Dana Dolinoy

University of Michigan School of Public Health

Tell us a bit about your scientific and educational background.

Dana Dolinoy holds the position of Professor in the Departments of Environmental Health Sciences and Nutritional Sciences at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. Her educational background includes a B.A. in Environmental Sciences and Policy from Duke University and a Ph.D. in Genetics and Genomics from Duke University Medical Center.

Dolinoy is known for her work in environmental epigenetics, investigating how environmental exposures can influence gene expression through epigenetic mechanisms. She has specifically focused on the impacts of nutrition and chemical exposures on the epigenome and their implications for health and disease. Her research has contributed significantly to understanding the interplay between the environment and genetic regulation.     

What do you see as the greatest value or most rewarding aspect of your scientific work?

A highly rewarding aspect of our research is the ability to uncover how environmental exposures can lead to health disparities and the possibility of mitigating those impacts through informed interventions and preventative measures.

Additionally, the potential to translate complex molecular findings into actionable insights to prevent diseases or improve health outcomes is deeply fulfilling. Educating and mentoring the next generation of scientists is another rewarding facet, as it allows me to share their passion and contribute to the advancement of science and public health through their students and collaborators.

What initially drew you to the EMGS? 

In 2006 my thesis mentor Dr Randy Jirtle encouraged me to attend the annual meeting in Vancouver because EMS (at the time) was a society that fostered networking and innovative science. After I attended that first meeting I was convinced! Soon after, EMS added Genomics to the Society's name in part to support the emerging field of epigenomics. 

How has EMGS impacted your professional development? 

EMGS provided me with professional development opportunities including an award to attend the 2008 Annual Meeting in Puerto Rico and as leader of the Epigenetics Special Interest Group. I have also been able to interact with new and established investigators in the field as well as advocates including Jill Escher, who has impacted the field for advocating for multi and trans-generational investigation of exposures via epigenetic and genetic mechanisms. 

What advice would you offer to students or early career investigators? 

Interdisciplinary Approach: Embrace interdisciplinary collaboration. Complex problems, such as those related to environmental epigenetics, often require insights from multiple fields.

Mentorship and Networking: Seek out mentors and build a strong professional network. Learning from seasoned researchers and peers provides guidance and valuable opportunities for growth.

Focus on Impact: Always consider the broader impacts of your research. Understanding how scientific findings can influence public health or environmental policy can help guide meaningful and impactful research efforts. 

What involvement opportunities with EMGS have you found to be the most rewarding? SIGs, awards, etc.

Besides the dancing? The networks formed via SIGs as well as when preparing a proposal for the annual meeting

What are the most rewarding connections you have made since joining EMGS?

As I mentioned, Jill Escher above. I have also been so excited that so many of the fellows and students that I have encouraged to attend EMGS are now EMGS leaders, including Jackie Goodrich, Chris Faulk, and Luke Montrose.

What do you think the greatest scientific achievement in history has been?

The continuum of 1) the discovery of the structure of DNA and the elucidation of the genetic code. This foundational knowledge has paved the way for a deeper understanding of genetics, heredity, and molecular biology.

2) the Human Genome Project not only mapped the entire human genome but also set the stage for subsequent research into how genes are regulated and expressed, including through epigenetic mechanisms.

and 3) the development of technologies like CRISPR-Cas9 for gene editing is having significant implications for genetic research, including epigenetics. Our work builds upon CRISPR to establish piRNA epigenetic editing technology. 

If you could meet any scientist, past or present, who would it be and what would you talk about?

I would choose to have a conversation with Barbara McClintock, the groundbreaking geneticist and the first woman to win an unshared Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. McClintock's discovery of "jumping genes" or transposable elements—segments of DNA that can move around within the genome—revolutionized our understanding of genetic/epigenetic variation and regulation.

In our discussion, I would want to delve into her insights on the complexities of genome dynamics and how they could relate to contemporary research into how environmental factors influence gene expression.

Additionally, I would be interested in discussing the challenges she faced as a woman in science during her time and how she overcame them. Her perseverance and innovative thinking serve as an inspiration to many scientists today, particularly women in fields that continue to push the boundaries of genetic research. 

If you were not a scientist, what would you be doing?

Professional outdoors person - kayaking, hiking, especially in the Great Lakes area! 

