BSc Biology, Chemistry Minor, ‘11
Scientific Editor, Cell
Cambridge, MA
Through a broad scope of undergraduate courses offered by UW Biology and Chemistry departments and by working as a teaching assistant, Dr Pawluk developed a passion for a wide range of science topics and for scientific communication. While pursuing a PhD in Biochemistry at the University of Toronto, she was part of the team that discovered how bacteriophage fight back against bacterial CRISPR-Cas defence systems. The discovery of these viral proteins has contributed to advances in CRISPR genome editing technologies. As a post-doctoral research fellow, Dr Pawluk expanded her research on CRISPR-Cas systems at the University of California, Berkeley. In 2017 she combined her love of communication and science, joining the prestigious journal Cell as a scientific editor. As an editor, she travels frequently to conferences and universities to learn about the latest research developments, and selects the most important and interesting articles for peer review and publication.