2022 ASAPbio Fellows

What are you excited about in science communication?

I believe that communicating science is like interacting with different ideas and thoughts which further leads to open and transparent science to the broader audience in the society.

Why did you choose to participate in the ASAPbio Fellows program?

ASAPbio is a community-based platform for those are dedicated to promoting preprints in order to bring transparency in scientific research, I previously served this community as an ambassador. I believe that through this Fellows program, I will be involved more actively and effectively to support ethical and transparent science with other Fellow members around the globe who have the same passion in science communication.

Ask me about…

Photography, traveling and indeed tea.

Why did you choose to participate in the ASAPbio Fellows program?

I am very new to the preprint community, so I am looking forward to learning about how preprints work.

What are you excited about in science communication?

Science communication within academia and for the public is very complex, so there are many potential topics to study.

Why did you choose to participate in the ASAPbio Fellows program?

One of my research projects is studying preprint retractions, which became very relevant in light of the role of preprints during the pandemic. I am happy to participate in the ASAPbio Fellows program, because it is the best place to find the community interested in preprints and to gain feedback and support for my project.

Ask me about...

In my free time I enjoy hiking and photography.

What are you excited about in science communication?

As an aspiring scientist, I am excited about science communication as I am eager to learn how to communicate lab research to a broader audience. I firmly believe in today’s time of well-connected cross-continent collaborations it is necessary to promote the benefits of open transparent scientific review and timely communications of scientific findings.

Why did you choose to participate in the ASAPbio Fellows program?

I enthusiastically applied for the ASAPbio Fellows program as I am keen to be a part of outreach initiatives that encourage preprint acceptance among the broader audience that has varying levels of expertise in the science.

Ask me about… 

I enjoy experimenting in the kitchen with different cuisines and exploring nature parks around Indiana.

What are you excited about in science communication?

I am convinced that the current situation in academia is wasteful with authors and reviewers’ time, much of the talent we have and resources we must allocate on unneeded experiments. That is bad for society and the planet. I think preprint publishing is an important means to ameliorate the situation and would like to advocate for it. We published 14 manuscripts on bioRxiv so far and are convinced of the idea. We are generally excited about the new ventures around open science and would like to contribute to its success.

What are you excited about in science communication?

I am really excited to attend multicultural and multidisciplinary research teams and present my research to get feedback and interact with other scientists.

Why did you choose to participate in the ASAPbio Fellows program?

I believe it is necessary to communicate with other scientists in the same field of research and even further interfield research and also provide access for early career researchers to research all around the world in effective ways.

 Ask me about

Coffee and experience to share and transfer knowledge to undergraduate students.

Why did you choose to participate in the ASAPbio Fellows program?
I would like to discuss with peers and people in the publishing system how to innovate the way we disseminate research findings, both among academics as well as the lay public. I think that we can use preprints as powerful tools to tell people “Listen, research is a very tortuous path, and before we come to a shiny paper with shiny results, there are lots of stops, roundabouts, trials and errors that we need to fix”. I would like to discuss with others how we can improve the tale about how science works, in order to raise public trust in scientists.

Ask me about..
How beautiful is the vertebrate retina!

What are you excited about in science communication?

Transferring science concepts to a broader audience.

Why did you choose to participate in the ASAPbio Fellows program?

To brainstorm ideas about how pre-prints can help undergraduate education

Ask me about..

Field work as a woman in science, developing culturally responsive pedagogy, conducting research at an undergraduate institution.

What are you excited about in science communication?

I am excited about promoting FAIR data principles.

Why did you choose to participate in the ASAPbio Fellow program?

I am passionate about promoting scientific integrity, transparency and openness in scientific research. I believe that the use of preprints is one way of achieving transparency and openness.

Ask me about…

Anything! My hobbies include gardening and backyard poultry…

What are you excited about in science communication?

Regarding science communication, I am excited about being part of a new era of open science and the free sharing of ideas throughout all research fields. I feel that these things will diminish competition and in-fighting that ruin the spirit of science and discovery.

Why did you choose to participate in the ASAPbio Fellows program?

