Interview Assessment #3

Oishika Das
Name of Person Interviewed: Dr. Kelli Palmer
Profession: Bioengineering Professor
Location and Business Name: UT Dallas
800 W Campbell Rd.
Richardson, TX 75080
Date of Interview: October 19, 2017
Time: 1:30 pm

After my interview with Dr. Bridgette Kirkpatrick, the professor at Collin College
specializing in antibiotic resistance, I had grown an interest in the topic itself. I found that many
potential biomedical engineering research ideas could stem from one of the biggest problems in
modern medicine: the fact that diseases can grow immune to it. So this year while selecting
interview candidates, from the University of Texas at Dallas, I sent an email to Dr. Kelli Palmer
who has expertise in the area. Dr. Kelli Palmer not only is a professor of the biology department,
but she is also part of the bioengineering department, officially connecting antibiotic resistance
to biomedical studies.
At the start of my interview, I met Dr. Palmer at the Biomedical and Science building,
where many of my past interviews took place. Dr. Palmer led me to her office in the biological
sciences wing. The biology wing had a similar lab area to the bioengineering wing, and I saw
many graduate students working on collaborative research. Others were situated around a
whiteboard and having a group think session in which students were each providing their own
ideas to a lab issue. I had been in many labs during my ISM experience, but I usually only
witnessed the individual aspect of lab work. I had been told that research requires skills of
collaboration which I could see exemplified at the biology labs.
At Dr. Palmer’s office, I asked her how she had gotten interested in the research field and
antibiotic resistance. I was quite surprised to learn that she had decided to major in chemistry for
her undergraduate studies and had planned to go into the medical field. This is the same plan that
I want to study under in college. However, she told me that for her personally, chemistry and a
medical pathway was not the right choice. Dr. Palmer had been told by her lab coordinator that
she didn’t seem to enjoy herself while conducting research. Dr. Palmer took this as a sign to drop
her major and pursue microbiology. Immediately, she felt a better fit to the new subject and
decided to work at an antibiotic resistance lab which she continued to pursue throughout
graduate school. I hope that I will feel a fit in being a chemistry major, but I know that changing
topics will not hinder my ability to be successful, as seen by Dr. Palmer’s experience.
Dr. Palmer then told me of her experience on working in the bioengineering and
antibiotic research fields for over thirty years. She had always known that she would want to be a
part of the academic side of research, so the individual aspects of her career did not change. She
always simultaneously taught students and conducted research. However, the longer she worked,
the less her job revolved around doing lab work. Currently, she mostly manages the research of
her students and lab helpers. I didn’t find this quality of becoming a research professor attractive
because I want my job to be primarily research-based throughout my career.
Dr. Palmer also gave me advice for going into a research-based field. She told me that I
need to set my priorities before joining a career. By this, she meant that I need to understand that
my work does not have precedence over my health or my family. Typical scientists and
researchers tend to be workaholics and forget to spend time with their loved ones. Dr. Palmer
then told me her personal experience in which she did not give enough attention to her parents
while she was at Harvard finishing her graduate research. Her parents had contracted cancer and
then it was too late for her to spend time with them. She told me I should make sure to show my
parents that I was grateful for their support and love, even when I am busy with college. I took
this advice seriously because getting overly invested with work is already a problem I struggle
with. Whether I go into the oncology or bioengineering field, I know that I will need to focus on
my family before my studies.
Next, I asked Dr. Palmer of her research on antibiotic resistance. She briefly explained
the basics to me before leading me to her lab. She told me that even though scientists are
contently developing means to fight off bacterial infections, bacteria reproduce so quickly that
some strains can encounter mutations that are resistant to the antibiotics. Dr. Palmer’s team is
working to observe different E.coli communities and what factors cause them to become resistant
easily. They can then use this knowledge to manufacture antibiotics that are more difficult for
bacteria to become resistant to. In the lab, I saw students preparing strains of bacteria for
experimental use. Dr. Palmer introduced me to one of her students. She told me that she had
previous experience with the ISM program and that she was a mentor a couple years ago. She
mentee had now become one of her graduate students and they worked on research together. This
was really inspiring for me to see because it showed me first-hand how the ISM program had
helped a previous student follow the correct career path for them.
All in all, my interview with Dr. Palmer reinforced my previous interest in antibiotics
resistance and presented me with advice on how to work in the research field in the future. I
learned that I need to feel a fit with my topic of choice in order to continue pursuing it and that I
need to keep my health and family before my work. I enjoyed talking with Dr. Palmer and hope
to have a second interview with her soon.