Interview with Grace Nielsen

About Grace

Grace Nielsen is a PhD student at Emory University studying drug resistance mechanisms in viruses using structural biology. Born in Texas and raised in Utah, Grace grew up as the oldest of three children in a highly academic household, both of her parents having PhDs in physics. This environment fostered her natural curiosity and set her on a path toward scientific research from an early age.

Grace completed her undergraduate studies in biochemistry at Brigham Young University, where she developed strong research skills working in a small, independent lab focused on physical chemistry. During her time there, she also discovered her fascination with virology, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, which occurred while she was taking immunology courses.

Her current PhD research focuses on the SARS-CoV-2 main protease, which is the target of leading antiviral therapies for treating COVID-19 infections. Grace recently published research on how drug resistance could develop in this protease and strategies to overcome such resistance. Her work combines her interests in biochemistry and structural biology to visualize molecular-level interactions, providing insights for developing future antivirals for coronavirus infections.

At the time of the interview, Grace was completing an internship at Merck in Philadelphia, exploring career opportunities in industry research while continuing her graduate studies.

My favorite quote from the interview:

Don't let the bastards get you down.

Watch the video or continue reading to learn more about Grace's story.

Transcript

Chelsy Do: Thank you again, Grace, for just taking this time out of your busy schedule to sit down and chat. Whenever you're ready, we can begin the interview. I want to begin with talking about you and your educational background. Could you tell me more about where you grew up and what your early life was like?

Grace Nielsen: So I was born in Texas, but I grew up in Utah. And I am the oldest child and I think that shaped a lot of my personality—the always being in charge. I have two younger siblings. And I grew up very much in a place where education was important. Both of my parents have PhDs in physics so that was always a part of my upbringing.

There was always a focus on that. Someone asked me once if I was forced to get a PhD and I was not forced to get a PhD, but it was always heavily encouraged to go to college at least. So that was the environment I grew up in. And then I was fortunate enough to go to well-resourced schools for both my middle school and my high school. And that was when I really got into chemistry and biology was in high school.

I had wonderful teachers for both of those subjects who made me interested in how the molecules in our bodies and in nature shape the world and shape us. So that was when I decided that I wanted to go kind of into the biochemistry or somewhere in that area. Through multiple classes in college wound up going into biochemistry.

At the same time, I wound up taking a course, very randomly on virology and immunology, like an introductory course and was fascinated by viruses specifically, just how diverse they are, how the different mechanisms that they use to target and how efficient they are. So, I started learning more about that. And then in the middle of my schooling was when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. And so, classes were online during my immunology class.

So that just for me really made me even more interested in viruses. And when I came to Emory University for my graduate studies, I was fortunate enough to find a lab that not only combined my interest in biochemistry and structural biology, which I had kind of played around with and I was more interested in that molecular side—combine that with viruses specifically looking at HIV and SARS-CoV-2 and other important viruses like HPV and dengue and Nipah and all the bad ones.

Chelsy Do: So you mentioned taking chemistry and biology in your middle and high school classes. Do you have a pinpoint moment or experience in that time where that really sparked your interest in biology and chemistry?

Grace Nielsen: I think I was always more interested in chemistry than biology. I preferred—don't get me wrong, biology is very interesting. I think it's really cool how our body works and that is kind of where I've wound up. But I think what really—I always preferred the chemistry to biology simply because of how technical it is and how much it influences everything. I remember—I mean I think it may be cliche but I think it really comes down to the teacher as well.

The chemistry teacher I had was very entertaining and I had him for both chemistry and then for AP chemistry. And there was something about being able to figure out and understand how the elements worked and about the different kinds of reactions that made me very interested in chemistry.

If there was going to be a light bulb moment, it would probably honestly be earlier, when I was making baking soda volcanoes. And just seeing how those kinds of things in action was just crazy for my young brain.

Chelsy Do: You said your parents are both physics professors, and supported you throughout your academic career. Could you elaborate on how your family kind of shaped your journey into research?

Grace Nielsen: I think everyone in many ways is a product of the people around them. Not necessarily their family, but the people around them. And this may sound like brainwashing, but I grew up in a place where we had Magic School Bus, not just in the class, but we had it in our house recorded on VHS tapes. And I was always interested in animals as a kid, that was probably my first interest in the natural world was animals and they bought me books, got me interested in that. We would watch nature documentaries and stuff like that.

I think they supported my interest from an early age and throughout school they were always very supportive and they were also very invested in getting me into the best places if that makes sense—places with the most opportunity. So, for instance, when I was about five to seven, kindergarten, first grade, we lived in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. And while we were there, I started school and I was in the public school system in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. And it was very underfunded. I did not know that.

I have the words for it now, but for me it was just that all the kids were mean and angry and nobody would listen to the teacher and there was lots of drama, lots of uncontrollable behavior and so that made it very difficult to learn. Thankfully, I was young enough that my parents could help me. But as soon as they could, they transferred me the next year to still a public school, but a slightly better school. And I'm very fortunate that they had the resources to be able to do that. But it was a school where I learned Spanish for half the day and then English for the other half of the day.

And then when we moved to Utah eventually, I think finding good schools for their children was very important. And so I was lucky enough to be in a place where education was—I mean it's public schooling. It's not the best funding in the world, but it was funded and there were plenty of academic opportunities.

And then also just at home having someone that can answer your questions makes it easy to be more curious. And so being able to ask my parents, why is it, for instance, that when I close my eyes and I'm in a car, I don't feel like I'm moving, but if I close my eyes while I'm on one of those spinny chairs and I'm spinning around, why do I feel like I'm moving even though I'm moving less than when I'm in a car?

There's random questions or, why is a laser this color or why is the sky blue? All those questions that really are scientific curiosity, even if they just come from a child, having someone that treats those questions as real questions that can be answered, is super important. And encouraging you to ask more questions. If those questions are just blown off, then it doesn't work. So I think supporting my education and then encouraging curiosity would probably be two of the biggest ways that my parents have encouraged me and supported me for sure.

Grace's Undergraduate Experience

Chelsy Do: Could you talk more about your undergraduate studies? I know you studied at Brigham Young University. Did you do any research then and how did maybe professors shape you into pursuing your graduate degree?

Grace Nielsen: I was lucky enough to be able to get a bachelor's in biochemistry specifically, but I was actually in the chemistry department. So, staying close to my chemistry roots. And during my undergraduate work, I actually was fortunate enough to do undergraduate research. Brigham Young had, I believe it still has, but at the time it really had a very strong undergraduate research program. It was very easy to find a lab.

And I looked around and I talked to different professors, but none of them were quite working. And then I wound up—the biochemistry professors—I wound up talking to and TAing for a professor who, he's a character, let's put it that way. I love him dearly. Very direct, energetic person.

And he loved undergraduate students and his philosophy was that you should get them all early and then train them for a long time. But the research he did was not what I was interested in but it felt right. I liked the people and so I joined. It was a very small lab. By small I mean it was three undergrad students and him. And I guess there was one other guy but we didn't really interact with him. I think he had graduated but was just working. My professor also had a side company and I think that he worked for the company.

But because we were in such a small lab, the research we were doing was very physical chemistry. So not at all what I was doing in my classes, but I still found it very interesting because it was mathematical based and I like math.

nd I think it was a really good environment for me because it really forced us to be independent. We would have one meeting with him a week and then I was working with two of the most talented people I've ever met honestly. We were undergraduates but we managed to get out multiple papers. We supported each other. It was very much a we're learning together environment.

I was the newest of the three, if you will, always. But we delved into making sure that each other understood everything and helping each other with our different specific projects. We all use the same tools, but for different projects. It taught me how to be independent because no one was going to look over your shoulder to make sure that things were getting done.

And it taught me a lot of the soft skills of research. Not necessarily—when I came to graduate school, I felt wildly unprepared on the pipetting or the hard skills side. I had had very different hands-on training, but the skills of how you tell a story, how to give a presentation, how to look for help yourself, how to read instrument manuals—that was something that we had to do. How to figure out how to get stuff serviced and how to be creative.

We were given a lot of creative freedom in our lab to do different things. Those were all important skills that I developed while working for Dr. Brian Woodfield is his name.

Chelsy Do: So what motivated you to pursue a PhD? I know that you said your interest was in chemistry, specifically. So, I guess I usually interview biology people and so I ask why not medicine? But I guess why is a PhD for you what you need for your career aspirations?

Grace Nielsen: During my time working in the Woodfield lab and during undergrad I realized that it's not that I wasn't interested in the stuff I was doing but I was more interested in the biology side of chemistry and how chemistry works to keep people alive and all those things. At the same time, in the background I was taking the virology course and everything else. I was never interested in medicine partly because I didn't want that pressure of having somebody's life in my hands or anything else like that.

I mean I think that my mom tells a story about how—I don't remember this—but when I was in 8th grade we were talking to the guidance counselor and I feel like he asked what do you want to be when you grow up basically and apparently I answered I'm getting a PhD.

So I think that it really was the influence. I mean there's studies out there showing that the mother's education level impacts the children's education level. And I think that was the earliest thing. I think you need to understand that for me growing up because both of my parents had PhDs, because they were in graduate school when I was young and they were in postdocs when I was young and they associated with a lot of academics—I thought everybody had a PhD. I thought that was just what you did. So I think that was the beginning of yeah, I'm going to get a PhD. But then as I got into the research, I found that I enjoyed thinking about the problems. And that was kind of how I got into that more.

Grace's PhD Research

Chelsy Do: Could you talk more about your work in your PhD right now? More about your research.

Grace Nielsen: So in my PhD right now I am studying drug resistance mechanisms specifically using structural biology which I think is very fascinating because it allows you to see at a molecular level what is happening and I just think that that's really cool that we're able to see things. I'm a very visual person.

My lab does drug resistance and drug development across many different viruses. I study specifically the SARS-CoV-2 main protease which is the target of the current leading antiviral therapy for treating SARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19 infections. And we actually recently published a paper just two weeks ago now about how drug resistance could develop and how based on the structure and then how to overcome this resistance using different compounds and how this provides insight into how we could better develop future antivirals for treating SARS-CoV-2 infection or other coronavirus infections as well.

Chelsy Do: So a PhD can lead to a wide range of careers. Do you know how you want to use your degree in the future? Do you want to go into academia or industry or neither of those?

Grace Nielsen: I really enjoy research and I want to stay in research. I think that for me the industry environment may be better due to multiple factors. But I am currently actually doing an internship—that's where I am right now is in Philadelphia at Merck.

So I am very fortunate that I get to do that and have that insight into how things work outside of academia. And so far I've enjoyed it very much.

Advice for Aspiring Scientists

Chelsy Do: We can move on to concluding advice that you have. So the first question is looking back, what do you wish you had known earlier that maybe might have made your path smoother?

Grace Nielsen: Just because you don't fit all the requirements doesn't mean you shouldn't go for something. I feel like especially for me, if I look at something and I feel like, that's—I don't quite fit that. For instance, I was going into a biochemistry program, so biology, and I was surrounded by people that had done years of research. And I was coming in with—I had to have someone teach me how to do a PCR in grad school.

But I wish I had during undergrad not let that stop me. I haven't let it stop me as much during grad school as I've grown and matured. But you can learn many things. You can be a quick learner and I think that that is one of the most important aspects of being a graduate student is being open to learning new things.

So don't sell yourself short. You can pick stuff up quickly. You can do hard things basically. I'm very bad at this, but give yourself the grace to be a beginner and just trust that you can figure it out eventually.

Chelsy Do: Do you have any advice for maybe let's start with high school students that are interested in getting a STEM degree or pursuing a STEM career in the future?

Grace Nielsen: For sure. I would say do research as soon as you can. I think get some hands-on experience. I don't think there's any substitute for just doing it yourself. And even if what you can do is limited, it's a different way of thinking and it's really fun and if STEM is kind of what you want to do, that is a very good thing to figure out if you want to do that or not specifically.

I'm not saying—there are so many other paths inside of STEM that can lead different directions. And so, get that experience, see if that's for you or not. If it is, great, keep going. If not, then find other ways that you can leverage your STEM degree, whether that be through scientific communication or policy. There are many different ways that science can help the world and not all of it is at a lab bench.

Chelsy Do: And then do you have any advice for undergraduate students that may be thinking about applying to a PhD program?

Grace Nielsen: Good question. I think the best advice that I got about applying—are you talking about people that are applying to PhD programs or about whether they should apply to PhD programs?

Chelsy Do: People that are applying.

Grace Nielsen: This is advice that I got when I was looking. It's very overwhelming to be looking at advisors and looking at different schools and you're looking at pictures of people and maybe some people know people where they're going but some people don't. The best advice that I got was the hierarchy of how you should decide on your advisor because your advisor is one of the most important influential people in shaping your experience in your PhD. And the number one thing—or picking a lab specifically, picking where you want to go, picking a lab.

The number one thing is your advisor that you can communicate with them and understand each other and that you can have similar expectations. Number two is enjoying the science and number three is having funding because if you enjoy the science enough and you're invested in the science enough you can typically find ways to fund it. But even if you enjoy the science, it is much harder to be productive and do your work if you are not in a good environment.

So I think my biggest advice is when you are looking at PhD programs, look for one where there are—you feel multiple people where you feel you'd be interested in the research and that they would have funding and multiple people where you feel like you could communicate or get along with them in a way and fit into their labs.

Chelsy Do: And maybe just further detail—is that through your research before you apply online from what you can see or do you visit your programs before?

Grace Nielsen: I would say—so that's the advice I was given. During your initial search online you're not interacting with people directly right? So that's—are there multiple places where I would be happy or is there only one lab where I'm interested in the science? If there's only one lab where you're interested in the science unless you've already reached out to that person and you know that it will work out, it's better to have multiple options. That's just the way it is. And then typically for biology based PhD programs they do rotations and so then that's when more of the advisor comes into it as well I would say.

Chelsy Do: Last question. Is there any underrated advice you think for current PhD students? Any useful or unexpected tips?

Grace Nielsen: So, I actually do a similar series where I interview people for a newsletter that I do and I always ask that question at the end when I interview both faculty and students. And I ask people what advice has helped them and typically it's kind of stuff that I've told you already about believe in yourself, you can do hard things. And don't get me wrong that is very true and you absolutely should be thinking about that.

But I recently interviewed this professor and she gave me a slightly unexpected answer but I'm kind of into it. She told the advice that—it was something that she had heard someone say at a conference during an award acceptance speech or something like that—but what the guy said was don't let the bastards get you down.

Pardon the slight swear, I guess, but the idea of don't let the haters get you down. Don't let someone that doesn't affect the way that you are doing your life. And I think that is an interesting life advice philosophy, especially when it comes to a PhD because you deal with so much rejection.

And it's fine that there are haters, but don't let that spiral you down because ultimately that's not productive and that's not helpful.

Chelsy Do: Thank you so much for your time. I loved hearing about your story and just all the advice that you have. That's really cool that you did an interview series, too. And it was cool that you were able to hop on and be the one getting interviewed.

Grace Nielsen: Yeah, this is honestly a different experience for me. I'm usually the one asking the questions.

Chelsy Do: Thank you so much for your time and I hope you have a good day.