• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Center for RNA Biomedicine

Ann Arbor, MI

MembershipGive online

MENUMENU
  • Home
  • About
    • About RNA
    • Mission
    • Become a Member
    • History
    • Financial Support
    • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
  • Research
    • Core Facilities
      • Bru-Seq Lab
      • Single Molecule Analysis in RT
    • Scientific Articles
    • Scientific Articles Highlights
    • Pilot Grants (2017–18)
  • People
    • U-M Faculty Members
    • RNA Faculty Scholars
    • Faculty Testimonials
    • Featured Researchers
    • Leadership and Staff
      • Directors
      • Executive Committee
      • Strategic Advisory Board
      • Student & PostDoc Council
      • Staff
  • Resources
    • Grant Sprints
    • Grant Proposal Support
    • Recruitment Opportunities
    • Publication Support
    • RNA Skills
      • RNA Skill Share
      • Technique Demo Videos
      • RNA Research Scholar Exchange Supplemental Fund
    • U-M RNA Resources
      • U-M Research Cores
      • RNA courses at U-M
      • U-M Depts & Centers
    • Non U-M RNA Partners
  • Events
    • Calendar
    • Symposia
      • 2023 Symposium
      • 2022 Symposium
      • 2021 Symposium
      • 2020 Symposium
      • 2019 Symposium
      • 2018 Symposium
      • 2017 Symposium
      • 2016 Inaugural Symposium
    • RNA Innovation Seminars
      • 2022-2023 Seminars
      • 2021-2022 Seminars
      • 2020-2021 Seminars
      • 2019-2020 Seminars
      • 2018-2019 RNA Seminars
      • 2017-2018 RNA Seminars
      • 2016-2017 RNA Seminars
      • 2015-2016 RNA Seminars
    • RNA Collaborative Seminar Series
  • News
    • In the Media
  • Our Publications
    • Weekly News
      • Weekly News Archive
    • Magazine and Report
      • RNA Translated 2021, “RNA Therapeutics”
      • RNA Translated 2020, “The Year of the RNA Virus”
    • Center’s Brochure
    • Join our Mailing List
  • Giving
  • Contact
You are here: Home / RNA Faculty Spotlight – Laura Scott, Ph.D., Biostatistics, Public Health

RNA Faculty Spotlight – Laura Scott, Ph.D., Biostatistics, Public Health


Laura Scott, Ph.D.

Research Professor
Biostatistics
School of Public Health

email: ljst@umich.edu

  • What are your research interests?
    I want to understand how a persons sex, genetics and physiology influences both gene expression and degradation to create differences in gene expression between people, and how differences in gene expression influence disease.
  • Who/what brought you to science?
    When I graduated from high school wanted to be a doctor, a teacher or an interior decorator. By the end of college I wanted to be a college teacher of a biological science. I went to graduate school so I could teach, but I discovered I really liked research.  I’ve tried many fields throughout my academic career. I get intellectually restless every 7-10 years.  I moved from Chemistry (undergraduate),  to Cell Biology (PhD and postdoc), to Epidemiology (MPH and postdoc) and to Statistical Genetics (postdoc and Professor).  I’m currently headed back towards something that sounds like Statistical Cellular Biology. Interestingly my work as a researcher encompasses all three of the careers I envisioned for myself in high school: I want to improve health via understanding biology, I really enjoy mentoring students and I best like pictures to understand data and develop idea.
  • What advice would you give to students who’d like to get more involved in research?
    Try summer research programs, learn math and statistics as they are increasingly important for many biological disciplines, learn the computer language R, cultivate curiosity and perseverance.
  • Are there any opportunities for students to engage in your projects, currently or in the future?
    We currently only take graduate students.
  • What skills would they need, and what could they expect to learn?
    If we took undergraduate students, they would need skills in R, a strong interest in math or biology, or, ideally, both.
  • What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
    Given greater skills than I actually possess, I would like to be a potter with a wood-fired kiln.

Footer

Copyright © 2023 University of Michigan Board of Regents