BY PETER J. BRENNAN, Orange County Business Journal

Patrick Johnson says his medical device company’s product to reduce wrinkles through low-level light therapy has three distinct advantages over aesthetics industry competitors that supply neurotoxins like Botox. “It’s nontoxic, noninvasive, natural—we’re just reminding the body how to heal itself,” Johnson, co-founder and chief executive of Tustin-based BioPhotas Inc., told the Business Journal during a tour of the company’s new facility. “It takes a little longer to see results as opposed to a neurotoxin, but you got the results naturally. The skin doesn’t become rigid.”

BioPhotas, which he founded along with Kathleen Buchanan in 2011, is gaining traction, with sales to consumers and medical professionals approaching $25 million annually and nearing 50 employees.

The company on June 19 is inaugurating its new headquarters on Red Hill Avenue in Tustin. Its 25,000-square-foot facility, which is on a five-year lease, is at an office complex that sits across the street from the Tustin Legacy development. The new facility is double the size of its prior facility in Anaheim’s Platinum Triangle.

The reason for the move is simple.

“It’s the growth that we’ve been experiencing and the growth that we’re planning,” he said. “We bit off more than we can chew when we picked this facility. We think we can triple our size in this facility.”

Like Hydration

Johnson has a deep background in medical devices, having worked as CEO of Pro-Dex Inc., a maker of powered surgical products, and as divisional general manager at Sybron Dental Specialties, a one-stop shop for endodontists.

He was initially skeptical about light therapy, which was developed at NASA (see story, this page).

Before Johnson began the company, he did a three-month deep dive into the industry, becoming impressed with the clinical research done at some of the world’s most prestigious research centers. The company’s worked with wound healing researchers at UCI Beckman Laser Institute & Medical Clinic, among others.

“Light therapy is the functional equivalent of hydration. It’s good for everything,” Johnson said. “As we age, our bodies lose the ability to heal themselves the way they were originally designed. The fundamental benefit of light therapy is getting the body back to repairing itself the way it was originally designed.”

He also found why other companies failed at this new technology.

“It seemed the people who tried to commercialize this technology came and went very quickly,” he said. “My diagnosis was they were trying to be cosmetic companies. They weren’t trying to be high road medical device companies. That’s the approach we took. We’re going to do the heavy regulatory lifting to bring products to market.”

BioPhotas also went through Octane’s Launchpad accelerator for business and life sciences companies.

Orthopedics Background

Because of Johnson’s background in orthopedics, he knew how the industry employed bendable thermal devices to manage pain and accelerate healing. When he started BioPhotas, he saw competitors use rigid flat panels that hung over the patients.

“Intuitively, it struck me that if you could wrap the area of treatment, it would be more effective,” he said. “The key differentiator to our product is that it’s flexible in the area of treatment.”

He was able to reduce the costs from as much as $15,000 charged by competitors down to $1,200 by using fewer lights and less energy.

“If you can get light emissions closer to the skin, the light doesn’t have to be as powerful. By decreasing the power of the device, you take a lot of cost out of it.”

Celluma

Nowadays, BioPhotas’ key product line, called Celluma, has received Food and Drug Administration approval to treat acne, wrinkles, arthritis and muscle and joint aches.

Celluma delivers a combination of blue, red and near-infrared light energy that can switch its technology to treat specific conditions at various layers in the skin.

The company’s website lists Celluma products ranging from $299 to treat skin conditions, to $1,645 for its flagship product to remove wrinkles, to $15,000 for a full body case.

Johnson says hair restoration will become a bigger part of the company’s business, noting that besides men becoming balder, about 40% of women over 40 report hair loss.

For now, aesthetics such as removing wrinkles or acne is the key growth driver.

“People want to retain a youthful look and light therapy is really good for that,” he said. “The beauty market has huge growth drivers, even in a down economy.”

The light therapy isn’t the same as sitting in the sun because it doesn’t have UV lights, Johnson said.