I chose to join the ASAPbio Fellows, because I am interested in learning how to help spread information about how preprints and preprint reviews are benefitting the publication process and the scientific community in general.

Ask me about..

… collecting DC comic books in my office!

What are you excited about in science communication?

I’m excited that today science can boast of a huge community of scientists that are also storytellers, illustrators, animators, podcasters, videographers and many more! The need of the hour is to collaborate and present science to the everyday taxpayer in interesting formats, so that they are similarly intrigued.

Why did you choose to participate in the ASAPbio Fellows program?

ASAPbio has quickly established itself as an authority in the preprint movement. It has built a strong community of like-minded individuals that have raised preprint awareness. I choose to be a part of the ASAPbio Fellows program to leverage this identity and community towards improving the preprint dialogue.

Ask me about…

My science, impressionist art, podcasts, movies and web series (especially Indian!).

What are you excited about in science communication?

I think taking part in science is not so much related to capacities but opportunities, which is why I’m a fan of widespread, accesible distribution of discoveries, so as to enable anyone to take part in the process of getting to them.

Why did you choose to participate in the ASAPbio Fellows program?

I’ve followed ASAPbio for a while and believe it has gained critical traction in the field of open science and pre-prints, while keeping an active agenda for minorities.

Ask me about..

Ask me about GO (the encircling game), neurolinguistics and jazz!

What are you excited about in science communication?

I strongly believe that science communication is an integral part of scientific development. Moreover, I am certain that the platform is of utmost necessity to learn and unlearn from others to grow and contribute to society.

Why did you choose to participate in the ASAPbio Fellows program?

I believed that the ASAPbio fellow program would provide the right tools and guidance to better promote and implement open science as fast as possible in our communities. Besides, I also got a huge interest in ASAPbio’s preprints in progress campaign which could cover the early-stage results from a small set of experiments including the negative or inconclusive findings. So, I am glad that I chose to be an ASAPbio fellow and hope to connect with many like-minded people to better serve the purpose.

Ask me about…

Amazing human beings I met, spending time with nature, sleep, and equal education to all the children.

What are you excited about in science communication?

As a scientist myself, sometimes I am surprised by how, although we all seek to try new approaches and establish new concepts in our fields, we remain hesitant to change up the way we communicate science. I am excited to see how efforts such as preprints, online communities and social media, and the wider adoption of open access will shape science communication in the next few years. I am also very interested in engaging with the wider public, especially young people and students.

Why did you choose to participate in the ASAPbio Fellows program?

I am looking forward to a more accessible academic and science communication environment and I think the ASAPbio Fellows programme will give me the tools to be part of this transition. I am also very excited to interact with scientists from different disciplines, institutes, and research cultures. Given the wide range of participants, I am sure there will be all new successes to learn from and problems to understand.

Ask me about…

Etymology, evolution and dancing!

What are you excited about in science communication?

Cutting-edge science is fascinating to me as a young researcher. At the same time, I feel that science communication and knowledge are not shared equally across people. At this juncture, I think enough is enough. Let us start a new chapter where science and resources are made available to anybody who might be interested. As Adlerian psychology says, we do not think about past causes but present goals. I am excited about the preprints (science communication), which will help me grow individually and socially. It is more exciting to connect and collaborate with the global scientific community.

Why did you choose to participate in the ASAPbio Fellows program?

I came to know about the ASAPbio Fellows Program through my Ph.D. supervisor. I did not have any second thoughts about not joining the program. It is fun to connect with people with similar interests and enthusiasms. More importantly, I would like to know more about preprints and contribute to the scientific community in whatever ways it is possible.

Ask me about.

I have a couple of hobbies. To mention a few: I love gardening, cooking, and playing guitar. Apart from these, I read motivational books and like for an evening walk.

What are you excited about in science communication?

I think it is a mandatory exercise for a researcher to communicate their findings well. This is a diverse group and I really hope it would help me grow.

Why did you choose to participate in the ASAPbio Fellows program?

