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Maria Mota: The Pleasure of Discovery
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Maria Mota: The Pleasure of Discovery
What motivated you to become a scientist?
What advice would you give young scientists planning to start I am a scientist because I fell madly in love their own lab?
when I saw an electron micrograph of a Leishmania parasite inside a host macrophage. In fact, I have never worked on Leishmania and, since that time, I have changed my research subject a few times, but I never ceased to question how microbes survive inside the host and how these two entities crosstalk. Finding the answers to these questions is what powers my life.
What does your lab focus on?
Maria M. Mota* Maria Mota is probably the most well-known female researcher in her home country, Portugal. She was awarded the Prémio Pessoa in 2013, an award that formally recognizes Portuguese individuals who have made eminent and innovative contributions to science, art, or literature. She was the sixth woman to be given this yearly award since its establishment in 1987. Maria is the Executive Director of the Instituto de Medicina Molecular, in Lisbon, Portugal, and the leader of the research group on the Biology and Physiology of Malaria. Maria has published high-profile malaria research over the past 10 years and attributes her success to her addiction to the pleasure of discovery. In this piece, Maria encourages young scientists to have fun and enjoy their research and to not fear taking no for an answer. She also urges society in general to empower women.
My team works on malaria and on how its causative agent, Plasmodium, interacts with its mammalian host. In particular, we are very interested in establishing the key host contributions for the establishment of infection (during the initial liver stage of the parasite's life cycle) as well as for the onset of disease (during the blood stage of infection). Our ongoing work indicates that the web of host–Plasmodium interactions is densely woven, with liver stage-mediated innate immune system activation, host nutritional status, and an antagonistic relationship between the two parasite stages themselves all working to modulate the balance between parasite replication and human health. It is our firm belief that we will need to learn to alter this balance in order to efficiently control this deadly parasite.
How can established scientists best serve as mentors to young researchers, both male and female? They can lead by example, but also by talking and, most importantly, listening to them. Young scientists (and not so young ones) will always have moments of insecurity and it is terrible if they feel they are the only ones to feel that way and that the most senior successful people never felt the same way. Thus, in my view, a good mentor should be able to inspire and create optimism without transmitting the illusion that everything was and will always be perfect.
Find your own niche, always follow your curiosity regarding the most crucial questions in your field of interest, work hard, but, above all, have fun. I strongly feel that you can only do it while you enjoy it (a lot!).
Do you think you encountered any extra hurdles as a female scientist? I certainly did, in many different episodes but mainly because of the general feeling around me that I am not as capable of something or should not be taken as seriously as others just because I am a woman. Such an example happened during my PhD when I got married. My supervisor asked me to meet him immediately after and spent more than 30 minutes asking how I felt about my career now that I got married and how seriously I was on pursuing a scientific career. Needless to say that nobody approached my husband in any way similar in spite of us both being at the same stage of our PhDs. Episodes such as this one never had the effect of putting me down; on the contrary, they always made me feel that I should be able to show that my personal decisions affect my professional life as much as would affect anyone else, independently of being a man or woman.
Collaboration is now the foundation of research. For some early-career researchers, especially women, it might be intimidating to make that first move and initiate conversation that might lead to collaboration. How did you manage this? I learned very early that it does not matter to hear ‘no’ for an answer. And soon I also realized that in fact most people also want to collaborate. So, you do not lose anything by asking or initiating conversation.
Trends in Parasitology, June 2016, Vol. 32, No. 6
429
What can institutions do to support women in science?
If you were not a scientist, what would your alternative career be?
Talk openly about the problems women face at the work place and, most importantly, discuss the way society sees women and how that can or should change, not only to allow women to do whatever they want, but also mainly to allow society to use everyone's maximum capacities. In my view, our goal should be to change the world's view on the role of women in society.
farms [2]. Anthelminthic resistance in cattle nematodes in New Zealand was first reported in 1987 [3]; further reports of resistance of various species of nematodes to different classes of drug have followed, including cases of dual and triple resistance in sheep[4]. It has been estimated that the costs of parasitism in lambs is 14% of the value of the carcass [5] and that dosing with ineffective anthelminthics led to reduced fleece weights and live weight gain in lambs [2].