Debt-Free, Profitable

The company, which was initially funded by high-net-worth individuals, is debt-free and has been profitable for the past five years, he said.

“As an operator, your job is to make money. When we founded BioPhotas, I brought that approach to it. It wasn’t about building sales as quickly as possible and losing a lot of money that some subsequent round of investors would have to pay for it,” Johnson said.

“I see this company as my professional dissertation. Throughout my professional career, I always made notes to myself about when I own my own company, it’s going to be different. To a great degree, BioPhotas is the company that I always wanted to work for.”

The ‘Hyper-Aging’ Effects of Space Travel

BioPhotas Inc.’s principal product, Celluma, got a development push thanks to NASA.

The U.S. space agency, which was worried about the effect of gravity on astronauts during long-term space missions, developed light emitting diode therapy and in 2000, it issued a press release discussing the “healing power of light.”

“Using powerful light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, originally designed for commercial plant growth research in space, scientists have found a way to help patients here on Earth,” NASA said.

In 2015, NASA conducted a double-blind study on Scott Kelly, who was in space for a year, and his twin brother Mark Kelly, also an astronaut who spent the year on Earth mimicking exercises by his brother.

“Scott came back significantly more aged and, in less health, than Mark who stayed on Earth,” BioPhotas CEO Patrick Johnson said.

“NASA was looking for a way to counteract that effect on deep space exploration, particularly when you’re thinking of sending astronauts to Mars, where the fast track is a couple of years,” he said. “There are a whole bunch of implications on retaining good cellular functions here on Earth.

“It turns out that cellular functions rely on gravity. In the absence of that gravity, bad things start to happen,” Johnson said. “Essentially the body enters a state of hyper aging.”

Click here to read the Orange County Business Journal article.

Wilder-Smith celebrates ACES program mentee’s dental school graduation

On Saturday, May 20, Morgan Josey, who participated in UCI Beckman Laser Institute & Medical Clinic’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Access to Careers in Engineering and Sciences (ACES) undergraduate summer training program, graduated from the Meharry Medical College School of Dentistry.  During the summer of 2018, Morgan participated in the ACES program as a junior studying Biology at Albany State University.

As Morgan’s mentor while in the ACES program, Dr. Petra Wilder-Smith, the Institute’s director of Dentistry and professor of Medicine, traveled over 2,000 miles from Orange County, California to Nashville, Tennessee to watch Morgan cross The Grand Ole Opry House Auditorium’s stage with her dental degree.

“I was delighted to participate in this important day celebrating Morgan’s graduation,” said Dr. Wilder-Smith, “During Morgan’s time as a summer student researcher at UCI, she channeled her insatiable curiosity and considerable talents into a project to improve oral cancer screening participation in local underserved individuals attending community clinics.”

“With her warm personality and friendly smile, Morgan was able to build bridges with many of the patients, helping them to overcome their fear of clinics and to undergo oral cancer screenings – often for the first time,” continued Dr. Wilder-Smith, “Morgan was awarded a research award for this work, which she presented at a national conference.”

Morgan continued to grow and develop her clinical skills as a dental student at Meharry Medical College.  She exemplified the mission of the school to improve the health and health care of minority and underserved communities, placing special emphasis on providing opportunities to people of color and individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds, regardless of race or ethnicity; delivering high quality health services and conducting research that fosters the elimination of health disparities.

“I am certain that Morgan will be a positive force in the lives of her dental patients, and I know that her integrity, dedication and care for all will serve as an inspiration to us all.”

Click here to learn more about the Institute’s HBCU ACES summer undergraduate training program.

Optical fibers deliver laser light that helps image the severity of arteriosclerosis, break apart plaques with ablation, and heal damaged tissue after surgery.