I think preprints are the future of research. The paid/so-called open access and predatory journals have turned research and innovation into a complete business with one side monetary benefit. I want to educate myself more about preprints and their scope, thus I am interested in this program.

What are you excited about in science communication?

Science communication is an important skill necessary for researchers to convey their work to technical experts as well as layperson audience. But often it is neglected and formal instruction is rarely provided for the PhD scholars. I have always been in awe of people who can capture the audience’s attention with simple yet accurate information and wonderful illustrations and have been recently trying to understand the nuances of science communication.

Why did you choose to participate in the ASAPbio Fellows program?

A lot of researchers in India don’t have access to paywalled research papers and at the same time cannot afford to publish open access. I feel that preprints are an amazing opportunity to communicate your work in a timely manner with increased visibility. However, preprints are yet to gain wide acceptance in this part of the world and I consider the ASAPbio Fellows program as a wonderful opportunity to keep abreast of this changing scientific publishing landscape and understand how we can effectively use preprints to promote open science.

Ask me about..

Anything related to life in research, Kerala, parenting, and cricket.

What are you excited about in science communication?

I see science communication as an amazing tool to break barriers: from helping to disseminate one’s scientific research output within their scientific community through bringing a broader, general public closer to scientists and their contributions and personalities; this really inspires and excites me.

Why did you choose to participate in the ASAPbio Fellows program?

Last year I was invited by Dr. Gabriela Viçosa to contribute to an ASAPbio webinar on preprints, which introduced me to the amazing work the organization had been doing on discussing science transparency. Since then, I was eager to contribute to the community somehow, and the ASAPbio Fellows program seemed to fit quite nicely in this manner.

Ask me about…

…cooking, running, community healthcare volunteer work.

What are you excited about in science communication?

I am excited about openness, transparency and access to scientific research. I am passionate about using preprints for the dissemination of discoveries and their potential as tools to promote collaboration and boost the interconnection of the scientific communities.

Why did you choose to participate in the ASAPbio Fellows program?

Participating in this program will not only provide me with an opportunity to learn more insight into the preprints in the life sciences, but it’d also help me to gain knowledge and make the connections needed to make preprint education possible. After that, I can share this information with my colleagues.

Ask me about..

cooking, parenting and spreading positive energy.

What are you excited about in science communication?

The most exciting thing in science communication is all the innovation we are assisting now. Everyone aims for a more informal, collaborative, rapid, open, public, and transparent environment. The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the importance of an effective scholarly communication system. To deal with Covid-19-related research in a timely way, traditional scholarly communication channels have been put under pressure. At the same time, there was an unprecedented rise in the use of preprints by the biomedical scientific community. By promoting discussion about the role of preprints in the scholarly communication system, we can potentially improve trust in science and hopefully help to turn it into a more rewarding experience for all stakeholders involved.

Why did you choose to participate in the ASAPbio Fellows program?

By attending the ASAPbio Fellows program, I will learn more about science communication and become an advocate and a resource about preprints for my community. Together with other Fellows, we can promote discussion about preprinting and the role of preprints as a supplement to scholarly communication. It will be a positive input for my professional and academic skills.

Ask me about… 

Innovation in scholarly communication and peer review. I’m still learning, but we can learn together!

Currently I am studying the molecular epidemiology of viral diseases affecting the pig population and fish for improvement of livelihoods and nutritional security of small-scale farmers and fishing communities in Tanzania. I am also engaged in using the nature-based solutions in solving environment challenges with the UNESCO Chair of Ecohydrology and Transboundary Water Management.

What are you excited about in science communication?

I am interested in helping the community through science communication. The knowledge and skills that one gains from the academic and/or research grounds should be able to tackle community’s challenges for global development. However, due to a number of reasons, communication and publishing of articles in particular is not easy for early career researchers in least developed countries. It is highly due to this reason that I am fascinated about science communication.

Why did you choose to participate in the ASAPbio Fellows program?

My passion for science communication motivated me to apply for ASAPbio Fellowship. Becoming the ASAPbio Fellow will help me to develop skills on how to communicate the science and preprints reviews. The fellowship will also help me to network with other global scientists with the same interest and have collaborations.

