This special episode of the Immune podcast features a conversation with Dr. Aimee Pugh Bernard, an Associate Professor at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, highlighting her passion and career in teaching and communicating immunology. Dr. Bernard shares her non-traditional career path, from her Ph.D. research on B cell tolerance in lupus to her current multifaceted role that combines teaching medical and graduate students with a significant focus on science communication. She discusses her initiatives to make complex scientific concepts accessible to the public and fellow scientists without immunology training, her work in translating foundational science for a general audience, and her efforts to humanize scientists. The conversation also delves into the importance of using social media for science communication and provides advice for trainees interested in pursuing this field.
A Conversation with Immunologist and Science Communicator Aimee Pugh Bernard
1:39 A Non-Traditional Career Path: Dr. Bernard details her journey from a traditional Ph.D. in immunology and two postdoctoral fellowships to a career focused on education and science communication. She emphasizes that her path was driven by her passion for teaching and a desire to challenge the conventional academic trajectory.
3:14 Research on B Cell Tolerance in Lupus: During her Ph.D., Dr. Bernard studied the VH4-34 B cell gene segment as a model for human B cell tolerance. This research focused on why these B cells, which often produce autoreactive antibodies, are more prevalent in patients with lupus.
4:40 A Passion for Teaching: Dr. Bernard discusses her experience in a 100% teaching role at CU Denver, where she taught four undergraduate classes each semester. While she found the experience rewarding, the demanding schedule ultimately led to burnout.
8:36 "Fun-Size Human Immunology": A key part of her career involved creating intensive, three-day immunology workshops for faculty and postdocs who needed to understand the immune system for their research but lacked formal training. These workshops proved to be in high demand.
14:15 Communicating Science to the Public: Dr. Bernard now dedicates a portion of her time to working with scientists to translate their complex research for a general audience. Her goal is to break down the barriers of scientific jargon and paywalls to make foundational science understandable and engaging.
20:19 Humanizing Scientists: An important aspect of her science communication work is to show the human side of scientists. She interviews them about their career paths, inspirations, and hobbies to make them more relatable to the public.
25:05 The Role of Social Media: Dr. Bernard advocates for scientists to be more active on social media, noting that a large percentage of young people get their news from these sources. She believes scientists must be present in these spaces to share accurate information.
26:41 Advice for Aspiring Science Communicators: She advises trainees interested in science communication to seek out workshops and courses, and to start by creating content on accessible platforms like Instagram. She also suggests contributing to trainee-focused writing platforms like "Science Bites."
31:22 A Fun Tidbit: Dr. Bernard shares that the "ninja" part of her social media handle ("Funsize Immuno Ninja") comes from her martial arts training; she and her children all earned second-degree black belts in Taekwondo.
Glossary of Medical/Biological Terms:
VH4-34: A specific gene segment used in the creation of antibodies, which are proteins produced by B cells to fight infections. In some cases, antibodies that use the VH4-34 segment can mistakenly target the body's own tissues, leading to autoimmune diseases like lupus.
Human B cell tolerance in lupus: B cells are a type of white blood cell that produces antibodies. "Tolerance" refers to the immune system's ability to recognize and not attack the body's own tissues. In lupus, this tolerance breaks down, and B cells produce "autoantibodies" that attack the body's own cells and tissues, causing inflammation and damage.
Pancreatic beta cells: These are cells located in the pancreas that produce and release the hormone insulin. In Type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease, the immune system mistakenly destroys these beta cells.
Checkpoint inhibitors: A type of cancer immunotherapy that works by blocking "checkpoint" proteins on immune cells. These checkpoints normally prevent the immune system from being overly aggressive. By blocking them, these drugs "release the brakes" on the immune system, allowing it to better recognize and attack cancer cells.
CAR-T cells: Stands for Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell therapy. It is a cancer treatment where a patient's T-cells (a type of immune cell) are collected, genetically modified in a lab to produce special receptors (CARs), and then infused back into the patient. These engineered cells are then better able to find and kill cancer cells.