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Lessons and Insights: Amber Asher, Ph.D.

 

Name: Amber Asher

Program: IBMS Neuroscience Discipline, Translational Science Certificate

Graduation Year: 2023

What is your current profession? Postdoctoral research associate at the Texas Tech Health Sciences Center

What led you to choose UT Health San Antonio? I always knew UT Health San Antonio was where I wanted to get a PhD. I worked in the Department of Pharmacology years before joining the program, and really liked the research some of the professors were doing.

What did you do after graduating? I was lucky enough to take some time off to be with my family and seriously consider what steps I could take after defending. After several months of deliberate conversations and networking, I was put into contact with Dr. Jenny Wilkerson, an amazing young professor at the Texas Tech Health Sciences Center in Amarillo, which is where most of my family lives. I joined her team at the beginning of this year and have been loving it ever since.

Tell me more about your career path. My career path has been all over the place. I would definitely describe myself as a ‘nontraditional’ in that sense. I started working as a laboratory technician for a few years at UTSA and UTHSA during my undergraduate studies. I then switched gears and obtained a Master of Art in Teaching degree from Trinity University and taught high school biology at two different high schools in San Antonio until 2017. I realized that I didn’t really like teaching in a classroom but didn’t want to give up on students. I honestly missed research and felt driven to have my own lab where I dreamed of studying cognition in adolescents. I ended up just going for it, quit teaching, and started working in a lab at Fort Sam Houston in hopes of making myself a competitive applicant. It was a completely unique experience that set me on fire for research. I applied to the PhD program at UT Health San Antonio in 2017 and was accepted.

Tell me about your current career, what do you do? I work in a lab that studies pain and substance use disorder in rats and mice where we test natural products and new compounds created by medicinal chemists. As a postdoc, I get to work on a lot of different projects and am even working on getting new techniques up and running.

What is the most challenging part of your work? I would say working with mice. As someone who has almost exclusively worked with rats, mice are more feral and bitey.

What is the most rewarding part of your work? Two things: discovering things, then getting other people excited about those things.

What is a day like in your job? At the moment, I divide my time between several different projects. I typically start my day by touching base with graduate students I am training, followed by either data analysis or writing. After updating my supervisor, I will break for lunch. The afternoon is spent preparing for several upcoming experiments and working with a high school student on a summer project.

What advice do you have for people entering or currently in the field? Surround yourself with as many supportive people as possible. Take advantage of the resources around you when things get tough. Don’t be afraid to advocate for yourself and find those who will support you doing this.

How did the education you get at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio prepare you? UT Health San Antonio taught me to be a multidisciplinary translational neuroscientist that is resilient and enthusiastic.

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