When it comes to identifying new gene therapies, she ’s in it for the long run

Like any experienced distance runner, Grace McAuley always keeps her focus on the finish line — even if it’s out of sight. That’s what makes her such a promising young scientist.In spring 2021, McAuley was a UCLA senior who was wrapping up four years on the Bruin track and cross-country teams. Not long after running her last race for UCLA, she joined the lab of Dr. Donald Kohn, a UCLA physician-scientist known for developing gene therapies for blood and immune disorders.“I kept telling Grace she was too busy to join the lab, but she wouldn’t take no for an answer,” says Kohn, a member of theEli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research.“She told me track season was over, and that she wanted to join the lab, work here for two years, and then apply to M.D.-Ph.D. programs. I like people who know their own minds so well, so I brought her on.”With no previous laboratory experience — “I actually didn’t even know how to pipette, one of the most basic skills there is,” she says — McAuley faced a steep learning curve. She logged long hours studying techniques and reading up on the latest research, determined to make herself an asset to scientists who had been immersed i n the field for years.McAuley soon found her stride. By the time she earned her bachelor ’s degree, just a few months after joining the lab, the decision to keep McAuley on was a no-brainer, Kohn says. As a research technician, her job would be to support the mo...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news