​Scientific research is an important aspect of my life. Thanks to Science, humans learned so much about Nature and improved their lives. However, there is a downside given that many discoveries were used inappropriately. Remember, for instance, about nuclear weapons and exposure to leaded gasoline. Irresponsible human activities have led to accelerating climate change, heavy metal pollution in soil, and microplastic in our food. We have only one planet and we need to protect our Earth for ourselves and for the benefit of our children.
 
My name is Filip and I have a peculiar surname, Pošćić (I bet you can't pronounce it correctly). Those strange symbols are not simple accents but diacritical marks making different letters from “s” and “c” in the Croatian alphabet, and with no equivalent sounds in English. I would write an approximate pronunciation as “Poshtjitj” or [Poʃtɕitɕ] (according to the International Phonetic Alphabet). The letter š is pronounced similarly to “sh” in “shell”, and ć as if you would pronounce “y” in “yellow” by holding your mouth as to say “t” in “tap”. It’s complicated, I know, and I am fine if you will write “Poscic”.
 
As a child, my father gave me a book about Nature as a gift. I was a little small to fully understand that book at the time, but I enjoyed looking at the figures and I fell in love with the amazing beauty of natural landscapes and the biological variation. I soon decided to work in and for Nature. At that age I didn’t fully understand what does it means to work “in and for” Nature but I guess I accomplished my dream: I am a UofA post-doctoral fellow in the laboratory of Prof. Dr. Alicja Babst-Kostecka, in the Environmental Science (https://environmentalscience.cals.arizona.edu/) doing my best to 1) educate people to preserve nature and reduce pollution and 2) studying the amazing metal hyperaccumulator plants that can clean the soils from heavy metals. I will now write a few more words about hyperaccumulators.
 
Metal hyperaccumulator plants are only approximately 0.3% of the total plant species in the world and they can accumulate extraordinarily high concentrations of one, two, or three specific heavy metals in their leaves. To name a few of these outstanding species: Arabidopsis halleri, hyperaccumulating both zinc and cadmium; Biscutella laevigata, hyperaccumulating thallium; and Noccaea caerulescens, hyperaccumulating zinc, cadmium, and nickel. The listed metals, often commonly but erroneously called heavy metals, are present in large quantities in mining and surrounding areas making a toxic environment to other living beings, including humans. The amazing feature of hyperaccumulators is we could use these plants for cleaning up metal-contaminated soils that are unsafe for human life and agriculture. However, there is a problem: these plants are very small and, therefore, to effectively clean the soils you would need biomass plants, like the perennial switchgrass. As such, switchgrass is not a hyperaccumulator, but research is focused on understanding the metabolic pathways of hyperaccumulators and properly modifying biomass plants. The icing on the cake, biomass plants could be converted to biogas and metals could be extracted from residues gaining additional money (this is phytomining!).
 
As you could understand from reading so far, I am really into the physiology and ecology of plants, and I do not skip genetics and evolution! I studied at the University of Trieste (Italy) where I obtained my master’s degree in 2007 on nucleotide diversity in coding and regulatory genomic regions of maize. After a research project on metal tolerance and ecological characterization of Biscutella laevigata populations, I obtained the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Ecology in 2012 at the University of Udine (Italy) with a short stay (6 months) at the Free University Amsterdam (The Netherlands). From 2012 to 2016, I worked at the University of Udine and was awarded financial support for young scientists in 2013 for research on cerium toxicity in plants. From 2016 to 2019, I went back to my home country and worked at the Institute for Adriatic Crops and Karst Reclamation in Split (Croatia) and at Ruđer Bošković Institute in Zagreb (Croatia) on soil-plant interactions and nutrient deficiencies, and trace element toxicity in olive trees. I was also honored in 2019 by receiving the most prestigious and competitive European fellowship, the Marie Skłodowska-Curie individual fellowship in Prof. Dr. Ute Krämer Department of Molecular Genetics and Physiology of Plants at the Ruhr University Bochum (Germany). Have a look at my former research https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/845234 where I was investigating the variability in hyperaccumulation of zinc and cadmium between individuals of the same Arabidopsis halleri population.
 
At the beginning of January 2022, I finally started working at the University of Arizona, and currently, my research is focused on plant adaptations to soils with high metals as well as collaborative projects on physiology and ecology. We are a young lab growing very fast and we like to collaborate with you! I am also particularly thirsty for knowledge in biostatistics. I developed early my wish to learn more about applied statistics because I found very often scientific publications with statistics misconceptions that lead to wrong conclusions! Research has always been at the heart of the development of human society. Every fundamental step for humans started from a little research, from a little idea. Every single datum obtained by researchers is necessary for the future to gain knowledge. If data are wrongly analyzed or interpreted this can be a recipe for a disaster.
 
If you would like to know more on how plants can clean toxic soils or discuss any of the above topics do not hesitate to contact me by email ([email protected]), Twitter (@FilipPoscic), or Instagram (linkedin.com/in/filipposcic).

