- Every job or every career choice should be empowering. But in my case, I think when I switched from medicine, which I was not completely enjoying to doing science that I really am passionate about, I feel the best feeling is the feeling of belonging to a community that is looking for the same type of questions. - Okay. - So I think that's the, that's what I cherish the most about being a scientist. - [Announcer] You're listening to "Further Together, the ORAU Podcast." Join Michael Holtz and his guests for conversations about all things ORAU. They'll talk about ORAU storied history, our impact on an ever-changing world, our innovative scientific and technical solutions for our customers and our commitment to the communities where we do business. Welcome to "Further Together: the ORAU Podcast." - Welcome to "Further Together: the ORAU Podcast." The NASA National Postdoctoral Program gives scientists at any level the opportunity to help NASA pursue its mission, while also experiencing the world's most diverse technology and expertise. I recently had the opportunity to talk to several NASA NPP fellows about their research, their personal stories, and what comes next in their careers. This episode features one of those conversations. I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did. Dr. Claudia Alvarez, thank you so much for joining me. And I wanna start with if you would, talk to me a little bit about who you are, what your current role is with the NASA NPP Fellows program, and then just a little bit about your background. How did you get to where you are? - Yeah, well, thank you for having me here. And I am a third year NPP fellow. I originally studied medicine, so I'm a medical doctor by training, but then I started doing research just after that. - Okay. - Then I did a PhD in biomedical sciences, and that's when I started looking at research on the origins of life. So I started three years ago at Dr. Lauren Williams's lab at Georgia Tech, which is part of the NASA Center for the Origin of Life. - Okay. How, so you said you were a medical doctor. Has science always been an interest for you? You know, certainly being a doctor is one of those things, you know, when kids are asked what they wanna do, I wanna be a doctor. Was it always like that for you or was science something that you came to, you know, later after school? - Yes. - How did you get into science in general? - Yeah, so I remember always being fascinated by biology, but I think I never thought that doing research or doing science could be a career option for me. - Okay. - I think I had this idea that scientists were these lone geniuses, and I never thought of myself doing something like that. So I think the closest was doing medicine. - Okay. - So I got into med school, and when I was already there, I realized that it was not exactly what I expected. So I started doing research as a medical in training, med student. - Okay. - And it was not even medical research what I liked. I liked basic science. - Okay. - So I started talking to other researchers, and they told me that I should just enjoy what I was doing and then look for a PhD when I finished. - Okay, okay. So how, you're doing research on the origins of life. How do you make that, I guess, transition from medicine, understanding it wasn't exactly what you expected and then now you're researching the origins of life. - Yeah, so I started researching first the evolution of one protein, well, complex of proteins in humans. - Okay. - And what I liked about this is that you can tell a lot about the history of humanity studying the molecules of humans. - Okay. - So then I realized I like these kind of stories, like digging into the past by looking at molecules. And I was lucky enough to listen to a talk by one researcher in the origins of life community that was talking about these top down approaches, looking at biology today to understand the past. And I thought, that's exactly what I want to do. And I talked to this researcher, and he told me that it was not impossible to do that. I could do it. I mean, there's some paths to do it. Now, it's easier I think. Many universities have now training in astrobiology and origins of life. And it's basically, there are many ways to do it, but what I do is comparative biology. It's basically taking molecules, comparing them and saying, if it's present everywhere, it's possible that it was in the ancestor of all of this. - Okay. - So that's how. - That's how you got to where you are. - Yeah. - Awesome. So talk, if you would, I just, I find it fascinating talking about the origins of life. Talk about the work that you're doing now then and what are you, what are you studying? What are you looking for? - I am interested in understanding one of the macromolecules of life. So there are many macromolecules. I think the one that most researchers study is RNA. - Okay. - But I'm studying proteins. So in the center where I'm doing my research, we have one macromolecular complex that serves as a model for many of the events of the past. And this macromolecular complex is the ribosome. The ribosome is this structure in every living organism that decodes the genetic code. So it is universal. We know it was in the ancestor of all living beings that we know today. - Okay. - And it has proteins and RNA. So I'm taking the proteins of the ribosome and compare the three dimensional structure of these proteins across all living organisms. And that's how I can tell some patterns that occurred in the past, 4 billion years ago. - Sure. Wow, that honestly sounds really fascinating. And being able to sort of track the evolution, but also just the patterns in that structure sounds really amazing. So you're a third year NASA NPP fellow. How has being in the program impacted your career? - Yeah, I think there's a before and after. - Okay. - Being an NPP. So the moment I got accepted, I was very happy. I told everyone I knew that I had been accepted. And first I think there was this impression among my peers and my friends and my family that, wow, NASA is one name that you can recognize. I think everyone has an image that is related to NASA. - Right. - In their minds, right. So I didn't have to explain, this was a very prestigious fellowship. They already got that from the name, and then doing research, so in practical terms, well, I'm in contact with a community that is doing research that is very relevant to what I do and very similar, but from many points of view. So I gain a lot of interactions that otherwise I don't think I could have. - And that's part of the collaborative process, right? I mean, you get to work with lots of other scientists who may not have a specific interest in what you're pursuing, but they're related, so you're working together. - Yes, exactly. So in the team where I am right now, I think we have scientists that come