David DeMarini

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, RTP, NC (Retired)

Tell us a bit about your scientific and educational background.

I was born in Peoria, IL, and while in high school, I placed second in comedy reading at the state forensics competition, which was held in 1966 at Illinois State University in Normal, IL, just a 40-min drive from Peoria. Because of that experience, I applied only to ISU for college, and although I thought of majoring in theater, my mother, Kathleen, who was a nurse, wisely advised me to major in biology instead.  
Consequently, I was required to take Herman Brockman's genetics course in my senior year in 1972. This was the best stroke of academic luck I could ever have had. I was smitten with the topic of genetics and with Herman as a teacher. 

Little did I know at the time that Herman had been a charter member of EMGS and was deeply connected to the Society and, of course, that he was training his students in genetic toxicology.  However, I soon found out because I did my master's degree with Herman, which engendered a passion for the field and for EMGS, whose annual meeting I first attended in 1974 in Washington, DC, with Herman’s lab.  

After completing my master’s degree, I worked for 1.5 years at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s research lab in Peoria, IL, which resulted in my first two published papers in 1977 and 1978 (on dsRNA viruses in the fungus Penicillium).   During that time, I again joined Herman's lab to attend the 1976 EMGS meeting in Atlanta, even though I did not have any more work to present. One night I drunkenly fell off a bar stool, and Herman asked if I was OK and also if I would return for the PhD in his lab. In a daze, I said "yes," and the rest is history.  ISU did not at that time permit a student to receive all three degrees from the university, so Herman asked for an exception, and although some faculty voted "no," I was allowed to return.

My PhD work followed up on Bruce Ames’ recent work on the mutagenicity of cigarette smoke and a variety of other complex mixtures using assays in Neurospora, yeast, and Salmonella.  During those busy four years, and through Herman and EMGS, I got to meet Bruce, who lived to be 95 and died in October 2024.  Little did I know that I would use his assay for the next 50 years, generating, along with Tom Cebula at the US FDA, the mutation spectrum of many agents.  Along with Herman, I owe a great deal to Bruce for my scientific work; I wrote his obituary in Mutation Research, which is here: Ames Obituary.

Herman had done a postdoc at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Oak Ridge, TN, which is where EMGS was founded by Alex Hollaender and others there.  Thus, I started a postdoc at Oak Ridge in 1980 with Abe Hsie who had recently invented the CHO/Hprt assay.  This was an exciting time to be doing mammalian cell mutagenesis, and one of my projects was the first to examine the mutagenicity of complex mixtures in mammalian cells, in this case evaluating fractions of extracts from Jimmy Carter’s synthetic fuels program to convert coal to liquid fuels. Another project involved determining the mutagenicity of ellipticines, which were new anticancer drugs developed in France and loaned to Abe for mutagenicity evaluation.  The paper on ellipticines was published in Cancer Research in 1983, and it provided a propitious opportunity for a second postdoc that impacted the rest of my career. 

In 1982, Ronald Regan cut the budget by 50% of the Department of Energy, which houses all the national laboratories, including ORNL. Reminiscent of current times, all of the students and postdocs had to leave (and Carter’s synthetic fuels program was ended).  However, Mike Shelby kindly continued my ORISE postdoc at NIEHS, where I went in November 1982.  Mike gave me the opportunity to incorporate genetic toxicology data for the first time into the NTP rodent cancer reports.  He and Ray Tennant supported my efforts to provide mechanistic explanations for the carcinogenicity of various agents, something not done in prior NTP reports.
While there, Lynn Ripley, who I had known from my Illinois days, asked to eat lunch with me out on the deck at NIEHS.  She had read my Cancer Research paper and said that she had discovered a potentially surprising mutational mechanism for the ellipticines (involving topoisomerase) and asked if I would work with her on it.  Mike Shelby generously provided the opportunity for me to do so, and Lynn taught me how to clone, sequence DNA, and understand molecular mechanisms of mutagenesis, some of which Lynn had developed.