​Don’t be fooled by the intricately woven stories we academics tell linking everything we’ve ever done and produced together…the road through academia, for many, dare I say most, of us, is not linear. My research training and interests over time are a prime example. The truth is, sometimes, we have to be sponges and sit in a topic or field for some time to get a sense of whether or not this is where we want to be. While changing directions is often looked at as a bad thing, it can actually offer quite a few benefits, including having a diverse set of skills (usually some germane and some that are quite transferable) and having the opportunity to build cross-disciplinary collaborations. Is it just me, or do we never talk about the perks of transitioning fields of study? The good news, though, is that with each pivot we make, we usually get one step closer to zeroing in on the direction we wish to go, whether that’s in academia or industry. Since entering academia in 2016, despite the swivels and turns and loop de loops, I feel like I am finally in the research field I am meant to be in (6 years later, mind you).

My name is Kristin Morrill and I am a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Community & Systems Health Science Division of the University of Arizona’s College of Nursing. As a health disparities and health services researcher, the long-term goal of my research is to improve oncology care for the underserved. This passion is largely driven by my experiences as a Cuban American woman and my understanding of some of the barriers faced by women, like my grandmother, while navigating the healthcare system. Currently, my research focuses on two specific time intervals along the cancer care continuum: 1) the time in days between the first clinical presentation of cancer to diagnosis (referred to as diagnostic delay) and 2) the time in days between a diagnosis and initiation of treatment (referred to as treatment delay). My research has largely been focused on breast cancer given breast cancer remains the deadliest cancer for Hispanic women in the U.S. comprising 14% of all cancer deaths. Consistently, it has been demonstrated that Hispanic women diagnosed with breast cancer experience longer diagnostic and treatment delay compared to other subpopulations, and the detrimental effects of these delays range from increased psychological distress (anxiety and depression) to enlargement of the tumor and poorer overall prognosis. Put succinctly, ensuring timely diagnosis and treatment are critical to improving cancer outcomes among Hispanic women diagnosed with breast cancer. To develop interventions and policies to reduce these delays; however, more data regarding reasons for these delays and who is at greater risk of experiencing them is needed. To this end, my ongoing research includes the following: 1) evaluating factors (including race and ethnicity) associated with treatment delay among patients with five common cancers (including breast cancer); 2) describing overall trends for breast cancer diagnostic and treatment delay in a nationally representative sample of US Medicare beneficiaries and examining trends by racial and ethnic subpopulation and geographic location; and 3) exploring the experiences of Hispanic cancer patients through the diagnosis and treatment process and the factors influencing decisions on where and when to be diagnosed and treated. Together, findings from this research will provide a holistic understanding of how delays have changed over time and reasons for delays, thereby elucidating targets for developing effective interventions and policies to decrease delays among Hispanic adults. The third research objective will be funded through a Postdoctoral Research Development Grant, which will provide funds for participant compensation and a wonderful undergraduate research assistant.

As I mentioned earlier, the path to being a health services researcher was not linear. In 2016, I began my PhD journey in the University of Arizona’s Department of Nutritional Sciences as a USDA National Needs Fellow. As a graduate research associate, my research focused on reducing health disparities faced by Mexican-origin communities and Hispanic communities in Southern Arizona. For 4.5 years, I conducted research to inform the development of a future culturally-tailored lifestyle intervention for Hispanic women with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, a risk factor for liver cancer. What I learned from my interactions with participants throughout this time resonated with memories of challenges my Spanish-speaking grandmother faced as an immigrant in this country.  Lack of access to care is a pivotal barrier to living healthful and vibrant lives. After I defended, I realized that what I was passionate about was researching ways to reduce barriers related to access and doing so in ways that would be sustainable and reach a greater number of individuals. This realization helped guide my next journey as an NCI T32 Cancer Prevention and Control Health Disparities Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Arizona Cancer Center. Throughout this fellowship, my interests in addressing access to care barriers crystalized and I received focused training in cancer health disparities research, cancer epidemiology, and health services research. Additionally, I had the opportunity to greatly expand my research collaborations in the field of implementation science through actively participating in the Consortium for Cancer Implementation Science action group to develop a priority public good to improve operationalization of multi-level intervention core functions and forms and The Cancer Prevention and Control Research Network (CPCRN) as a CPCRN Scholar. As a Scholar, I am working with a team at the University of New Mexico to explore the implementation context in community oncology practices as it relates to implementing screening/assessment and referral processes to improve the uptake of physical activity interventions. I began my second postdoc position in May of this year and will continue expanding my training in oncology health services research.
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I would not be able to conduct the research I do without fully embracing a cross-disciplinary, team science approach. If you would be interested in collaborating, or maybe just grabbing a coffee, please do not hesitate to reach out to me via email – [email protected]. You can also link up with me on Twitter @KMorrill_PhD.    

Dr. Kristin Morrill was awarded a Postdoctoral Research Development Grant (PRDG) from the University of Arizona for a project titled “Factors Influencing the Decisions of When and Where to be treated in Hispanic Cancer Survivors”​​.