from earth and planetary sciences, physics, biology, computational biology. So there's always this interaction between many fields. You need to learn how to communicate with all of these variety of insights and ways of seeing things, but you learn a lot. So I don't think I could do what I am doing if I didn't have the input from other areas of research. - Gotcha. You're also in a mentored research experience. Talk about the importance of the mentors in your life and also being a mentor to other people. - Yeah, so I mentioned that when I was a med student, I realized that medicine was not exactly what I was expecting. So I remember I had someone that I trust that I could talk to, and this was one of my professors. And I told him, so I'm studying all of these basic science, and that's what I want to do. And I learned what a mentor is with this person because it was easy for me to talk about research, but it's more like the human, like the human interaction that was, I was seeking like some advice on what to do, how to approach the problems or some understanding of what my situation was. So I was very lucky to always have someone that I could trust to ask these questions of how to approach the problems. And the best part is that I also was lucky enough to have someone that was not telling me what to do, but someone giving me some advice and leaving me be me and take my own decisions. Yeah, so when I started interacting with students that were in an early year career stage, and I was, I wanted to do the same with them. So it's, obviously you can't decide who is going to take you as their mentor. It's not the same as advising because I've been advisor of some students. So that's a position, that's a role that you have to do. But a mentor is someone that you really need to have trust. You need to have this relationship built. - Right. - And yeah, it's always great to after some years receive letters of students that tell you, oh, now I'm doing this, I got accepted somewhere else. And it's like, oh, wow, this is great, yeah. - That's amazing. That has to be a great feeling. - Yeah. - Can you share a time, actually, let me go back a question. What elements of working in science have you found to be the most empowering? - Yeah, that's a great question. I don't know if I have an answer for that. - Okay. - In my ideal world, every job or every career choice should be empowering. But in my case, I think when I switched from medicine, which I was not completely enjoying to doing science that I really am passionate about, I feel the best feeling is the feeling of belonging to a community that is looking for the same type of questions. - Okay. - So I think that's what I cherish the most about being a scientist. - Gotcha. Dr. Alvarez, is there a time and can you share a time actually when you faced a sizable obstacle in your work and how you overcame that obstacle? - Yeah, so that's also very, that's a hard question. Yeah, there have been several times when I thought that it was going to be very hard to keep doing what I do. So when I finished my PhD, I didn't have a lab where I was going to do my post Doc. So usually when you finish a PhD, you already have talked to scientists and have agreed to continue research now as a post doc, as a more independent person, but still under the supervision of some group leader. - Okay. - And I didn't have that, and I took a lot of time to find a suitable place. And I was really worried. And I think what helped me a lot was that I had this community, I had all my friends that supported me, also my previous colleagues, my advisors, so everyone was cheering for me even if I was not sure that I could do it. So it's always good to have someone that supports you in this time. - In your corner, right? - Yeah. - I love it. What advice would you give to an up and coming scientist who may wanna follow in your footsteps? - Yeah, I would say that you should always remember to have fun. So it's always good to put all your effort in doing what you wanna do. So follow your dreams and do it with passion, but also have fun because otherwise it's, you're going to miss the most important part of it. So yeah, think do what you really love, but do it. - Okay. Just do it. - Yeah, exactly, yeah. - Why would you recommend the NASA NPP fellowship to others? - It's, yeah, so the NASA NPP fellowship is one of the best fellowships I've seen. So I looked through many of the available options, and it will give you independence in your work. Also, independence in the decisions to go and present all your results, obviously within the scientific community and with the aim of having these discussions. But most importantly, it will, it brings together a lot of people doing similar things, but not exactly what you are doing. So you find diversity, diversity in ideas, in approaches. So the type of personalities that you see at congresses, it's refreshing to see all of this together. So yeah, I think that's great about the NPP. I dunno if other fellowships have that. I haven't seen it anywhere else, so it's great. - Okay, last question for you, Dr. Alvarez. What brings you joy? - Many things. So I think one of the things I enjoy the most is finding out something that I believe no one else knows. So there's. - Okay. - When you're, and this is specific to research, but I think when I'm doing research and I find something that no one has described, this is like five seconds of thinking, wow. Even if it's a tiny thing. But then of course you have to corroborate and usually this thing that you discovered was already known. It's okay. You already felt like you were discovering something amazing and I think. - But you had your eureka moment, right? - Yeah, at least you thought you had. I think when I was in high school, I felt that like realization of understanding like this five seconds of, oh, oh, I know what you mean. Or I know what it means. I think that's the, that's a great feeling. But in general, like in life, I enjoy talking to people. I enjoy playing with my cats. And yeah, I think that's it. - Okay, awesome. Well, Dr. Claudia Alvarez, it has been a pleasure getting to speak with you today. I really appreciate you taking the time to share with us a little bit about your NASA NPP fellowship experience and telling us a little bit about who you are. I really appreciate that. - Thank you so much for this opportunity. - My pleasure. Have a great day. - Thank you. - [Announcer] Thank you for listening to "Further Together: the ORAU Podcast." To learn more about any of the topics discussed by our experts, visit www.orau.org. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn @ORAU, and on Instagram @ORAUtogether. If you like "Further Together: the ORAU Podcast," we would appreciate you giving us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Your reviews will help more people find the podcast.