Douglas Farmer, Senior Editor, Photonics.com

Patients with heart disease often face a daunting journey from diagnosis to treatment. They may learn, after experiencing chest pains or shortness of breath, that they have arteriosclerosis, or damaged arteries, through a test such as a coronary angiogram, which shows via x-rays whether blood vessels are restricted. In extreme cases, coronary artery bypass surgery is performed, which is a highly invasive procedure with a lengthy recovery time. But due to the specificity made possible by laser-based techniques, shorter and more effective diagnostics and therapeutics are becoming increasingly viable in clinical settings.

Heart disease has long been the leading cause of death in the U.S., costing 697,000 men and women their lives in 2020, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The most common form of heart disease is coronary artery disease, which is the result of plaque buildup — composed of cholesterol and other deposits — that narrows the arteries over time, restricting blood flow to the heart. Approximately 382,820 U.S. citizens died from coronary artery disease in 2020, and millions more were afflicted with the condition, the CDC reported.

The American Heart Association attributes these alarming statistics to a number of health and lifestyle behaviors: Smoking, sedentary living, and a poor diet lead to high blood pressure and elevated glucose and cholesterol. To make matters worse, many of these behaviors have only risen among people who have limited access to medical care.

This depressing reality has galvanized the expansion of solutions in laser-based cardiology research at numerous institutions, as well as inspired innovation at companies whose systems have been applied in experiments that go beyond traditional protocols, such as the administration of pharmaceuticals. Lasers were employed to destroy arterial plaques at the Oregon Medical Laser Center in the 1990s. Since then, the advancement of endoscopic imaging and catheterization of surgical tools has improved the precision of laser delivery, as optical coherence tomography (OCT) and other imaging modalities have guided the treatment to the source of the problem. This trend accelerated with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s clearance of the cardiovascular technology produced by Ra Medical in 2017, through which laser therapy could be delivered through a liquid core catheter. This has continued with recent research regarding the use of excimer laser coronary angioplasty, which uses lasers to create a vapor bubble that breaks up plaques. Researchers at the University of Kansas, Washington University at St. Louis, and elsewhere believe that, in time, this could create a fundamental change in clinical protocols for the treatment of atherosclerosis.

The utility of mid-IR lasers

The need to identify and treat arterial plaques has affected the types of lasers that have found their way into the commercial market. Several companies, such as DRS Daylight Solutions, develop quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) that take aim at plaques and other markers of cardiovascular health. The lasers were first developed in 1994 and function at wavelengths in the mid-IR range, between 2500 and 25,000 nm. In this range, lasers provide coherent and polarized light in continuous-wave or pulsed form, with the advantage of spectral repeatability, and they are aligned to capture the chemical fingerprint of specific molecules, such as glucose, proteins, and lipids.

“It really depends on how you want to use the QCL,” said Jason Sorger, a senior field service engineer with DRS Daylight. “For example, lasers in this range have been shown to be effective in the identification of atherosclerosis with photoacoustic microscopy, and you need really high-quality laser light for that application.”

In a recently published study, a pulsed quantum cascade laser, the MIRcat from DRS Daylight, was used in mid-IR optoacoustic microscopy. Laser pulses are absorbed into tissue, which causes thermal expansion and the release of ultrasonic waves that reveal structural details. This effect helps determine the composition of plaques in human carotid artery samples, which includes cholesterol, carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins (Figure 1). In a system used for this experiment, the quantum cascade laser provided the optoacoustic signal, which was detected by a 20-MHz ultrasound transducer that receives the echoes created, and the results were digitized using data-acquisition software¹.

For this type of analysis to be practical in a clinical setting, according to Sorger, the lasers must provide spectral repeatability, or hit the desired spectral range every time a reading is sought, which requires precise tuning. Tunable mid-IR lasers are useful in glucose monitoring, capturing the specific spectral details at a depth of up to 100 µm in a complex mixture of biomolecules after being integrated into a noninvasive glucometer that is attached to the skin². Elevated levels of glucose can result not only in diabetes but also in cardiovascular disease.

