Take 10 with... Nicole Edwards

1. Describe your research topic to us in 10 words or less.

 

Unravelling the dynamic spatio-temporal relationships underlying neurological disease.

 

2. Now explain it in everyday terms!

 

Previously my work involved directly converting human skin cells into immature brain cells using a novel chemically modified mRNA-based cell reprogramming strategy. The aim was to develop a model of the inherited neurodevelopmental disorder Fragile X Syndrome, and provide a unique human cell-based platform for disease modelling and drug discovery.

 

More recently my work has focused on understanding the genetic and mechanistic drivers of cell fate and state changes in both immune and neural cells. In this work I apply multi-omic single cell sequencing based approaches combined with predictive modelling to see the full dynamic range of gene expression changes over time in response to a given perturbation in the brain. This combined approach is a powerful means to understand the underlying drivers of cell state changes in response to a mutation and/or environmental challenge.

 

3. Describe some of your day-to-day research activities.

 

This time last year I was networking in New York and eating Maine Lobster with the top stem cell biologists and Neuroscientists in the world. The day after, I was extracting cells from bones and pulling a 14-hour lab marathon running a time course experiment. Research life can be incredibly varied, both challenging and rewarding. As a cellular and molecular neurobiologist my time has largely been spent either at the lab bench or undertaking data analysis. Keeping temperamental cells alive is a full-time job!

 

Nowadays my time is focused on writing grants and developing collaborations, as well as developing strategies to support early career researcher development. Networking with colleagues and relationship building through attending seminars, conferences, and hui is an important part of daily research life. I’m also always finding opportunities to upskill in ways that will best support my future students (i.e. training workshops). Outside of the lab I regularly engage in educational outreach opportunities to convey pathways that exist within STEM and to understand some of the barriers to entry in our community.

 

4. What do you enjoy most about your research?

 

Working in Science means you are in a position to change lives. Sometimes the impact is direct and tangible, more often than not it’s about playing the long game and recognising you are a small part of a larger ecosystem. Being part of that collective effort to advance human progress and improve quality of life is incredibly motivating.

 

The opportunity to explore the fundamental units of life and how the dynamic relationship between those moving parts determines what makes us fundamentally “us” is also a great source of wonder.

 

5. Tell us something that has surprised or amused you in the course of your research.

 

World famous PI’s from prestigious institutions are often incredibly receptive to cold calls from early career researchers at the bottom of the world. In my experience, respecting people not hierarchies is the best approach and can be incredibly productive. There is a tendency in NZ to minimise our successes and simply feel grateful for being allowed to sit at the proverbial table on the international stage, when in reality our differences are our superpower, and embracing your potential can actually empower everyone around you. This is something that was reinforced to me by the rōpū of Māori students and researchers at MIT and Harvard I met during my time in the US, a community you rarely hear about in NZ, but who are operating at the highest level of excellence while empowering each other and their communities back home.

 

6. How have you approached any challenges you’ve faced in your research?

 

Moving home to NZ from one of the most well-funded biomedical research institutions in the world meant shifting gears and operating procedures to adapt to the scale of NZ research. The MIT-Harvard academic ecosystem is unique in its ability to draw in, network and scale excellence across industry, clinic and biomedical research. Returning to a smaller research environment means learning to leverage excellence in a different way. This means collaborating and pooling intellectual resources to tackle the big questions, and taking a more refined, perhaps more elegant approach to experimental design. NZ excels at doing more with less, and achieving great things when we actually lean into, reinforce and leverage strong, authentic partnerships with each other.

 

Limited resources often means greater risk aversion. Wherever you are in the world, it’s important to remember that failure is built into Science as a hypothesis driven and iterative process. Learning to fail well is as important as succeeding and often generates novel outcomes or insights. Unexpected outcomes are par for the course. The caveat being, learn to recognise the difference between a dead-end and a doorway in research.

 

7. What questions have emerged as a result?

 

One of the challenges of working with model systems, primary cells or human tissue is the limited ability to understand dynamic changes with high spatial and temporal resolution. Many of the techniques and methods I worked to optimise overseas are powerful tools for understanding the genetic and mechanistic drivers of the pathogenic cell state changes underlying neurological disease. From this work, a number of exciting research questions emerged. The challenge is how to scale these approaches and apply these techniques in ways that are impactful but financially and logistically feasible. This is where the combined power of local and international collaboration will prove essential.

 

How best to implement many of these skills and techniques locally is another important question. Efforts to diversify human genomic data for example are gaining momentum in the US in the wake of the Human Genome project, the “All of Us” project, and the Pangenome initiative. NZ has been leading the way in conversations around best practices in genomic research. Principles of Māori data sovereignty are often looked to as the gold standard on the international stage in conversations around culturally responsive and ethical data management. Such frameworks are seen as fundamental to efforts to deliver representative human genomic data sets and therefore equitable health outcomes in precision medicine.

 

8. What kind of impact do you hope your research will have?

 

Provide tools to better understand the genetic and mechanistic drivers of disease and develop targeted therapeutics, with a view to mitigating disease burden and improving quality of life for those facing treatment resistant neurological conditions.

 

9. If you collaborate across the faculty or University, or outside the University, who do you work with and how does it benefit your research?

 

I am developing collaborations across both SBS and FMHS at the UoA, as well as drawing on the collaborative networks established during my time with the Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard. As an early career researcher in the early stages of setting up my own lab, collaboration is crucial.

 

10. What one piece of advice would you give your younger, less experienced research self?

 

We are the dreams of our ancestors made flesh, so do them justice. Be ambitious, aim high, and work to empower others with your success. Don’t make choices based on fear and never bow your head to those who undermine your value. You will only end up treading water or worse. Stay adaptable, enrich and equip yourself with skills and experience beyond your home base. Take your excellence global and find or build your community.

 

If you want to effect meaningful change you need to work with purpose and be vigilant to ensure your values and research align. Do not be intimidated by institutional sites of power. Your research is an extension of you, not the other way around. Never be afraid to move on from spaces that no longer serve you. Know your value. You are not just a resource.

 

The idea that short term sacrifice leads to long term gain has merit. Sometimes though, going outside and touching some grass will make you 100x more productive, and even better, more human (which is your first job).