This was a critical learning experience for me.  Lynn helped me formulate my future research program, which built on my experience with complex mixtures in Herman’s and Abe’s labs, and molecular mutagenesis in her lab.  I owe Lynn a great deal of gratitude for teaching me so much and for positioning me to apply molecular mutagenesis to my next job, as described below.  She died suddenly just a few months ago at age 78, and I wrote her obituary, which is here:  Ripley Obituary 

I received a call in November 1984 from Larry Claxton at EPA saying that he, Joellen Lewtas, and Mike Waters had a permanent position available at EPA and asked me to apply. This turned out to be my dream job and the only permanent job I ever had.  I began at EPA in March 1985, although I was there only for 1 hour that first day because I had to fly to Lyon, France, to participate in the IARC Monograph on tobacco smoking, chaired by Sir Richard Doll, where we evaluated tobacco smoking as a Group 1 human lung carcinogen.  I was only 34, and I never imagined that I would end up working with IARC for the next 40 years, serving on 10 cancer monographs and chairing two of them.  IARC kindly asked me to chair their workshop on the 10 Key Characteristics of Carcinogens, and a summary of that workshop was just published a few months ago in, perhaps, one of the final issues of Environ Health Perspectives.     

What do you see as the greatest value or most rewarding aspect of your scientific work?

Due to the kindness and generosity of hundreds of colleagues at EPA and worldwide, I was able to have a 40-year career at EPA/RTP where I was fortunate to work with unimaginably supportive and brilliant scientists, coupled with ample financial and infrastructure support.  (How many scientists have published >200 papers and never wrote a grant proposal?)  I was lucky, indeed.

One of the most rewarding aspects of my scientific career was working with people who helped me apply my unusual background in both complex mixtures and molecular mutagenesis to pressing environmental problems, which was all uniquely possible only at EPA/RTP.  The other was engaging with EMGS, which provided a network of friends and colleagues and leadership opportunities to help facilitate environmental mutagenesis worldwide. 

The laboratories at EPA established by Mike Waters, Joellen Lewtas, Larry Claxton, Steven Nesnow, Martha Moore, and others by the time I arrived there formed the most important setting in the world for studying the mutagenicity and carcinogenicity of real-world complex mixtures of air, soil, and water. I worked with engineers, chemists, biologists, modelers, statisticians, policy makers, etc. for 4 decades doing this work. My colleagues and I were able to apply molecular biology tools to complex mixtures and determine the mutation spectra of air pollution, drinking water, and a wide variety of real-world combustion emissions, as well as of the gas phase of air, work that was just published in 2024. This is the work about which I am proudest and that was the most rewarding. I was a Scientist Emeritus for 5 more years to complete the writing/publication of 20 more papers after I retired in March 2020, ending my formal association with EPA in March 2025. 

Joellen Lewtas and Larry Claxton were my colleagues and bosses for more than 30 years, and together with many others, we were able to identify the mutations induced by complex mixtures, the chemical classes responsible for the mutagenesis, and show that those were the primary mutations in humans whose tumors were associated with exposure to those mixtures.  Martha Moore (Moore Obituary) graciously let me collaborate with her in her mouse lymphoma lab where we were able to show that the ellipticines and other topoisomerase poisons were the most potent clastogenic mutagens ever discovered.  Mike Waters first invited me to work on his Gene-Tox project while I was still a postdoc at Oak Ridge, and we concluded our long collaboration in 2019 when we ended our 21 years as Co-Editors-in-Chief of Mutation Research Reviews.  Larry, Mike, and I wrote the obituary for Joellen in Mutation Research, which is here:  Lewtas Obituary 

What initially drew you to the EMGS? 

My connection to EMGS started with Herman Brockman, who died just 2 months ago at the age of 90; here is a tribute I wrote about him for ISU: Brockman Tribute.  Herman was a charter member of EMGS in 1969, and he brought his students and postdocs to EMGS meetings every year. I have attended all but two EMGS meetings since 1974, spanning more than 50 years of attendance and participation. Through EMGS, we were networked like crazy. By the time I finished my PhD in 1980, I had met nearly all of the founders and leaders in the field of mutagenesis and DNA repair, something not possible in a large scientific society. 

How has EMGS impacted your professional development? 

