Interviewers: Lydia Morrison, Marketing Communications Writer & Podcast Host, New England Biolabs, Inc.
Interviewees: Eileen Dimalanta, Associate Director of Applications & Product Development, New England Biolabs, Inc.
Lydia Morrison:
Thanks for joining me for this episode of the New England Biolabs podcast, Lessons from Lab and Life. This month we'll be celebrating Women's History Month through a series of mini episodes featuring NEB scientists. My second guest of the series is Dr. Eileen Dimalanta, Associate Director of Applications and Product Development at NEB. Eileen's work focuses on next generation sequencing. Hi, Eileen. Thanks so much for joining me today.
Dr. Eileen Dimalanta:
Hi, Lydia. Thank you for inviting me.
Lydia Morrison:
Yeah. I was hoping that you could share with our listeners what you feel is your most important work.
Dr. Eileen Dimalanta:
Sure. So my area of expertise is in the field called next-generation sequencing, which is sequencing of DNA and RNA to answer questions. The field has advanced so much over the past 12 or so years that it has enabled researchers to ask and answer a broad range of questions. Just looking at some of the recent publications, some of the things that we are enabling range from looking at biodiversity in air to how the gut microbiome diversity affects or plays a role in depression, even understanding DNA mutations and how they can play a role in causing cancer and having cancer spread. More recently, next-generation sequencing or sequencing has been used to not only track the spread of COVID but also to understand how the SARS-CoV-2 virus is mutating and changing. So, to answer your question, right now I feel my most important work is being a part of next generation sequencing.
Dr. Eileen Dimalanta:
So, we don't directly make the sequencing instruments but we do make a lot of the reagents that our researchers and scientists use to be able to sequence DNA and RNA. And just seeing that impact right now, as I mentioned, in terms of SARS-CoV-2 in the pandemic that the world is going through, being able to play a part in that is really rewarding and very important, I feel.
Lydia Morrison:
Yeah, absolutely. Next generation sequencing has certainly come a long way in the past 10 years. Where do you hope it will be in another five years?
Dr. Eileen Dimalanta:
Oh, that's a great question. You know, we've seen an increase over the years of researchers, scientists, doctors using sequencing for improving healthcare from non-invasive, prenatal testing which screens for fetal trisomies to, as I mentioned, looking at cancers and possibly detecting mutations that cause cancers to help guide therapy. And most recently I saw a publication about a new Guinness world record for the fastest human genome sequenced. So 13 years ago when the first human genome that was sequenced, took about 13 years. In this publication they were able to do it in just about five hours and the purpose for the rapid sequencing for this publication was to offer a rapid answer for undiagnosed patients in the ICU where, as you may guess, timing is everything.
Dr. Eileen Dimalanta:
So imagine having a newborn in the NICU with an undiagnosed illness and in less than a day an answer and potential treatment can be found through sequencing. And that's where I hope to see where this technology is rapidly adopted over the next five years. And we're heading in that direction where one day it'll be in every hospital routinely being used to help inform treatment for diseases and illnesses. And that's what I think a lot of us in the field are hoping this will go and that's why people are working so hard to advance this technology, is to be able to improve medical care, improve healthcare. That's the dream.
Lydia Morrison:
It sounds like a really powerful tool for giving indications as to what an individual might be suffering from, whether it's an adult or a baby in a NICU. But I think that sounds like a really amazing application. And I hope that I see that in the next five years in the hospitals. It would certainly improve the outcome, I'm sure, of many patients' visits.
Dr. Eileen Dimalanta:
Yes. I totally agree. It's such a powerful technique and we're seeing new applications all the time.
Lydia Morrison:
So since this is Women's History Month I wanted to ask you, do you have a favorite female role model in the science fields?
Dr. Eileen Dimalanta:
You know, I do. And I'll have to give credit to my first one who maybe only a few hundred people know about but I will say my first one has to be my high school AP Chemistry teacher. She had such a passion for science and teaching science and was just so patient and excited about different ways you could use science to answer questions. And I think that really put me on my career path at that early of an age.
Lydia Morrison:
I think that's awesome. I actually would credit, I think, my AP Biology teacher in high school with sort of starting my science career although, to be fair, my parents did send me to a science camp when I was in elementary school so that might have helped push me that way too.
Dr. Eileen Dimalanta:
Starting early, having good role models early in life is really important for kids, high school students, people who are thinking about their careers, having that positive experience really makes a difference.
Lydia Morrison:
Yeah, I think you're absolutely right. And I think a lot of the time when we think about role models we think about, like, famous professors or people who've... Women who maybe have, like, invented something that's taking medicine forward. But it does seem that sometimes we overlook the teachers who helped cultivate that interest at an early age. And I think teachers are hugely important as role models in science and in almost every other field.
Dr. Eileen Dimalanta:
Oh, totally agree.
Lydia Morrison:
What advice would you offer a young woman considering pursuing a degree or a career in a STEAM-related field?
Dr. Eileen Dimalanta:
Do it. It's an amazing space where you can use science and creativity to really help change people's lives. The two pieces of advice that I would give, of course other than the obvious of work and study hard, one is to find something that you are passionate about, honestly, because that is what will fuel you and give you the energy and creativity to continue to pursue science. And the second is to build your network, build your network of peers, of mentors, and eventually mentees because we can't do this alone and everyone needs their support network. And in science you'll find that it really is a small world and you'll meet people again and again at different companies or different institutions and really having a broad network will help you in your career and life.
Lydia Morrison:
Yeah, I think that's true in life in general, right? It's important to have a strong support system as you're reaching toward personal goals or maybe community goals. But I definitely agree with the fact that not only in science, but in life, it's important to have a strong system of people standing beside you or behind you.
Dr. Eileen Dimalanta:
Yeah, and in all the years I've been in school, you know, school and college et cetera, I don't know if that was something that was stressed or even talked about, at least when I was in school, but it's as important as your educational background and your experience.
Lydia Morrison:
Absolutely. I think so too. I think from an emotional standpoint but as well as from a career trajectory, an opportunity standpoint, I just think that the more people that you know and have cultivated relationships with, the more opportunities you'll have to learn about exciting new startups or scholarships, lots of things like that.
Dr. Eileen Dimalanta:
Exactly.
Lydia Morrison:
So I think you're right, having a strong network can definitely be a really important factor in someone's success.
Dr. Eileen Dimalanta:
Exactly.
Lydia Morrison:
Thanks so much for taking the time out of your schedule to chat with me today, Eileen.
Dr. Eileen Dimalanta:
Oh, you're welcome. This was fun. Thank you, Lydia.
Lydia Morrison:
Keep on pushing next-generation sequencing forward for us.
Dr. Eileen Dimalanta:
I will. Thank you.
Lydia Morrison:
I'll look forward to having my DNA sequenced the next time I show up in the ER.
Dr. Eileen Dimalanta:
Oh, absolutely. I hope that won't happen anytime soon, though.
Lydia Morrison:
Okay. Thanks so much. Thanks for listening to this special episode of the NEB podcast. Please catch the next episode to hear from another talented woman and NEB scientist.
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