While quantum cascade lasers provided by companies such as DRS Daylight have found a niche in research applications, to proliferate in medical diagnostics, they will need very high throughput, meaning the capture of reliable data at speeds necessary for swift medical diagnosis. Companies such as DRS are devising various ways to package the lasers for integration into common medical devices, Sorger said.

“It’s difficult to have high quality at high speed,” he said. “It is essential to have even power distribution and good illumination sources so you get better data that can be reproduced reliably each time the laser is fired.”

Lasers aimed at plaque buildup

Historically, doctors have used balloon angioplasty and implanted stents to treat blood vessels that are narrowed by plaque buildup. In most percutaneous coronary interventions, a wire is guided through an artery past the blockage point and a tiny balloon attached to a catheter is inflated to widen the artery opening to allow increased blood flow to the heart. A stent is then put in place to keep the vessel functional by holding it open. This procedure, while it can be effective, is not without limitations, and complications may eventually result.

“Over time, the stent can narrow, and scar tissue forms,” said Marc Sintek, an interventional cardiologist and associate professor of medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. “The composition of plaque buildup and scar tissue in the stent is complicated, but the laser can get past that structure by breaking up that hardened material.”

In excimer laser coronary angioplasty (ELCA), the plaque material absorbs fiber laser pulses that last only nanoseconds in the UV range, which provides the photons with the energy to break apart the molecular bonds. Water is then vaporized, creating a bubble that causes additional ruptures in the plaques. Equipment for ECLA is manufactured by Philips, and the system contains a unit that generates the laser beam that is delivered through a set of catheters of various sizes, containing numerous fibers surrounding a guidewire.

Two years ago, a study was conducted to determine the safety of ELCA using procedures that were reported to the National Cardiovascular Data Registry (NCDR) and the CathPCI Registry (the percutaneous coronary intervention registry) between 2009 and 2018. The risk of complications, such as perforation, remained low for treatments such as using ECLA to treat in-stent restenosis, or the gradual narrowing of the vessel after a stent is in place. In the case of chronic total occlusions, the risk was higher than average. According to Sintek, the higher risk was partially attributable to the compromised health of patients suffering from chronic total occlusions. The study authors acknowledged that ELCA should therefore be administered carefully on a case-by-case basis³.

Sintek partially attributed the low use of ELCA by medical professionals to the expense and complication of installing the laser system in a clinical setting. He said initial uses of the technology required a 240-V receptacle.

“But our current system can plug into any outlet,” Sintek said. “There are a number of procedures a cardiologist can use, but I look at it like a carpenter with a toolbox and having every tool available. Today, the hot topic is precision medicine, and lasers are enabling that precision in treating coronary artery disease.”

Honing the catheter method

A team of researchers from the Beckman Laser Institute and Medical Clinic at the University of California, Irvine, in collaboration with University of Texas Health, has been developing a catheter-based system to deliver a laser-induced shockwave to break up calcification in arteries. The system combines optical fibers that deliver 755-nm alexandrite laser pulses with a fluid-filled balloon that expands to about 2 mm to make contact with the arterial wall through a guided catheter. Various pulse durations were used in coronary artery phantoms to effectively fracture the calcium deposits.

“The balloon, in this case, is merely the conduit for the pressure waves to the area that is being treated,” said Nitesh Katta, a postdoctoral researcher at the Beckman Laser Institute. “It clears an acoustic path for the laser to induce fractures, breaking up the calcium deposits.”

The technology is called intravascular laser lithotripsy, and it is rooted in transferring laser energy to pressure waves involving light as opposed to electricity. The system can be guided using OCT, and it is generally used when the vascular network is partially occluded or blocked.

“The ultimate goal is to reestablish compliance in the artery and do it without a stent,” Katta said. Compliance refers to improving the arterial mechanical performance as it relates to improving blood flow to a particular part of the network. Alternative methods include rotational atherectomy, in which a rotating burr is sent through the artery, or electric discharge plasma mediated shockwave therapy, which uses electrical pulses to generate shockwaves that create cracks in calcium deposits. But the latter treatment must be used sparingly because it runs the risk of disrupting the cardiac rhythm.