Ask me about.. 

Molecular epidemiology for viral epidemics control – I believe I will be able to share my views on preprints review on the subject.

I am passionate about young people and women in least developed countries. In my ample time, I participate in engagements that empower and promotes the use of resources for sustainable self-development and national growth.

What are you excited about in science communication?

Many changes over the last decades in the field of science communication give me enthusiasm as a young librarian. I am excited to see a process of permanent availability and transparency in science communication.

Why did you choose to participate in the ASAPbio Fellows program?

Participation in the ASAPbio Fellows program will give me a good start point to learn more about preprints and in the future to share my knowledge with librarians and researchers in Serbia where I am responsible for various technical services and functions related to open science. This program also inspires me to make a plan conducting and coordinating workshops and webinars for university students and faculty members.

Ask me about...

I enjoy writing papers and creating photos.

What are you excited about in science communication?

Communication, in my opinion, is just as important as research since it provides a forum for researchers, students and experts from varied scientific backgrounds to discuss and develop ideas. I have developed an interest in science communication recently and I am looking forward to learning more. It would also assist aspiring researchers like me in better understanding the scientific publishing community, which would benefit us in future research and experiments.

Why did you choose to participate in the ASAPbio Fellows program?

I chose to participate in ASAPbio as I was keen to learn more about it after hearing it from a friend. I believe that this would be a fantastic opportunity to actively participate in conversions about preprints. Also, I’m particularly curious about how we can bridge the gap between scientists and the general public so that the larger community can benefit from the scientific breakthroughs. I’m delighted to be selected as an ASAPbio fellow!

Ask me about…

Hiking, Dance, Yoga, Baking etc…

What are you excited about in science communication?

In science communication, I am most excited about the generation and dissemination of new knowledge with the potential to advance medical practice and improve our quality of life. Importantly, I am passionate about deriving actionable insights from basic laboratory research and translation of those ideas to clinical practice.

Why did you choose to participate in the ASAPbio Fellows program?

I chose to participate in the ASAPbio Fellows program in order to advance my knowledge of Open Science and to use this as an opportunity to engage, in a meaningful way, with other young and emerging researchers in the world over. I believe that Open Science should be a shared responsibility; therefore, through this fellowship, I hope to become a thought leader in this area of research.

Ask me about...

Tennis, my PhD research project, possible collaboration.

What are you excited about in science communication?

Communicating science in small, digestible, truthful chunks.

Why did you choose to participate in the ASAPbio Fellows program?

I wanted to participate in a community dedicated towards cultivating a faster and more transparent way to share science, and I hope that will also result in lowering stress levels surrounding communication.

Ask me about…

Interdisciplinary science, the space between chemistry and biology, backpacking, muffin recipes

What are you excited about in science communication?

I am excited about the two roles of science communication and how each of them nurtures the other: how we communicate science among peers (researchers) and how we communicate it to the public (citizens). I think the pandemic has made the transition between the two levels smoother, and better scientific communication to the bigger public might reflect also better scientific communication and practices among researchers (transparency, replicability, trustworthiness…).

Why did you choose to participate in the ASAPbio Fellows program?
Since 2019 I became interested in meta-science and tools for making science more open access, less biased towards minorities, and overcoming the current limitations of the traditional journal-based publication model. In 2020 I co-developed and published a protocol & MVP (called Ants-Review) for decentralizing preprints and incentivizing their reviews on an open-access platform built in a pseudonymous way. During my research on peer reviews, I realized the strong potential that preprints and the communities of researchers have and how the two could constitute a self-sufficient and self-governed form of decentralized peer review. I’m here to learn more about the preprints landscape, contribute to the ongoing conversation and experiments on crowd preprint reviews, and network with like-minded peers enthusiastic about open science and preprints.

Ask me about…

Free will, power laws, New Statistics, DeSci (Decentralized Science), mechanism design, Quadratic Funding (QF) ~ hanami, Paris hidden gems, sightseeing, the best jazz clubs.