As one who was not raised in a scientific background, Pearl Quijada is living proof that the science community benefits when taking a chance on those who exhibit great passion for the field. Pearl is a postdoctoral research fellow in the lab of Eric Small at the University of Rochester Medical Center—Cardiovascular Research Institute. She earned her BS in Biology at the University of California, Riverside. Pearl then achieved her MS in Cell and Molecular Biology at San Diego State University, before attending the Joint Doctoral Program at both San Diego State University and the University of California, San Diego for her PhD. Most recently, she has won the 2016 BCVS Abstract Travel Award.1 I moved across the country to attend the University of Rochester, and I joined the lab of Dr Eric Small. He had a strong background in the role of epicardium during development, and he was also interested in studying its role in cardiac injury, similar to what I had studied back in California. We are investigating how epicardium—the layer around the heart that nurtures progenitor cells—plays a role during cardiac repair.2 Novel molecular markers may help us to develop new models and study heart regeneration more effectively. I like that I am taking a step back to understand more about the basic biology of progenitor cells in the heart. Some people think these cells are insignificant, that they are already well known in certain tissues, but I am applying new technology to validate that they can be beneficial in cardiac repair. My teaching assistants at University of California, Riverside were always so excited in their discussions about helping people, doing field work, and collecting specimens. They seemed stoked, and I thought “I want to do that.” Right after college, I thought about getting a …

中文翻译：

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珍珠基哈达

作为一个没有科学背景的人，Pearl Quijada就是一个活生生的证据，表明科学界如果对那些对该领域表现出极大热情的人进行冒险，就会从中受益。Pearl是罗切斯特大学医学中心心血管研究所Eric Small实验室的博士后研究员。她获得了加州大学里弗赛德分校的生物学学士学位。Pearl随后在圣地亚哥州立大学获得了细胞和分子生物学硕士学位，然后参加了圣地亚哥州立大学和加利福尼亚大学圣地亚哥分校的联合博士学位课程。最近，她获得了2016年BCVS抽象旅行奖。1我移居全国各地，就读罗切斯特大学，并加入了Eric Small博士的实验室。他在心外膜在发育过程中的作用具有很深的背景，并且他对研究心外膜在心脏损伤中的作用也很感兴趣，类似于我在加利福尼亚研究过的情况。我们正在研究心外膜（在心脏周围滋养祖细胞的层）如何在心脏修复过程中发挥作用。2新型分子标记可能有助于我们开发新模型并更有效地研究心脏再生。我喜欢回退一步，以了解更多关于心脏祖细胞的基本生物学信息。有人认为这些细胞微不足道，它们已经在某些组织中广为人知，但我正在应用新技术来验证它们对心脏修复有益。我在加州大学的助教 里弗赛德（Riverside）总是在关于帮助人们，进行野外工作和收集标本的讨论中感到非常兴奋。他们似乎很激动，我以为“我想这样做。” 大学毕业后，我想到了...