Meet the blogger: Abla Tannous

Edited by Helena Mello & Eileen Oni [caption id="attachment_2871" align="aligncenter" width="300"] My Master's graduation ceremony, May 2009[/caption] One of the sayings I remember the most from my elementary education is a French proverb that translates to: “little by little, the bird makes its nest”. While the saying was motivating at the time, I would not realize its full meaning until graduate school, some 15 years later.  In this post, I would like to share with you my path to science. In addition, for some of you who are going through some of the same experience, I hope that my story would help in knowing that we have all been there, or at least most of us. It might seem cliché saying that my interest in science started at a young age, yet it is true. It was a guilty pleasure of mine to spend hours during some of my teen years reading science magazines and working on science problems. Fast forward to the last two years of my undergraduate studies in Lebanon, I developed the idea that I could go to the United States and do research there. At the time, some discouraged me from applying to US graduate programs. I guess it was understandable because I had to switch from a French based education to the American education system which I knew little about, and also because of the little research experience I had due to my lack of access to research opportunities in Lebanon at the time. Yet, I knew if I wanted it, it would work. I started applying to PhD and Master’s programs in the US. I even applied to Harvard… and that application was rejected. I did not take rejection well at the time, but today I take it with pride, because I know that I tried and did my best, pouring all my soul into the process. Rejections can leave scars but they tell that you fought and you persisted.  I got accepted into a Master’s program in Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. The United States… who does not want to be here? It was like the heavens opened up... But it did not take too long until I came face to face with the reality of leaving home and everything behind. My family, my friends and my beautiful small town in northern Lebanon overlooking the Mediterranean. When the plane took off, I could not breathe. To this day, almost 12 years later, that moment is engraved in my memory and for whatever reason, I never threw away that one-way ticket that landed me in Boston Logan Airport in July of 2007. Although I am of the lucky ones to have a large supportive family in the US, I still had to face my inner demon asking ‘will I make it’? When experiments fail, when it takes long to see results, don’t you have doubts? The good thing about graduate school, is once you have made it through, you have already been through a lot: rejections, disappointments, triumph, and success. I got to experience more of that during my Ph.D. years at University of Massachusetts, Amherst, as well as my postdoc at Rutgers. Yet, I was fortunate enough to have met a lot of amazing people in the process, and had wonderful Master’s, Ph.D., and Postdoc mentors to whom I owe what I am today. Science taught me to be humble; it is the best way to keep improving. Just like the bird that little by little makes its nest, science is also about small incremental successes that culminate into achieving your final goal. And you have to enjoy every achievement, whether big or small. Nevertheless, being humble does not mean to not dream big. Looking back at where I was more than 10 years ago, it would have been difficult to envision the path that my life and career took. Of course, there were tears to be shed, and mistakes to be made. But it is ok; the important thing is to learn, keep moving forward, and always try different approaches when things are stuck. For me, it helps to go for a walk every once in a while, and take pictures of nature. It aids in putting things into perspective. Being a multidisciplinary scientist in Molecular and Cellular Biology, Biochemistry and Proteomics, I have multiple research interests. Currently, my focus is understanding and characterizing proteins and the proteome. As a postdoc at Rutgers, I am working on mapping the subcellular proteome using quantitative mass spectrometry combined with subcellular fractionation. I have been part of iJOBS for more than two years. iJOBS provides wonderful opportunities for career and skill development and has been instrumental for me in learning about all the various career paths that are available to PhDs. I joined the iJOBS blog to share with you what I am learning. I will bring some of the iJOBS activities to you through my posts, as well as other activities that I am taking part of and are intended for accelerating career growth. Furthermore, I will be covering other topics such as science communication and special topics in the pharma and biotech industry. I hope you find reading my work enjoyable and a good use of your time.