What is your why ? This is a question that Dr. Triesta Fowler, Director of Communications and Outreach in the NICHD Office of Education, asks fellows often. Dr. Fowler emphasizes the importance of knowing your reason for choosing specific career goals. Intention matters.
The idea of self-awareness and reflection are so important that we are making it the theme of this issue. For our feature article, we present recently published research from postdoctoral fellow Dr. Samrawit Yisahak on diet patterns during early pregnancy. In my interview with Dr. Yisahak, she explained that she entered the field of nutritional epidemiology because the translation of such research has implications for disease prevention. Indeed, she has found that specific dietary measures during early pregnancy correlate with newborn health outcomes.
The theme of knowing your “why” was front and center during our last “Meet the Physician” panel. In this month’s Clinical Corner column, we share excerpts from the meeting—highlighting stories about life decisions. This is a not-to-be missed group of women! Also not-to-be-missed: our Deconstructing Bias column on microaggression, this month’s Rep Report, and our May announcements and events.
On a personal note, I want to take a moment to say a fond farewell to Dr. Constantine Stratakis, former NICHD Scientific Director, as he makes a career transition back to Greece. For fellows who are new to the institute, Dr. Stratakis was the Scientific Director who supported the creation of this newsletter over ten years ago. He leaves behind his parting words on what drives him as a physician scientist and offers thanks to his former trainees, plus a few words of life advice. Thank you, Dr. Stratakis, for your mentorship and dedication to trainees.
Your Editor in Chief,
Shana R. Spindler, PhD
Please send questions, comments, and ideas to our editor at shana.spindler@nih.gov.