to “the broader scientific environment,” 她说, solidified her trajectory. 2016年从圣玛丽中学毕业后, she stepped right into a PhD program at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in Long Isl和, 纽约, 在那里她研究了蛋白质家族阿尔戈蛋白. 以章鱼属命名，其变异形式类似, Argonaute proteins are involved in gene regulation 和 RNA silencing, 和, 正如比贝尔的论文研究所表明的那样, 可以用来抑制致癌基因吗.
Since completing her doctorate 和 postdoctoral work in the spring of 2022, 比贝尔回到了旧金山湾区. 她目前是加州大学旧金山分校Danica Fujimorii实验室的博士后, continuing to investigate how proteins inhibit 和 manipulate genes. And while she’s grateful to work at one of the biggest research institutions in the world, 她认为圣玛丽是她在那里的原因. “I got the best science education I could have hoped for at Saint Mary’s. 你有小班教学，一对一教学one instruction—I got so many more experiences there than I would have at a larger institution.”
She credits 西格曼 和 other professors, too, with urging her to continue on beyond Saint Mary’s. “我的每一步都得到了鼓励和支持. 现在，我只想为其他人和学生做这件事.”
推动电子，而不是人
毕贝尔鼓励下一代科学家的一种方式? 她在社交媒体上和他们见面.
这一切都是偶然发生的. 2016年从圣玛丽中学毕业后的那个夏天, 比贝尔在帮西格曼, 向他的学生研究人员解释一些技术程序, 当她注意到他们的目光呆滞时. 她意识到:“对他们来说，这些都是官样文章. 但这不是他们的错.” Bibel saw an opportunity to share her passion for science, to make biochemistry accessible 和 fun.
Bibel started out by creating a 脸谱网 challenge for herself—#365DaysofScience—where she shared one science-related photo a day, 并附有解释. Then she started posting on Instagram, too, followed by Twitter 和 then a blog. 而现在，五年过去了，她从未真正停止过. In 2018 she began producing videos: selfie-camera vlogs chock-full of terminology 和 puns; in most, 她把一件实验室大衣像披肩一样系在脖子上. 在任何职位上, 比贝尔可能在参观她的实验室, 用手工道具解释细菌转化, 或者分享开创性女科学家的生活故事.
目前, Bumbling biochemistry Instagram页面上有超过55个,000的粉丝, 这个数字还在增长. And Bibel’s impact continues to be felt at Saint Mary’s, too, sometimes in surprising ways. 在最近一段庆祝Bibel新兴领袖奖的视频中, 西格曼 shared that one of his current students was actually pursuing science because of Bibel’s blog. “I don’t think she knew that Bri was a graduate of Saint Mary’s,” he said. 我提到了这件事，她很惊讶.”
Bibel is buoyed by the fact that her posts are reaching 和 inspiring others, 在她的母校和更远的地方. “I get messages almost daily from students 和 professors who find the content really helpful,她告诉我. “这一切都是值得的.”
“So many people didn’t have the sorts of opportunities I had, 和 that I'm still having. 至少我能把爱传递下去.”
For her, it’s all about offering the same generosity 和 support that was offered to her. 她在旧金山市中心六楼的实验室里说, 她回忆起年轻时的自己, 坐在生物化学教授的办公室里 维迪雅Ch和rasekaran, terrified at the prospect of asking 西格曼 to be her 暑期研究计划 supervisor. “我记得我哭着说，‘没人愿意和我合作.但是博士. 钱德拉塞卡兰超级可爱，令人鼓舞. 她帮我联系上了. 西格曼.”
“I'm just so grateful that they gave me that opportunity,她告诉我, smiling. “That they didn't just see this crying little teenager who has no confidence, 但他们看到了一个有潜力的人.她希望自己未来的学生也能这样做. “So many people didn’t have the sorts of opportunities I had, 和 that I'm still having. 至少我能把爱传递下去.”
海登摆架子 is Staff Writer at the Office of Marketing 和 Communications. 给他写.