The term laser lithotripsy is derived from its common use in urology to break up kidney stones. And with the integration of industrial thulium fiber lasers (either femtosecond or picosecond), its utility has expanded to include potential applications in cardiology (Figure 2). Katta was awarded a research grant from the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery for this work, which began with the use of a preclinical animal model.

The group has also been exploring the utility of lasers for cutting through chronic total occlusion, which often has a cap of calcified material with softer lipids underneath. Traditional treatments include pharmacological treatments and coronary artery bypass, but the former does not treat the underlying causes of blockage and the latter is highly invasive.

In response, the UC Irvine group, in collaboration with University of Texas Health, constructed a catheter system, which was also guided by OCT and that contained a fiber-coupled holmium laser that fired 200-µs pules (see first image in article). The laser worked alongside a 200-µm conduit that fed CO2 via a pump mechanism for cooling. An IR camera was used to image the laser-irradiated region. This technique worked in a series of ex vivo samples, as well as in an in vivo rabbit femoral model. According to the team, the technique could be improved by limiting the volume of CO₂, or through the use of chilled saline needled through a valve at the catheter tip, which could be guided by advanced imaging techniques for improved maneuverability.

“Occlusion typically occurs in ‘bends’ of the arteries, so it’s important we have maximum flexibility in the tip,” Katta said. “We are looking at the use of photoacoustic imaging and other techniques to guide the procedure.”

Sealing the deal

The role of lasers in both diagnosis and treatment can be integrated with other photonic technologies, such as in the sealing of blood vessels following surgeries to treat cardiovascular disease. A team at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC), for example, has developed a system that uses an IR laser to seal blood vessels, and it subsequently uses UV light to monitor the fluorescence that displays whether the seal has taken.

The UNCC researchers simulated a potential future medical protocol by utilizing a 1470-nm diode laser to cut and seal blood vessel models at power levels of <25, ~100, and 200 W. Beam profiles and seal zones were carefully analyzed along with blood pressure. The 1470-nm wavelength is ideal because it parallels the wavelength absorption of water, which compressed blood vessels mostly consist of. Sealing procedures have historically been accomplished with radiofrequency and ultrasonic devices, but the laparoscopic device jaws need time to cool between applications. Experiments performed with porcine blood vessels have shown the IR laser to be an effective tool⁴.

The group has also designed a transparent quartz laparoscopic jaw with a side-firing 110-W, 1470-nm fiber laser attached to a servo motor. A thermal camera and micro-thermocouples were used to monitor temperature changes in the tissue while laser sealing was tested on 20 ex vivo vessel samples through 550-µm core fibers. An LED was used with fibers connected to a spectrometer with a long-pass filter to establish the presence of fluorescence that was indicative of a proper seal⁵.

Nathaniel Fried, a UNCC professor in the Department of Physics and Optical Science, directed the research. Successful seals were accomplished at 30 W for 5 s with the 1470-nm laser, and shorter seals of 1 s at higher powers have been previously demonstrated as well, he said.

The researchers said they will focus future efforts on producing a handheld device for sealing and cutting in animal models.

“For next steps, we would like to integrate the optical feedback systems, diffuse optical transmission and/or fluorescence, into a standard 5-mm-OD, Maryland-style, laparoscopic jaw,” Fried said. “We would also like to create a fully automated system, with closed-loop feedback to immediately deactivate the laser once we have achieved a successful seal.”

References

1. M. Visscher et al. (2022). Label-free analytic histology of carotid atherosclerosis by mid-infrared optoacoustic microscopy. Photoacoustics, Vol. 26, No. 100354.

2. T. Lubinski et al. (2021). Evaluation of a novel invasive blood glucose monitor based on mid-infrared quantum cascade laser technology and photothermal detection. J Diabetes Sci Technol, Vol. 15, No. 1, pp. 6-10.

