NEB Podcast #40 -
Transcript
Interviewers: Lydia Morrison, Marketing Communications Writer & Podcast Host, New England Biolabs, Inc.
Interviewees: Tilde Carlow, Scientific Director of Genome Biology, New England Biolabs, Inc.
Lydia Morrison:
Thanks for joining me for this episode of the New England Biolabs Podcast, Lessons from Lab and Life. This month, we'll be celebrating women's history month through a series of mini-episodes featuring NEB scientists. My first guest is Dr. Tilde Carlow, scientific director of genome biology at NEB. Tilde has dedicated her career to infectious disease research. Hi, Tilde. Thanks so much for being here with me today.
Dr. Tilde Carlow:
Well, thank you Lydia, for having me. It's a pleasure.
Lydia Morrison:
Yeah, I'm so excited that you could join us. It's exciting to have some of the female scientists from NEB be able to share their work with us and their passion for science and what work they feel is important. So sort of in that vein, what do you feel is your most important work?
Dr. Tilde Carlow:
So the focus of my research at NEB is infectious diseases, and one group of diseases in particular. These are the neglected tropical diseases, and these are diseases which have a huge impact on society yet they're really severely underfunded and not much work has actually been done there. So the work that we do here, which has been funded by NEB over several decades now, has really contributed to the overall understanding of these tropical diseases. And what I hope is that, through our publications, that we can help to raise awareness of the importance of these diseases and funding research in this area, and hopefully promoting other agencies to actually fund this type of research.
Lydia Morrison:
Are there particular diseases that you've worked on that hold a certain significance for you?
Dr. Tilde Carlow:
I would say that my work on filariasis, which is a group of diseases that are caused by parasitic nematode and transmitted by insects throughout the tropics. We focus on on two in particular, one, which is river blindness, where individuals basically lose their sight as a result of infection, and another group of diseases called lymphatic filariasis, or elephantiasis. These are the main focus of our work on the neglected tropical diseases. However, we do work on other infectious diseases. More recently, we've expanded our research to include work on tick-borne diseases, such as Lyme and other parasitic infections transmitted by ticks. And very recently, we've expanded to include work on SARS-CoV-2, and in particular, diagnostics.
Lydia Morrison:
Wow, that's incredible to hear. And especially, I feel like the tick borne illnesses are something that really affect us here in New England and have been becoming more prevalent over the last few years. I had several tick tests this year when I had a strange allergic reaction, so it's good to know that we're working on new tests and diagnostics that are more portable for people to be able to use to look for those infections. Where do you hope the research will be in the next five years?
Dr. Tilde Carlow:
So I hope that a lot of our work in diagnostics where we've actually developed many different tests for all of these different filaria diseases, as well as the tick born diseases, will actually be transferred and actually implemented in the countries that need them most. These are countries in Africa, South America, Latin America, where they really need some new tools to help control these infections.
Lydia Morrison:
What would it take for that to happen?
Dr. Tilde Carlow:
So I think more outreach. I think certainly more funding to enable people to actually implement these tests, as well as training. I feel it's really important to help in the training of people who are actually doing these tests in the tropics to learn how to do them well. And there's something that I very much enjoy, helping to implement by bringing people from these countries to NEB for training so they can actually go back and train others, so that the test will be adopted. And I hope that, in the long run, that these tests will be endorsed by the World Health Organization so that they will be used throughout the tropics.
Lydia Morrison:
Yeah, well, I hope that those hopes are able to come to fruition and those pieces come into place so that there are more diagnostics available in those areas. So since this is women's history month and we're currently celebrating female scientists at New England Biolabs, I wanted to ask you if there were any favorite female role models in science that you had that you wanted to share with a us.
Dr. Tilde Carlow:
Well, I think there's actually quite a few out there to choose from, but I think the one person that really influenced me a lot is Bridget Ogilvie. So Dr. Bridget Ogilvie is an Australian and British parasitologist whose research really focused on parasitic worms and understanding how the body reacts to these worms. And alongside the research that she has done, she's also been very active in promoting public engagement in science, and also in scientific leadership. So I think she was... I think most notable there was her term as the director of the Wellcome Trust in the UK. And in that role, she was... I think one of her most significant accomplishments was actually the establishment of the world renowned Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, which is a center for genetics and genomics research, and very much in the news today with even COVID, SARS-CoV-2 sequencing, and that was largely due to Bridget Ogilvie.
Dr. Tilde Carlow:
So I actually had the tremendous fortune to meet her while I was a PhD student in London and doing some work with people in her group. And she strongly encouraged me to continue working on parasites and to actually come to the US to expand my experiences there, and that's how I actually came to NEB as a postdoc many years ago, to continue working on these parasitic worms that affect people throughout the tropics.
Lydia Morrison:
That's great. And I think that's a really amazing story of how she really helped, not only mentor, but helped direct your career. So that's a really wonderful story. What advice would you offer young women who are considering pursuing a degree in a STEAM related field.
Dr. Tilde Carlow:
I would say to follow your passion, not to be afraid to do so, have confidence that you're more than capable of making an impact, and just believe in yourself and your capabilities and the value that you can actually bring to the table. Don't be afraid to be assertive and to find a mentor, because as I said with Dr. Bridget Ogilvie, she had really a profound influence in my career. And I would say that there are plenty of female role models around, and just reach out and learn more about the area that you're really interested in.
Lydia Morrison:
Thank you for sharing that with us, and thanks so much for taking the time out of your schedule to share with us your science and your inspirations. And we really appreciate having you here.
Dr. Tilde Carlow:
Well, thank you for having me again.
Lydia Morrison:
Thanks for listening to this special episode of the NEB podcast. Please catch the next episode to hear from another talented woman and NEB scientist.
