TL1 Jessica Herstine Presents at the Schnaper Visiting Scientist 2022 Fall TL1 Mini-Symposium

On December 13, 2022, CCTS TL1 Trainee Jessica Herstine was one of nine TL1 scholars from across the country who presented their work at the William Schnaper Visiting Scientist 2022 Fall TL1 Minisymposium. 

Jessica is a PhD candidate in Molecular Cellular Developmental Biology working in the laboratory of Dr. Allison

Bradbury at Nationwide Children's Hospital. Jessica studies Vanishing White Matter disease (VWM). VWM is a progressive white matter disorder that most commonly occurs in children and which eventually leads to premature death. Currently, there are no treatments or cures for VWM. Jessica is working on gene therapy to treat the disease. 

The theme of the symposium was Circumventing Road Blocks in Clinical and Translational Science. Jessica's presentation was entitled "Overcoming the therapeutic challenges of Vanishing White Matter disease with a novel targeted gene replacement." She focused on early tests of the delivery mechanism for the gene therapy and the challenges posed by the large size of the molecules involved. 

Jessica admitted that she was a little nervous when she learned she was selected to speak at the symposium. "I have never presented data like this before, let alone being awarded the top abstract, and it being a national audience."

However, she should not have been worried. "Everyone I worked with to prepare and practice made me feel confident in my skills to convey our research," Jessica said. Participation in the William Schnaper Visiting Scientist program proved to be a good experience. "Being able to present my preclinical data to an audience that has a wide diversity of backgrounds in clinical and translational science thoroughly challenged and strengthened my communication skills," she said.

There will be more programs in the Schnaper Visiting Scientist program in the new year and we hope to hear from more CCTS TL1 trainees.