Last month, when microbiologist Caitlin Kowalski, Guarini 20, got a phone call from a number she didnt recognize, she ignored it and launched into a diatribe with her lab-mate about the evils of spam.
Luckily, though, instead of swiping left, she checked voice mail and returned the call. Turns out, she had been awarded one of only five 2023 fellowships to help further her research into how certain yeasts that live on human skin can help protect against infection. The $60,000 year-long award also supports her mentorship of other women in STEM fields.
The acknowledgement that this work is interesting and important will really help me in the future, says an elated Kowlaski. Its going to be a very busy year, and Im so lucky to have the opportunity.
After earning her PhD from the , Kowalski accepted a postdoctoral position at the University of Oregon to join the Barber Lab, which focuses on the evolution of host-microbe interactions. She says her current investigation of good fungi has been evolving from research into bad fungi she began at the Geisel School of Medicine, in the lab of .
I rank Caitlin in the top 1% of all PhD candidates I have trained and interacted with during my scientific career, which spans more than 20 years, says Cramer.
Her scholarship has opened new areas of investigation in the field of filamentous fungal biology, pathogenesis, and drug resistance. How yeast on our skin interact with other skin microbes and our host immune system is a relatively new research area with significant implications for multiple human diseases. Caitlin is going to be a pioneer and leader in a burgeoning new field.
Cramer says Kowalski is also an invaluable member of our broader scientific community, not only for her scientific excellence, but for her self-giving nature that has benefitted multiple students and trainees at 窪做惇蹋厙 and other institutions.
This is the 20th anniversary of LOr矇al USAs initiative advancing the work of women scientists.
Kowalski and LOr矇al also made a .
The awards ceremony was hosted Nov. 16 by CBS News Anchor Norah ODonnell at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in Washington, D.C.
The celebration capped a weeklong symposium, including a panel at the National Academy of Science in which 窪做惇蹋厙s , a professor of biological sciences familiar with Kowalskis work, participated.
Kowalski was happily surprised to see her there, sharing perspectives about how women scientists can embrace opportunities and scale obstacles.
I could not have received better training in microbiology than at 窪做惇蹋厙, Kowalski says. In Robb Cramers lab I was studying a fungal pathogen in people who are immuno-compromised. But at the end of my PhD, I became interested in how fungi that live on our body could be helping us. You know, every idea stems from something. The amazing community at 窪做惇蹋厙 built the framework that has led me in this direction.