Interviews with Scientists: Summer Rosonovski
Summer Rosonovski is a third year PhD researcher investigating the mysterious i-motif DNA structure at the University of East Anglia in Norwich. She is enthusiastic about sharing her love for science and has recently started to build her CV towards science communication.
Since high school, Summer has been involved with and led science experiments and workshops for kids, although it never clicked that she could make a career from her passion for science communication until a colleague suggested it. Outside her PhD research, Summer has been involved in organizing Pint of Science, designing a DNA science board game (still in progress), organizing the Summer DTP Conference, presenting her research to non-specialists, and taking on a role in the Sci PGR committee at UEA.
When Summer isn’t finding a new science communication project to sign up for, she’s training for pole fitness – her newfound sporting love! We loved chatting to her about her research, passion for science, and more.
Great to speak to you, Summer! Firstly, we’d love to hear more about your PhD research...
My research focuses on unravelling DNA’s secret structures. DNA is typically pictured as a double helix (twisted ladder) structure, following Chargaff’s base pairing rules: A binding to T and C binding to G. However, there are multiple environments in which DNA breaks these rules and forms mysterious shapes! My work focuses on the i-motif, which resembles a knot, where C binds to C. i-Motif’s are typically present in promoter regions and likely regulate gene expression. They could be powerful therapeutic targets! I aim to identify i-motif probes to enable studies to investigate i-motif function and thus bring us one step closer to exploiting them as therapeutics.
How has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted your research?
The COVID-19 pandemic stopped my lab work just as I started to get some interesting data that I was excited to pursue and had been waiting the last two years for! In that respect it was a little disheartening. As I was finally making progress with my project and had found my motivation, I had to stop. However, it has given me time to reflect on the next steps with my experiments, read more papers and attend some seminars to help me in designing my next steps. I’m hoping this means my experimental design will be better and I can hit the ground running when we get back.
Did you always want to be a scientist when you were younger?
I always loved two subjects that I could never choose between: sports and science. I vividly remember wanting to be an Olympic runner, but unfortunately I just wasn’t quick enough so here I am in science… I was never decisive or set on a career and went through a lot of different ideas including nursing, a surgeon, forensic scientist and criminal profiler, most of which were influenced by my favourite TV shows. My lack of direction meant I pursued what fascinated me and allowed me to realise that I love figuring out what molecules are doing in the body and so that knowledge can be used to develop new therapeutics.
What advice would you give to someone just starting out in their science PhD, based on your own experience?
Don’t put so much pressure on yourself. You’re here to learn, and that means you will make mistakes and that’s not just OK – it's going to make you a better scientist! Celebrate your mistakes, you will have learnt something valuable and you never know you might pull a Fleming and discover a new antibiotic!
What's the most important lesson you have learned in your PhD so far?
Imposter syndrome is common, even those at the top of their field have doubts in their abilities. It's not just you. Be confident in yourself, you do belong, and you can do this!
What are you most proud of in your career to date?
I am most proud of being selected to give a presentation in my first year at the Biology of Non-Canonical Nucleic Acids. This gave me confidence in my research field and my technical skills, which I desperately needed in my first year. It was a great feeling being able to discuss and defend my work effectively as well as being encouraged by senior colleagues in the field.
What do you think are the biggest challenges currently facing life scientists and their work?
The academic environment in my opinion is extremely challenging, and plagued with poor mental health. It’s a culture where you are expected to live in the lab, and not doing this means you don’t work hard enough. The ‘ivory tower’ that exists tends to mean disenfranchised groups struggle to enter academia, feel isolated and marginalised when they do, and are less likely to progress up the academic career ladder.
What might a typical day in the lab look like for you?
Typically, my days are organised around experiments. I tend to plan at the end of the week for the next one, detailing what experiments I need to carry out, the preparations for these and then I plan other commitments like meetings, science communication events and reading around that.
I don’t really have a routine. I tend to work very flexibly, taking into consideration what has to be done that week and how productive I’m feeling. So, it’s quite usual for me to have a week where I come in late and leave early and then another week where I’m in the lab bright and early and leaving in the dark.
What does your typical day look like at the moment, while your lab is closed?
I am currently focused on writing as much of my thesis as possible, as well as collating all of my data to identify gaps and experiments to do next. This does mean my day is much less active then it was whilst I was in the lab and I am using my laptop a lot more. I am also taking this time to pursue some science communication and expand my network.
Outside of science, what do you enjoy doing most?
I love sports and get involved as often as I can leisurely or competitively. I recently started pole fitness and made the competition team! I came second in my first competition which was an exciting and proud moment for me that I got to share with my squad and friends. For me sports are a great way to destress, clear my head and take care of my mental health.
If you weren’t a scientist, what do you think you’d be doing?
That’s a difficult one, but I absolutely love working with the public and interacting with people so I think I would be in the hospitality industry. I really enjoyed a lot of aspects of the job when I worked in a hotel during my undergraduate degree.
What is it about your field of research that gets you most excited?
Researching alternative DNA structures, the thing that gets me most excited is the potential to figure out the role the dynamics of DNA structures are playing in ‘normal’ and diseased states. I am really motivated that by understanding this we could have better therapeutics for diseases such as cancer and change so many lives.
Which scientists working today do you most admire, and why?
I’m going to sound like a child when you ask their hero and they pick their mum, but I really admire my supervisor Dr Zoё Waller. She is leading the i-motif field at a young age whilst bringing up two adorable babies (and a less adorable lab group) and still has time to bake us all delicious goodies! She does all this while fighting against a ‘typical’ scientist look, rocking her unique style with bright pink hair. I’m hoping that phenomenal time management rubs off on me...
What’s your favourite science joke?
How much room does fungi need to grow?
As mushroom as possible!
(I’m so sorry...)
What do you think is the greatest scientific discovery of all time?
It’s going to have to be the structure of DNA in 1953. It’s not just because of my bias as a DNA researcher – honest! Not only did it take nearly a century’s worth of research to be suggested, but it's an essential basis to many scientific discoveries since, is a crucial research tool, is frequently used as a forensic tool, is essential for multiple medical diagnostics, and is even being exploited as a designer material for nanotechnology!
DNA ALL THE WAY!
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Thanks so much, Summer!
Summer is a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry and Biochemical Society, and her funding comes from BBSRC NRPDTP.
Connect with Summer on social media at these links:
- Twitter: @SRosonovski
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/summer-rosonovski-484a...
Find more from Summer:
- Pint of Science Talk (currently delayed): https://pintofscience.co.uk/event/unlocking-and-de...
- Blog about her work placement in Kenya: https://acaciaafrica.org/summers-pips-at-pwani-uni...
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