3. M. Sintek et al. (2021). Excimer laser coronary angioplasty in coronary lesions: use and safety from the NCDR/CATH PCI Registry. Circ Cardiovasc Interventions, Vol. 14, No. 7, p. e010061.

4. N. Giglio and N. Fried. (2021). Sealing and bisection of blood vessels using a 1470 nm laser: optical, thermal, and tissue damage simulations. Proc SPIE, Vol. 11621.

5. N. Giglio et al. (2022). Reciprocating side-firing fiber for laser sealing of blood vessels. Proc SPIE, Vol. 11936.

Microlasers Target Heart Cells During Contraction

While high-speed imaging methods to capture the beating heart are readily available, measuring contractions deep within scattering cardiac tissue is still a huge challenge. A spectroscopic technique developed at the University of Cologne is changing that.

Researchers have applied whispering gallery mode (WGM) micro- and nanolasers to interact with live cardiac cells, which they found provide accurate spatial and temporal information about heart dynamics during the process of contraction (see figure). The basic principle behind WGM lasers is that when energy is pumped into a tiny sphere, the resulting emission pulse gains strength, similar to how audio waves move in a dome. The lasers have the capacity to detect minute changes of cardiomyocytes, the cells responsible for the heart contraction. This capacity has the potential to advance the research and therapy of heart defects.

The team used this approach in zebrafish embryos and in thick living mouse cardiac slices, said Marcel Schubert, a professor for biointegrated photonics. In the researchers’ experiments, 15-µm spherical microlasers were placed in contact with the contractile fibrils of the zebra-fish heart. According to Schubert, each laser pulse captured a fast snapshot of the cell in the contractility cycle. Performing hundreds of these measurements per second allowed for the reconstruction of a contraction curve.

“We are measuring very small shifts in the microlaser emission wavelength, which we analyze with an optical model to extract physical information about the lasers and about the cell,” Schubert said.

The team is excited about what the future of their research will uncover, he said.

“There are different directions we would like to follow. One is a more fundamental look into the contractile properties of individual cells, which we can measure localized with very high precision. The other is the further application of WGM lasers in large and optically thick cardiac tissue and even entire organs,” Schubert said.

Click here to read full article on Photonics.com.

Chief technology officer and co-founder, Lumitron

UC Irvine professor Chris Barty has built a pioneering laser X-ray unlike any in the world – capable of producing images 1,000 times sharper than conventional X-rays while performing radiation therapy with 100 times less radiation. The Stanford grad, who has secured more than $34 million in funding, says the machine will revolutionize radiotherapy. 

 IN THE NEWS: In February, Barty’s machine successfully produced a train of 100 consecutive, high-charge and perfectly timed micro-bunches of electrons at 99.9% of the speed of light. 

 IN HIS WORDS: “This ultrashort duration and high energy has the potential to dramatically reduce the side effects of conventional radiation therapy.”

Click here to read the Irvine Standard May 2023 issue.

Sydney Williams, UCSF graduate student, shares her undergraduate summer program experience in UC Irvine Beckman Laser Institute & Medical Clinic’s Access to Careers in Engineering and Sciences (ACES) program and what it means to be a Black woman in science

I noticed you’re wearing a UC Irvine sweatshirt.

I still represent my summer institution. I bought it during my first summer at UC Irvine and it’s still holding on.

How did you hear about ACES?

My friend Lauryn was an ACES alum and recommended that I apply. At the time, I was a freshman and didn’t think I’d be accepted.

My entire life, I thought I would go to medical school and hadn’t considered doing research or pursuing grad school. As a first-generation college student and in my community, we [African Americans] aren’t typically exposed to science.

What led you to think that you wanted to be an M.D.?

Science was always my thing. Growing up, I loved studying the body – anatomy and physiology. I studied a book of the systems of the body.

Then, I got hurt playing basketball. When I went to rehab, I thought about becoming a physician, specializing in sports medicine or becoming a physical therapist. I didn’t have the best impression about the benefits of having a Ph.D. It wasn’t until I had research experience. Before that, I was purely chasing opportunity.