EMGS WAS my professional development. It provided the intellectual and scientific home for me and countless others over the past half a century. The EMGS gave me an opportunity to interact with others in my field, to collaborate, and to share our work. Equally importantly, it gave me the opportunity to use other skills besides doing science: organizing (countless EMGS meetings, the ICEM with Phil Hanawalt in 2005 in San Francisco, and nearly 20 Hollaender courses), providing leadership (I am a past president), and mentorship of others. Plus, it was just plain fun! Many of my EMGS colleagues became life-long friends. 

What advice would you offer to students or early career investigators? 

Don't be shy. Most scientists are uncomfortable in social settings, but my advice is to be brave and engage with others at scientific conferences, learn what people are doing, share with them what you are doing, and help each other as the years go by. Networking is a tired phrase that young scientists hear all the time, but it is one of the most important aspects of being a scientist, and scientific societies such as EMGS facilitate this more than most. Take full advantage of the opportunity that EMGS meetings provide; it will change your life. 

What involvement opportunities with EMGS have you found to be the most rewarding? SIGs, awards, etc.

As noted above, I think the most rewarding aspect of my association with EMGS has been the opportunities to know and work with some of the most remarkable people in our field. They have enhanced my own research, and many have ended up as close friends. The leadership opportunities afforded to me by EMGS as president of the national and international EMGS, as well as organizing Hollaender Courses, enabled me to give opportunities for others to highlight their science and to enhance their networking opportunities.   

What are the most rewarding connections you have made since joining EMGS?

A large number of friends!!! Some EMGS members became scientific collaborators, as well as friends. The ability of EMGS to foster such connections is invaluable, and EMGS does this almost uniquely among scientific societies. 

What do you think the greatest scientific achievement in history has been?

The breeding and cultivation of corn that native populations in central America conducted for thousands of years to convert a simple grass, teosinte, into corn (maize) is a key scientific achievement. I lived in the midst of corn fields for the first 30 years of my life in central Illinois, and to this day, I marvel at corn and am still addicted to popcorn. Corn is a major scientific achievement that also happens to be good to eat. 

If you could meet any scientist, past or present, who would it be and what would you talk about?

I heard Barbara McClintock speak at a Stadler Genetics Symposium in the 1978 in Columbia, Missouri; Herman Brockman had taken us there to hear her speak. Nancy Kleckner from Harvard also spoke, and she had just announced her discovery of transposons in E. coli, proving McClintock's inference of transposable genetic elements or "jumping genes" in corn. McClintock gave a talk using glass lantern slides (look it up) and read from a yellowed paper a talk she had prepared in the 1940s but had never given because she didn't think anyone would believe her. Now we did. She won the Nobel Prize for her insights in 1983. I did not get to talk with her then, but I would have liked to have explored with her further how she had conceived of transposable elements, a feat something akin to Einstein's insight into space-time.  

If you were not a scientist, what would you be doing?

A lounge act--playing jazz piano in a bar; my father, Santa, owned and operated a bar for >40 years.  It would have been my ultimate dream job, unrealized due to my limited talent.

Bambarendage Pinithi (Pini) Perera 

University of Michigan 

Tell us a bit about your scientific and educational background.

Growing up in Sri Lanka, I was raised to be an independent thinker who was always curious about nature. While learning molecular biology in high school, I questioned how the environment impacted health. At the age of 17, I moved to the US to pursue higher education in molecular biology and soon obtained a general education diploma (GED) to attend the Delgado Community College, in New Orleans, Louisiana. I learned about general laboratory techniques and earned my associate degree in general science as a Chancellor’s Honors graduate in 2009. Soon afterwards, I transferred to the University of New Orleans (UNO), Louisiana, and earned a bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences in 2011. As an undergraduate, I gained technical expertise in identifying how gene transcription is regulated under the guidance of Drs. Mary Clancy (at UNO) and Zubaida Saifudeen (at the Tulane Health Science Center).

I then pursued a doctoral degree in Biological Sciences at LSU (received in 2016), with a focus on epigenetics to understand environmental effects on the genome. During my graduate training in Dr. Joomyeong Kim’s lab, I used my newfound expertise in epigenetics, molecular biology, and mouse genetics to characterize the genomic imprinting mechanisms of Peg3, a paternally expressed gene with important roles in fetal development and maternal caring behavior. To find ways in which my expertise in gene regulation could be applied to public health, I shifted to learning how the environment influences epigenetic regulation to impact human health in 2016. During my postdoctoral tenure in Dr. Dana Dolinoy’s lab at the University of Michigan (UM), I strengthened my skills in interdisciplinary research in environmental toxicology. I led several research projects investigating piRNA, a class of small non-coding RNA, as a biomarker for environmental exposures.

