Researcher Highlight: Natoya Peart
Dr. Natoya Peart did her undergraduate degree at Yale University where she majored in Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics. She followed that up with a doctorate in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the MD Anderson UTHealth Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in the lab of Dr. Eric Wagner, where she characterized the 3′ end formation of the Dux4 mRNA. After graduate school she completed her postdoc at the University of Pennsylvania in the labs of Dr. Russ Carstens and Dr. Kristen Lynch. As a postdoc she focused on mapping tissue specific RNA-RBP interactions, to determine direct vs indirect regulation. She recently started her own research group at the University of Waterloo in April 2023, with a special focus on alternative splicing and mRNA 3’ end formation in epithelial cells.
“Alternative splicing and alternative 3’end formation/polyadenylation are so exciting because of the profound ways they can affect the proteome”, says Dr. Peart. “They’re interesting because of the breadth of possibilities they create”. Dr. Peart’s most recent publication showcases one of the things she enjoys about her research: the versatility in the ways we can study RNA processing and its implications. She was excited about being able to work in an animal model, and to do some biochemistry, RNA sequencing and a lot of molecular biology while characterizing RNA-RBP interactions. This resulted in very interesting data suggesting roles for the splicing factor ESRP1 (which her lab focuses on) outside of splicing.
When asked about her career path, Dr. Peart related a personal story about perseverance. “One of my failures in my careers was when I first took the GRE to get into graduate school. I put so much pressure on myself to do well and didn’t the first time I took it. I was very convinced I would never get into graduate school, and all my effort and preparation had been for nothing. With the support of my parents, my college Dean and my friends, I re-took the exam a month later with a clearer mind and performed significantly better. I know that without a support system, failure is debilitating. A lot of the practice of science is striving in the face of failure: rejection of grants & papers, experiments, and other things, but still we persevere.  I am thankful that I don’t have to persevere alone”.
Her favorite part of her job is mentoring young scientists: “I really like working with students and other trainees who are excited about RNA science. It is reinvigorating to be able to chat with others who often have such a fresh set of eyes to look at a problem”. Her least is her administrative duties!
To learn more about Dr. Peart and her team, click here to visit her lab website! She can also be contacted through her LinkedIn profile here.