The summer before my senior year, I realized that I hadn’t set myself up for success in applying to medical school. That’s when I started thinking about grad school. I had to do my own research on what it actually meant to do research. Only then, did I consider other potential paths.

Then, COVID hit, which changed my course. Within the fall of my senior year, I became serious about Ph.D. programs.

Institute Associate Director and Project Scientist Dr. Sari Mahon suggested that I connect with her daughter who worked in industry. That’s when I truly understood what doing research meant and the various pathways to industry. With a Ph.D., there was much more to offer, than what I originally thought.

Next thing you know, I was writing applications, scheduling interviews and was on the first plane to California.

What did you think about the ACES program? What research did you do?

ACES was my gateway to graduate school. It really opened my eyes to all things research.

My first project was in the Berns lab at the Institute under Dr. Nicole Wakida and the late Institute Founding Director Dr. Michael Berns, who I loved. We worked on the activation and function of microglia, immune cells of brain that respond central nervous system that repair the brain after infection and traumatic injuries. At the time, astrocytes were becoming a hot topic in neuroscience.

My second project was under UC Irvine Professor of Pulmonology Dr. Matt Brenner and Dr. Mahon, studying cyanide poisoning. I worked in chemistry and biology. I learned how to do infusions and other techniques, like which spectrophotometer to use and practicing dilution techniques.

I was also playing with engineering. I created a device that made it easy to read cyanide poisoning in blood. The project spearheaded my interest in drugs and toxins. It led me to the Pharmaceutical Sciences program that I’m in now. It was really fun presenting the project. To this day, I still
have the poster.

Tell me a little bit about the program. What aspects of ACES did you like?

The support from the Principal Investigators (PIs) and the Engineers was awesome. I appreciated gaining real life experience. You had to be in the lab, dedicated to the project to get results.

I also enjoyed meeting other people. With the program dedicated to HBCUs, these type of HBCU programs are few and far between in comparison to the majority of universities in the nation. To find a group of Black scientists interested in doing something that was unheard of, or not known, was really cool.

I still talk to a lot of the students I met. They’re all doing phenomenal things. It’s really cool to see these brilliant minds – people who look just like me. ACES brought us together and created a phenomenal community.

Did you feel supported while in ACES?

I still talk to Dr. Mahon and former UC Irvine Assistant Dean of the Office of Access and Inclusion Dr. Sharnnia Artis. They made sure that I was good – on a personal note and academically. They asked if I there was anything that I needed and if I had any questions.

It was an awesome introduction to what I’m doing now. Without the program, I don’t think I would have seriously considered graduate school.

What are you doing now? What research are you doing?

I feel like I stumbled into my Ph.D. program. Unlike most people, when I joined the program, I didn’t have a research interest in mind.

Now, I’m a rising second-year in the Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacogenomics program at UC San Francisco (UCSF). I joined the Lakkaraju lab, studying age related macular degeneration (AMD).

We’re studying the molecular mechanisms behind the causes of AMD and repurposing common drugs known to either restore or at least halt the progression of AMD. This is all in the hopes of restoring sudden vision loss.

I chose the Lakkaraju lab based on the mentorship opportunity. The bonus was that the field is very niche. We don’t have a lot of answers and it’s not a saturated market.

Being novel, leaves ample space to study and figure out answers to questions that we haven’t even considered. I think most people don’t even know what AMD is, but it’s so common. I’m excited to see what I can do.

What does your community at home think about you being in the Ph.D. program? Your family? Your professors at Hampton University?

My Hampton family was thrilled – they were extremely excited. My Ronald McNair Scholars program family at Hampton encouraged me to pursue the summer research opportunity at UC Irvine in the first place. They think UCSF is a great school and can’t believe I’m on the West Coast.

My immediate family – they’re super excited. Every other time we talk, I break down what I’m working on.

