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Who is Andrea Gwosdow? From Researcher to Educator to Company President Andrea R. Gwosdow was born in Queens, NY. As a child she was always interested in animals. While she did not have many of her own, she belonged to 4-H and was able to work with farm animals that way. She also rode horses. In high school, Andrea was always interested by science
experiments. She found the she liked doing experiments and learning new
things. It was during high school that a good friend of hers, who was a DES
(diethylstilbestrol)
After college it seemed natural that she would think about going on to get a PhD so that she could be a researcher with her own lab. She decided to attend the University of Florida, