JUSTL participant: Dr Summer Min Shen
Dr Summer Min Shen obtained her PhD in Environmental Science from City University of Hong Kong in 2011. After finishing her PhD studies, she moved to Shanghai where she became a Lead Toxicologist with The Dow Chemical Company. Today, Dr Shen is still working at Dow where she is the Asia-Pacific Sustainability Leader.
JUSTL Programme
Dr Shen attended the JUSTL programme in 2008. Her mentor was Dr Roxanna Smolowitz, a year-round scientist at the MBL at that time (now at the Feinstein School of Social and Natural Sciences, Roger Williams University, Bristol, RI, US), and together they investigated the effect of temperature on components of the blood in toadfish. She used flow cytometry and microscopy to identify the various blood cell types and the amount of phagocytosis as well as the level of programmed cell death (apoptosis) in the cells at different temperatures.
Dr Shen remembers her time at the MBL. “It was [over] 10 years ago that I joined the JUSTL programme, when I just started to read my PhD. It was the first time that I joined an international programme and also the first time for me to visit the USA. The programme was an eye-opening experience for me. Thanks Prof. Miller, the Croucher Foundation and the Hong Kong Government for providing post-graduate students in Hong Kong with this great learning opportunity.”