From observing ACES seminars, it seems like the program teaches students not only how to be a scientist, but also how to translate research into layman’s terms. Was this valuable?

It is much bigger skill set than people realize. It is very underrated. It’s extremely hard to remove the jargon and translate research. You have to break down the science – plain and simple.

The ACES symposiums, introducing how to present at conferences, definitely helped. Before ACES, I didn’t realize how people were explaining their research.

I feel like science communication is the one barrier between people who don’t know about science and people who do. I would love to bridge that gap.

I’ve already spent several summers coming home, sharing my posters with my family. I hope to use the training that I’ve had in ACES and in the Ph.D. program to communicate better. I’m going to spend the next four years practicing. That’s the plan.

It sounds like mentorship was something that you gained from ACES. How are important are these connections?

I want to maintain connections with people from the past – like those at UC Irvine.

Now, I work with students in high school and undergrad programs that are helping Black and Brown students. I see value in mentoring, since those who mentored me are the whole reason why I’m in grad school.

During my first year, my main focus was building connections and networking. I was not only getting acclimated to classes, but I was also talking to PIs. I want to talk to people in different career fields – authors in science communication, consultants on TV shows or those in the pharma and biotech industries. That’s where my trajectory is now.

It seems like you’re doing all the right things to lead you to where you want to be. How is your first year in grad school going?

I would not trade my first year for anything. The first year is typically very difficult. The support and preparation that I received in ACES and at Hampton helped me join the communities that I’m now a part of.

I was a sheltered child from Charlotte, North Carolina without much experience outside Charlotte. These past experiences helped me feel comfortable being me, while also learning new things.

I’ve met new people. I’ve eaten new food. I’m stepping out of my comfort zone – intentionally trying to build a community. I’ve enjoyed the accumulation of these experiences because they’ve taught me to be intentional about what I want.

There’s so much growth to be had in a Ph.D. program. My goal is to grow as a person. Over time and after my dissertation, I’ll figure out where I’ll land.

Would you recommend ACES to others?

Absolutely – I’ve shared with many others. From someone who was never exposed to science prior, ACES is extremely important. ACES provides the opportunity to get your feet wet and even swim a little bit. That’s the fun part.

You get to see what you don’t know. Everything feels new – the symposiums, the people, the scientific jargon. The program allows you to explore without being overwhelmed. It’s extremely important for anyone who’s interested in science – even if only slightly interested.

What has it meant being a Black woman in science?

To be a black woman in science is huge. I’m still learning about the impact because I’m still new to what it means. It’s pretty revolutionary because there’s a lot of science that gets swept under the rug or ignored because it doesn’t talk to the majority.

Being present in these spaces and making my presence felt is important. I want others to know I’m here. I want my voice to be heard in these research experiences.

It’s a challenge because I’m triple minority. I’m a Black, queer woman in science. I have a lot of populations to represent. I’m going to make sure that we’re represented. I’m going make my mark regardless.

I’m happy to have a community. Through B-STEM, our Black excellence in STEM group, and some of our other extracurricular groups, I don’t feel like I’m by myself. It’s a journey.

As a university, what can we do better to help support students?

I think continuing the bridge to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) is extremely important.

Continuing to cultivate an environment of inclusivity is huge. It’s not just about having a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) panel or having a DEI event. I already know what it’s like to be Black or Brown. I’ve lived it my entire life. What I do need is for people to show up and not just be figureheads – to put action behind it and make sure that there are spaces, where we feel supported.

If there’s prejudice or discriminative acts, we need to make sure that someone’s there to stick up for us. I think the little things go a long way, like being open to learning about the boundaries that have been set or the stigmas that had been implied for years.

I think a lot of people believe that science is free from all of those stigmas and that it is objective, which couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s important for people to learn and be willing to continue to learn. Otherwise, there won’t be much change.

I’m blessed to say that I’ve had this opportunity, but I know that not everyone does. There definitely needs to be improvement – there needs to be change.