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USC article: "Crafting a Career in Science"by Richard Cox Cheryl Craft's accomplishments represent a hard-fought, lifelong goal of becoming a research scientist. The daughter of a dentist, she was born in Harlan County, Kentucky, a part of the country where expectations of women were steeped in traditionalist roles. “I always wanted to be a scientist," Craft says. “But I also believed it was equally important to be a wife and a mother.” Luckily for Craft, she encountered a series of role models who helped nurture a zeal for scientific discovery. First was a junior high school algebra teacher who spotted her talent for math and offered encouragement. “He took me under his wing and taught me how to study,” she recalls. Her first big achievement in the world of science occurred when, as a high school sophomore and junior, she received a National Science Foundation grant to attend a summer research program in math and science at Kansas University. There her interest switched from math to the biological sciences after she attended a lecture on the sex life of bacteria. It was also at KU that she worked with Dr. Paul Burton, a scientist and mentor who was to have a lasting impact on her. “He was such a terrific influence. From that point on, I knew I wanted to do research,” Craft says. And that she did, skipping her last year of high school so she could conduct independent research at nearby Eastern Kentucky University. (She eventually finished high school by correspondence and returned to be valedictorian of her class.) After marrying, Craft completed undergraduate degrees in biology, chemistry, and math at Georgia's Valdosta State College. Later, Craft pursued a graduate program in anatomy and neuroscience at the Biomedical Graduate School/University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio. Upon graduation, she moved to Bethesda, Maryland, where she was awarded a grant as a postdoctoral fellow at the National Eye Institute, a part of the National Institutes of Health. “My experience at the NIH was a dream come true,” she recalls. “Technological advancements had pushed molecular biology to the forefront of scientific research, and the NIH was absolutely the place to be. When I went into the labs of the NIH, I discovered what it meant to live, eat and drink science.” After a two-year stint at the NIH, Craft returned to Texas, where she accepted a position as director of the Laboratory of Molecular Neurogenetics and was later promoted to associate professor of psychiatry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. Although much of Craft's research has centered around the role of the pineal gland, her contributions to neuroscience are quite diverse. In Texas, she worked as a molecular neurobiologist studying familial inheritance patterns of schizophrenia and bipolar depression, while also working in the field of vision. Along the way, Craft developed an interest in molecular biology, and her career as a scientist took yet another detour. “I decided I was going to do molecular biology, so I went to the library and checked out about a dozen books on the subject,” she states. “Some of the happiest times of my life have been when I've just perused the library. I think that’s how things begin to gel.” The effort paid off, as Craft eventually cloned a protein that not only appears to be a crucial part of the normal vision process, but also a factor in an inherited form of sight loss. “What's really exciting about this research is that we've deciphered the code which could ultimately lead to a potential diagnosis of an inherited form of human blindness,” she says. At USC, Craft sees possibilities for the same type of scientific synergy that's marked her career as a researcher. And she looks forward to working collaboratively with researchers at USC's Institute for Genetic Medicine, the Doheny Eye Institute (of which she is a faculty member), USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, and the newly evolving Neurologic Institute. “I came to USC because of its strong commitment to the future of neuroscience and the potential for gene therapy,” Craft says. “While many institutions are retrenching, USC's plan to establish a Neurologic Institute to bridge basic and clinical sciences together. This represents a rare opportunity to contribute to one of the most advanced neuroscience research endeavors in the world.” Mindful of the impact that positive role models had on her own academic advancement, Craft also plans to spend time encouraging young students especially girls—to pursue science careers. She is eager to be a mentor to students through some of the numerous school partnership programs affiliated with USC. Previously, Craft has worked with the Science Ambassador Program through the honorary scientific society Sigma Xi. “I really feel like you have to get girls interested in science when they’re in the sixth and seventh grades,” she says,”and you have to encourage them that math is the way to go.” She adds, “I believe science should be taught with excitement!”
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