In my role as a Research Assistant Professor at UM School of Public Health (SPH) Department of Environmental Health Sciences (EHS), I engage in dynamic, interdisciplinary research that bridges molecular biology, toxicology, and epigenetics. My research-track position, initiated in May 2021, provides a platform to explore the intricate mechanisms by which toxicants like lead (Pb) alter the epigenome during critical developmental stages such as pregnancy. 

What do you see as the greatest value or most rewarding aspect of your scientific work?

Mentorship and teaching of the next generation of scientists and public health professionals provide me the greatest value and reward for my scientific work. I oversee and help a diverse cohort of undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows to achieve their own scientific goals. Student mentorship has provided me with endless opportunities for research collaborations and continuous growth as a scientist.

My enjoyment of teaching was one of the primary driving forces behind my pursuit of a career in academia. Within the EHS department, my teaching duties extend to professional development courses aimed at preparing first year Master of Public Health (MPH) students for internships and future professional endeavors. One of the most rewarding experiences for me as an instructor is when my students obtain their own dream jobs and walk across the stage during their graduation! 

What initially drew you to the EMGS? 

I was first introduced to EMGS during my training as a postdoctoral fellow in 2019, by my mentor, Dr. Dana Dolinoy. I was drawn to EMGS for many reasons, including the collaborative and welcoming environment for early-stage investigators to interact with experienced researchers, opportunities to participate in leadership opportunities and scientific engagement, and the contribution to EMGS’s mission to protecting people’s health and wellbeing as a collective. 

How has EMGS impacted your professional development? 

My very first EMGS abstract on “PIWI-interacting RNAs as novel epigenetic markers sensitive to environmental exposures,” was spotlighted at the EMGS 50th Annual Conference, earning a Student and New Investigator Travel Award and positioning me among leading researchers in the session: “Early Life Vulnerabilities to Environmental Exposures.” It was an honor to present alongside experts like Dr. Nina Holland, upon whose request I co-chaired an EMGS session on “New Discoveries on the Role of the Epigenome in the Relationship between the Environment and Human Health,” the following year. After transitioning to my role as a research faculty member, I have continued to present my work and collaborate with EMGS members. EMGS has not only broadened my scientific research scope but has also significantly improved my leadership and scientific communication skills. By making complex science digestible, I aim to empower communities, drive informed outcomes, and link my research to broader public health implications, fostering a collaborative spirit that is central to the mission of EMGS. 

What advice would you offer to students or early career investigators? 

I believe that the key to successful scientific research and early career development is being able to gracefully face new challenges and embrace failures as precious learning opportunities. Build on time management and organization skills – it is important to prioritize your own health and wellbeing, while maintaining research productivity, in your pursuit of scientific excellence and happiness! 

What involvement opportunities with EMGS have you found to be the most rewarding? SIGs, awards, etc.

EMGS provides an ideal environment and opportunities for students and early career investigators to reach their professional goals. The society provides travel awards, opportunities to present science to an engaging and positive group of colleagues, as well as lifelong collaborators, mentors, and friends!

I have personally been benefited by EMGS travel award in 2019, EMGS Young Scientist Award in 2023, service as Co-Chair of the EMGS Epigenomics SIG, as well as participation as a member within the Membership and Professional Developmental Committee, and the Outreach and Support Subcommittee. 

If you were not a scientist, what would you be doing?

I discovered my interested in molecular biology and genetics because of the character, Dana Scully, from X-Files. If I was not a scientist, I probably would have been a detective, or a secret agent! 

Garrett Driscoll

UNC Charlotte 

Tell us a bit about your scientific and educational background.

When I began my college career, I lacked any comprehension of what it meant to be a college-level student due to my undivided attention to my baseball career. All I cared about was baseball. My initial years of college were a period where my lack of preparation for college led me to believe that I was not smart enough to succeed in higher education. However, I came to realize that it was not a lack of intelligence that kept me from succeeding but a lack of passion, which I eventually found in science. My path into science began by simply understanding how the brain worked in learning and memory.