I feel hugely privileged to be able to spend my days trying to meet one of the most basic human needs: curiosity. I should say that sometimes I feel addicted to the pleasure of discovery. And so, it is not easy to think what else would be as rewarding as this. Paradoxically, at the same time, I feel that I could be so many other things. I enjoy teaching very much and I really think that transmitting the pleasure of knowing more is certainly On the short term, we should obviously one of the most fundamental roles in Clearly there is a problem. Much research provide all possible conditions that will our society. has focused on the mechanisms of resishelp women to move on in their careers, tance, drugs, genetics, and limited explo*Correspondence: [email protected] for example by improving child care, and (M.M. Mota). ration of the anthelminthic properties of so on. Nevertheless, in my view, this http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pt.2016.01.003 plants. Parasites are part of a greater ecolshould not be the core of the question, ogy incorporating people, livestock, and given that even women who do not have land in all its diversity and, therefore, all of babies still face many of the same probthese approaches for combatting anthellems as those who do. mintic resistance have their place but need Science & Society to be integrated in a holistic manner. Sometime ago, Dee Dee Myers (a former White House press secretary) wrote a Alternative Management very interesting assay ‘What if women Strategies and Anthelmintic ruled the world?’ (http://www.bbc.co. Plants 1, uk/news/world-21661744). One of the Marion Johnson * and An integrated approach to reducing para2 last sentences of this essay reads: Tony Moore site burdens utilises anthelminthics when ‘Empowering women isn’t just the right necessary but seeks to reduce worm burthing, it's the necessary thing.’ This Anthelminthic resistance is acknow- dens through management [6]. For examessay has nothing to do with science ledged worldwide and is a major ple, having swards at a greater height to but, in my opinion, it addresses a global problem in Aotearoa New Zealand, reduce larval ingestion, and rotating differproblem that should be at the basis of thus alternative parasite manage- ent livestock species so that parasites our thoughts. ment strategies are imperative. infecting one species are removed by One Health is an initiative linking another species in which they do not Of course, then the question is how to get establish infection helps reduce the numanimal, human, and environmental society to believe that it needs women and bers of larvae. Bioactive forages with an health. Parasites, plants, and peomen in every ladder/corner/sphere of socianthelminthic action will also reduce infecety? I believe we should do this by dis- ple illustrate the possibilities of tion levels as will the provision of browse. cussing the ‘deep and rooted’ issues in providing diverse diets for stock the entire society (of which 50% are thereby lowering parasite bur- If designed within an agroecological women by the way) that create the so- dens, improving the cultural well- framework [7] such parasite management being of a local community, and strategies provide multiple benefits, for called ‘glass-ceiling’! example, longer pasture residuals reduce protecting the environment. The best way to do that is to bring people erosion, bioactive plants and browse spetogether who think about these issues Anthelminthic Resistance in cies benefit animal health but also provide from different perspectives (I believe het- Aotearoa New Zealand diverse habitats and the opportunity for erogeneity will be key for the success) and Globally, anthelminthic resistance is now cultural harvest. As the numbers of bioaclisten to their points of view, followed by ‘an inconvenient truth’ [1]. In Aotearoa tive plants recognised by research grows, open discussions. Any institution should New Zealand, parasitism is the most sig- an increasing role for biodiversity on farmdo that. nificant animal health issue on sheep land is vindicated.
Parasites, Plants, and People
430
Trends in Parasitology, June 2016, Vol. 32, No. 6
Maria Mota: The Pleasure of Discovery
What motivated you to become a scientist?
What advice would you give young scientists planning to start I am a scientist because I fell madly in love their own lab?
when I saw an electron micrograph of a Leishmania parasite inside a host macrophage. In fact, I have never worked on Leishmania and, since that time, I have changed my research subject a few times, but I never ceased to question how microbes survive inside the host and how these two entities crosstalk. Finding the answers to these questions is what powers my life.
What does your lab focus on?
Maria M. Mota* Maria Mota is probably the most well-known female researcher in her home country, Portugal. She was awarded the Prémio Pessoa in 2013, an award that formally recognizes Portuguese individuals who have made eminent and innovative contributions to science, art, or literature. She was the sixth woman to be given this yearly award since its establishment in 1987. Maria is the Executive Director of the Instituto de Medicina Molecular, in Lisbon, Portugal, and the leader of the research group on the Biology and Physiology of Malaria. Maria has published high-profile malaria research over the past 10 years and attributes her success to her addiction to the pleasure of discovery. In this piece, Maria encourages young scientists to have fun and enjoy their research and to not fear taking no for an answer. She also urges society in general to empower women.
My team works on malaria and on how its causative agent, Plasmodium, interacts with its mammalian host. In particular, we are very interested in establishing the key host contributions for the establishment of infection (during the initial liver stage of the parasite's life cycle) as well as for the onset of disease (during the blood stage of infection). Our ongoing work indicates that the web of host–Plasmodium interactions is densely woven, with liver stage-mediated innate immune system activation, host nutritional status, and an antagonistic relationship between the two parasite stages themselves all working to modulate the balance between parasite replication and human health. It is our firm belief that we will need to learn to alter this balance in order to efficiently control this deadly parasite.
How can established scientists best serve as mentors to young researchers, both male and female? They can lead by example, but also by talking and, most importantly, listening to them. Young scientists (and not so young ones) will always have moments of insecurity and it is terrible if they feel they are the only ones to feel that way and that the most senior successful people never felt the same way. Thus, in my view, a good mentor should be able to inspire and create optimism without transmitting the illusion that everything was and will always be perfect.
Find your own niche, always follow your curiosity regarding the most crucial questions in your field of interest, work hard, but, above all, have fun. I strongly feel that you can only do it while you enjoy it (a lot!).
