In today's episode, we interview Jacqueline Shaia. She is a second year PhD student at Case Western Reserve University in the Clinical Translational Science PhD program. We learn about how she decided between going into the career path of a practicing physician and researcher, and how her background shaped her choices in her research and methods.

Her current work focuses on ocular disorders, especially the rare idiopathic intracranial hypertension, a vision threatening disease that mainly affects women of a reproductive age.  We learned about the disease itself, the treatment options, and how it disproportionately affects Black women.

In addition to her research, Jacqueline is passionate about inspiring the next generation of scientists and showcasing the many different ways someone can have a research career. We talk about her use of social media and blogging, and the benefits of being more visible online.

We round off learning about her advice for doctoral candidates, setting boundaries around work, the impact of COVID-19 on her applications and start of the PhD, and what a day in the life looks like.

References

• Jacqueline's website 
• Jacqueline's instagram 
• Jacqueline's Twitter
• Interview with Jacqueline 
• Translational science
• Case Western Reserve University
• Clinical Translational Science PhD program.
• Training T32 grant within the NIH 
• Trinetx