Eventually, I could work in a developmental neurobiology lab at Winthrop University under Dr. Eric Birgbauer. Our focus was on understanding how developing neurons, specifically the growth cones of neurons, reached their synaptic target and how molecules attracted or repelled neurons from going in the wrong direction. I was fortunate to be the first person at Winthrop to employ CRISPR-Cas9, which led me to want to pursue an understanding of the human genome, particularly how damaged DNA was repaired. Over the past four years, I have had the privilege of working with Dr. Shan Yan at UNC Charlotte, where my Ph.D. work not only understand how our nuclear genome is repaired but also how our mitochondrial DNA functions after chemotherapy treatments. 

What do you see as the greatest value or most rewarding aspect of your scientific work?

One of the most valuable experiences for me is taking pride in the ability to communicate science to all audiences. Since my early science career was simply reinforcing the basics, I made it my goal always to be aware of all backgrounds in order to convey information successfully and passionately. 

What initially drew you to the EMGS? 

I heard about EMGS from Dr. Yan and had others from the lab go to EMGS to highlight their unique experiences. It is also the right place for me to discuss my research since the members are experts in DNA damage. 

How has EMGS impacted your professional development? 

EMGS has profoundly shaped my professional development by my approach to scientific inquiry. It has exposed me to cutting-edge research on genetic integrity and environmental factors and fostered a multidisciplinary network that broadened my perspective. EMGS allowed me to improve my presentation skills and provided valuable feedback from field leaders, boosting my confidence in contributing to meaningful discussions. The mentorship and collaborative opportunities within the community have accelerated my growth as a researcher, reinforcing the importance of translating scientific findings into actionable insights for public health and policy. 

What advice would you offer to students or early career investigators? 

Remember, you are at the beginning of your unique career journey. You will see and hear from others about their research that has accumulated over many years, which might make you feel like yours is less significant. It is essential to tell your story and be confident in what you have achieved thus far. 

What do you think the greatest scientific achievement in history has been?

The Human Genome Project, a cornerstone of scientific progress, has not only mapped the entire human genetic code but also opened the doors to a new era in medicine. Its role in enabling advancements in personalized medicine gives hope for more effective disease diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. 

If you were not a scientist, what would you be doing?

While working through my undergraduate degree, I began umpiring travel baseball. After my first year of umpiring, my friend and I were awarded "best rookie umpires of the year." If I had not found passion in science, I would have pursued being a professional umpire for baseball. 

Dr. Philip C. Hanawalt 

Stanford University (Retired 2017)

Tell us a bit about your scientific and educational background.

I grew up in Midland, Michigan, where I developed an interest in electronics. I carried out a research project on Wheatstone Bridge Circuits, which earned an Honorable Mention in the annual Westinghouse Science Talent Search in 1949. That, in turn, led to a scholarship for one year at Deep Springs College, an unusual school on a ranch in California, with a work/study program and the expectation that students would “dedicate themselves to lives of service to humanity.” I was planning for an eventual career in physics, but a faculty member encouraged me to consider the nascent field of biophysics, which was attracting physicists to mechanistic biology.

I completed my undergraduate studies at Oberlin College with a physics major; then earned my Ph.D. in biophysics at Yale University, where I carried out graduate study on the responses of bacteria to ultraviolet radiation and obtained evidence for DNA repair. I then spent several years in Denmark with an NIH postdoctoral fellowship in the Microbiology Department at the University of Copenhagen, where I discovered mechanisms for regulation of the bacterial DNA replication cycle. I received a fellowship from the American Cancer Society for a third year of postdoctoral study, in molecular biology at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. I joined the faculty at Stanford University in 1961, as a Research Biophysicist and Lecturer; then, in 1965, an appointment to tenured Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences. I was promoted to Professor in 1970, and I was accorded the Morris Herzstein Professorship in Biology in 2009. 

What do you see as the greatest value or most rewarding aspect of your scientific work?

I am indebted to a remarkable group of talented graduate students (and undergrads!) who have worked in my laboratory at Stanford. One of the most rewarding aspects of my career has been to mentor these students and to share in their research successes. My postdoctoral colleagues and research associates have also been valuable to my fulfillment in academia, with productive ideas and participation in the instruction of students, contributing to our leadership in the field of genomic maintenance.