Do you think you encountered any extra hurdles as a female scientist? I certainly did, in many different episodes but mainly because of the general feeling around me that I am not as capable of something or should not be taken as seriously as others just because I am a woman. Such an example happened during my PhD when I got married. My supervisor asked me to meet him immediately after and spent more than 30 minutes asking how I felt about my career now that I got married and how seriously I was on pursuing a scientific career. Needless to say that nobody approached my husband in any way similar in spite of us both being at the same stage of our PhDs. Episodes such as this one never had the effect of putting me down; on the contrary, they always made me feel that I should be able to show that my personal decisions affect my professional life as much as would affect anyone else, independently of being a man or woman.
Collaboration is now the foundation of research. For some early-career researchers, especially women, it might be intimidating to make that first move and initiate conversation that might lead to collaboration. How did you manage this? I learned very early that it does not matter to hear ‘no’ for an answer. And soon I also realized that in fact most people also want to collaborate. So, you do not lose anything by asking or initiating conversation.
Trends in Parasitology, June 2016, Vol. 32, No. 6
429
What can institutions do to support women in science?
If you were not a scientist, what would your alternative career be?
Talk openly about the problems women face at the work place and, most importantly, discuss the way society sees women and how that can or should change, not only to allow women to do whatever they want, but also mainly to allow society to use everyone's maximum capacities. In my view, our goal should be to change the world's view on the role of women in society.
farms [2]. Anthelminthic resistance in cattle nematodes in New Zealand was first reported in 1987 [3]; further reports of resistance of various species of nematodes to different classes of drug have followed, including cases of dual and triple resistance in sheep[4]. It has been estimated that the costs of parasitism in lambs is 14% of the value of the carcass [5] and that dosing with ineffective anthelminthics led to reduced fleece weights and live weight gain in lambs [2].
I feel hugely privileged to be able to spend my days trying to meet one of the most basic human needs: curiosity. I should say that sometimes I feel addicted to the pleasure of discovery. And so, it is not easy to think what else would be as rewarding as this. Paradoxically, at the same time, I feel that I could be so many other things. I enjoy teaching very much and I really think that transmitting the pleasure of knowing more is certainly On the short term, we should obviously one of the most fundamental roles in Clearly there is a problem. Much research provide all possible conditions that will our society. has focused on the mechanisms of resishelp women to move on in their careers, tance, drugs, genetics, and limited explo*Correspondence: [email protected] for example by improving child care, and (M.M. Mota). ration of the anthelminthic properties of so on. Nevertheless, in my view, this http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pt.2016.01.003 plants. Parasites are part of a greater ecolshould not be the core of the question, ogy incorporating people, livestock, and given that even women who do not have land in all its diversity and, therefore, all of babies still face many of the same probthese approaches for combatting anthellems as those who do. mintic resistance have their place but need Science & Society to be integrated in a holistic manner. Sometime ago, Dee Dee Myers (a former White House press secretary) wrote a Alternative Management very interesting assay ‘What if women Strategies and Anthelmintic ruled the world?’ (http://www.bbc.co. Plants 1, uk/news/world-21661744). One of the Marion Johnson * and An integrated approach to reducing para2 last sentences of this essay reads: Tony Moore site burdens utilises anthelminthics when ‘Empowering women isn’t just the right necessary but seeks to reduce worm burthing, it's the necessary thing.’ This Anthelminthic resistance is acknow- dens through management [6]. For examessay has nothing to do with science ledged worldwide and is a major ple, having swards at a greater height to but, in my opinion, it addresses a global problem in Aotearoa New Zealand, reduce larval ingestion, and rotating differproblem that should be at the basis of thus alternative parasite manage- ent livestock species so that parasites our thoughts. ment strategies are imperative. infecting one species are removed by One Health is an initiative linking another species in which they do not Of course, then the question is how to get establish infection helps reduce the numanimal, human, and environmental society to believe that it needs women and bers of larvae. Bioactive forages with an health. Parasites, plants, and peomen in every ladder/corner/sphere of socianthelminthic action will also reduce infecety? I believe we should do this by dis- ple illustrate the possibilities of tion levels as will the provision of browse. cussing the ‘deep and rooted’ issues in providing diverse diets for stock the entire society (of which 50% are thereby lowering parasite bur- If designed within an agroecological women by the way) that create the so- dens, improving the cultural well- framework [7] such parasite management being of a local community, and strategies provide multiple benefits, for called ‘glass-ceiling’! example, longer pasture residuals reduce protecting the environment. The best way to do that is to bring people erosion, bioactive plants and browse spetogether who think about these issues Anthelminthic Resistance in cies benefit animal health but also provide from different perspectives (I believe het- Aotearoa New Zealand diverse habitats and the opportunity for erogeneity will be key for the success) and Globally, anthelminthic resistance is now cultural harvest. As the numbers of bioaclisten to their points of view, followed by ‘an inconvenient truth’ [1]. In Aotearoa tive plants recognised by research grows, open discussions. Any institution should New Zealand, parasitism is the most sig- an increasing role for biodiversity on farmdo that. nificant animal health issue on sheep land is vindicated.
Parasites, Plants, and People
430
Trends in Parasitology, June 2016, Vol. 32, No. 6