In the grand scheme of things, AIDS is still a brand new virus. Even more
new is the discovery that a pregnant mother who is infected with the virus
could pass it on to her baby. Dr. Joanne Embrey is a doctor, professor and
researcher. She has been on the cutting edge of these discoveries since the
beginning. She is a virologist.
Twenty years ago, Embrey began her research on the AIDS epidemic. Her main
concern? Babies. "What we were doing at that point was finding out about the
virus being transmitted from the mother to the infant and how that happened
and how to stop that," explains Embrey.
However, Embrey hesitates to talk about her success because she knows that
there is much more work to be done. One great discovery is merely the stepping-stone
to another.
"We've done pretty well," she says. "I won't say
we've solved the problem of AIDS in pediatrics, but we've come a
long way. So, now we're looking at what we've learned from fighting
that battle, to fight some other battles."
For a virologist, the potential for discovery is infinite. Standing on
the edge of something entirely new to the world is an incredible feeling,
says Embrey. "It's the new frontier type of thing. Every time you turn
around, there's something different. To do this job, you have to be prepared
to deal with the unknown."
A virologist's work, says Embrey, is never done. There is always a
new virus lurking around the corner. "For a while there, you had a viral infection
and that's what people told you. Now, we know what the viruses are and
there's a lot more work being done on treatment, on improved diagnostics
and on vaccines. Twenty years ago they told people that infectious disease
was conquered. They were wrong!"
Because she performs so many different functions, Embrey is stressfully
busy at times. Embrey calls it a "mixed career," which is a time-consuming
thing. "For instance, about a third of my time is clinical work, looking after
patients. About 15 percent of my time is spent doing university administration
and teaching. And another 10 percent is hospital administration. The rest
of it is spent doing research."
According to Embrey, each one of these tasks could be a full-time job.
"I found out that if you go away you could come back and have 68 e-mails,
which are all important," she laughs.
Dr. William Wikoff is also a virologist, but he works in quite a different
atmosphere than Embrey. Wikoff does all kinds of research and experiments.
The results of his work are written up and published.
Somehow, Wikoff even finds time to give presentations to kids. A common
question is "What do you do all day?" His answer is a long one.
He says, "I do experiments such as virus growth and purification. Then,
I crystallize the virus or grow crystals of it. Those crystals are used in
experiments called X-ray diffraction experiments. I have to travel to a large
machine, called a synchrotron, to collect the data."
Sounds easy right? In addition to zipping across the country to visit machines,
Wikoff regularly writes at least five styles of papers, reads other people's
papers, and attends seminars where he can communicate with fellow scientists.
Clearly, Wikoff has developed numerous skills to be able to do what he
does. "There is a wide variety of skills that one needs to develop in order
to be an effective scientist," he says. "In addition to those that directly
involve research, most of the other skills relate to communication, writing
[and] speaking."
Wikoff is not impressed, to say the least, with how difficult and time-consuming
it is to find money for his work. "Most people will agree," he says, "that
having to write for grants in order to get funding to do research is probably
the worst."
In fact, not being able to get grants could cost him his job, he says.
There are many positives to a research position, which make the lack of
funding tolerable.
Wikoff notes, "The best part of the career is being able to do research
and experiments in science. That is the whole point. And you have to love
doing that for its own sake to enjoy being a scientist. Other good things
are interacting with colleagues, attending meetings all over the world, and
gaining recognition from...peers."