In 1962 my first two graduate students (of 29 eventually) joined me to compare aspects of DNA replication in Esherichia coli under normal growth conditions with that following UV irradiation. Normally replicating fragments of DNA were preferentially sensitive to shearing at the growing point; while in UV-irradiated cells the nascent DNA appeared in “patches” within parental DNA and did not exhibit this sensitivity. We had discovered “repair replication” with co-discovery of the ubiquitous pathway of excision-repair. Several decades later the sub-pathway of transcription-coupled DNA repair was revealed in mammalian cells, yeast and bacteria, through collaborative studies in my group. Annual retreats (which we termed “advances”) were held for critical evaluation of all projects underway, with one or more guests from other research groups to add new insights and to “keep us honest”. Also rewarding for me were meetings that I organized or co-organized in the field of DNA repair, of which the first was the workshop on “Molecular Mechanisms for DNA Repair” at Squaw Valley in 1974, and then the 9th ICEM in San Francisco in 2005. 

What initially drew you to the EMGS? 

I was aware of the EMS and the involvement of Alex Hollaender and Matt Meselson in its founding. I thought that the Society was largely focused upon the specialized area of mutation testing (eg. Ames test) to reveal carcinogenic chemicals and environmental toxins. Then I was invited to speak in a symposium at the 1989 annual meeting in San Francisco, where I was pleased to learn that the EMS was in fact at the crossroads of studies on basic mutagenic mechanisms, genetic toxicology and governmental regulation of exposures to toxic substances. So I joined the Society and was soon appointed to Chair the Future Directions Committee 1990-’92, and then served as Program Chair/President 1993-’94, and was Chair of the Hollaender Outreach Committee 2011-’14. I also served on the Committee to consider the name change to EMGS. 

How has EMGS impacted your professional development? 

The EMS (EMGS) enriched my professional development, as I appreciated that it is the appropriate professional "home" for researchers in the field of DNA repair: it places them in the context of the broader genetic, societal, and regulatory issues raised from their studies. In return, the wisdom provided from basic research on cellular processing of damaged DNA is essential to mechanism-based decisions in the domain of genetic toxicology. Reference my Commentary in Evironmental and Molecular Mutagenesis 51: 890-896 (2010) titled “Growing up with DNA Repair and Joining the EMS”. 

What advice would you offer to students or early career investigators? 

Students and early career investigators should attend annual meetings of the EMGS and take advantage of the opportunities to meet experts in the three major domains of activity in the Society. They should also attend the Sigs in the areas of their potential interest.

They should get to know the leaders in their areas of interest to obtain valuable advice and potential mentorship as their careers develop. They should develop confidence in the value of their original ideas and opportunities to contribute to EMGS activities, by presenting posters and/or platform talks in the annual meetings. 

What involvement opportunities with EMGS have you found to be the most rewarding? SIGs, awards, etc.

Most rewarding to me have been the Sigs on DNA repair, and on epigenetics, and the Hollaender Committee. It has been fulfilling to participate in many Hollaender conferences and courses in South America. 

What are the most rewarding connections you have made since joining EMGS?

Of course I have appreciated the opportunities to interact with my DNA repair colleagues, but have also gotten to know members in the other areas represented in the EMGS … David DeMarini, George Douglas, Rosie Elespuru, Patricia Ostrowski, and many others, sadly of whom some are no longer with us. 

What do you think the greatest scientific achievement in history has been?

There have been so many great scientific achievements in so many areas that it is impossible to select the greatest.

Certainly the classic X-ray crystalography of DNA and her conclusion that the molecule is a helix was a seminal contribution from Rosalind Franklin, and the base pairing rules discovered by Erwin Chargaff were also essential to the development of the double-helical DNA model by Watson and Crick. 

If you could meet any scientist, past or present, who would it be and what would you talk about?

I would want to meet the brilliant Albert Einstein, to experience his scientific and mathematical insights, but also to appreciate his broad understanding and sensitivity to issues of humanity. I appreciate many of his quotes, including, “The only life worth living is a life in the service of others.” 

If you were not a scientist, what would you be doing?

If I were not a scientist, I would decide that I would be a scientist. Otherwise, I enjoy the musical arts, but probably could not make a living in that field.