Wednesday, December 28, 2022
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Each month the BMB Department will feature a department member's unique story.
This month, Judy Huang sat down with Ala Shaqra, Senior Scientist in the Schiffer Lab. Read Al's story below.
Diversity Profile of the Month!
Meet Ala (Al) Shaqra, a Senior Scientist in the Schiffer Lab in the BMB department. Beyond his role as the laboratory manager for the Schiffer group, Al is also Director of the X-ray Crystallography and Structure-Based Drug Discovery Cores. On a day-to-day basis, Al oversees a plethora of diverse projects within and beyond the department. Outside of lab, Al is an avid hiker and loves to help his partner in the kitchen. If you need veggies prepped, Al is your guy!
What set you on a trajectory of becoming a scientist?
My mother is a scientist and the director of the Pathology and Cytogenetics Lab at Hartford Hospital, so I had a good dose of science growing up. When she was doing her PhD at the University of Miami, I used to help her out in the lab. While I was mostly washing dishes and making solutions, this was mostly what I knew. Also in Arabic culture, we really value education, so it seemed important that I pursue higher education. I’m also lucky to come from a highly educated family with many medical doctors and PhDs, so it was natural to go down this route.
Are there any setbacks you faced on your journey and what did you do to overcome them?
Graduate school was a different experience compared to many of my peers. My mother was very sick throughout this time, so I was a graduate student and burgeoning scientist, but also a primary caretaker for my mother. I was the eldest kid, so I wanted to step in and help her. While I was certainly thinking about experiments and publications, there was also this very real responsibility that I had outside of the laboratory. I wouldn’t call it a setback per se, but it was something that I dealt with outside of the average graduate experience.
What is your current research focus?
Everything in the lab is my current research focus! My current role is nice because I view it as more of a support role, and I get to learn about different projects and incorporate my expertise and intuition for science. I’ve found this to be especially useful as most members of the lab are relatively new to science. I’m not sure I have one research focus but I’m happy to go where I’m needed and support lab members however I can.
How does your research apply to the broader world and why is it important outside of the scientific community?
Everything in the lab is my current research focus! My current role is nice because I view it as more of a support role, and I get to learn about different projects and incorporate my expertise and intuition for science. I’ve found this to be especially useful as most members of the lab are relatively new to science. I’m not sure I have one research focus but I’m happy to go where I’m needed and support lab members however I can.
Why did you choose your current lab and/or UMass Chan?
I knew I was not done with bench science after my previous postdoc, but I also knew that I want to step away from the bench eventually and take on more operation management. So, I thought this would be a great opportunity for me to do both of the things that I love. To be honest, I didn’t think I would like it as much as I do, but I really enjoy this marriage where I can lend my expertise to the science and provide the operational support. This was really my dream job in a sense.
What is the coolest thing about your research?
The coolest thing I do in research is a very specific step in X-ray crystallography. When I collect diffraction data from a crystal, and after molecular replacement, see the distinct density that indicates I’ve successfully co-crystallized my targets of interest. Even before refinement, I know we’ll be able to learn something from this data. The second really cool part is when I mount a crystal onto our X-ray source, and the very first diffraction pattern starts to appear. It is always so awesome to see a nicely ordered array of spots. As I recently started running antiviral assays, I’ve also been amazed by the beautiful curves that indicates that the inhibitor is working against the target protein.
What is one thing you would like to achieve while doing your research?
I would like to help with teaching experimental science to students, as I enjoy teaching and instruction. I also want to help with Celia’s greater mission to design small molecules that circumvent antiviral resistance.
What are some of the lessons that you have learned along the way that you would like to share with trainees who recently joined our department?
I think you have to be patient, be comfortable with failure and making mistakes, and be able to forgive yourself for this. Not everything will go brilliantly, and your hypothesis could be wrong. You may go down a path that may not necessary be fruitful, but it will give you valuable experience. You’re here to learn how to think and how to gain scientific intuition, which will take time and patience and failure
Any advice you wished you had gotten when you first started as a scientist?
I would have appreciated more guidance about what academic research is like. The other advice I wish I had was the other career options that are available to people with advanced degrees. You don’t have to be a professional scientist for the rest of your life, and I wish that professors and administrators took the time to educate their students about everything that is out there.
Is there something you would say to your younger self?
Just enjoy it for what it is and you’re making the right decisions!
If you would like to be the next spotlight, please reach out to Gily Nachum.
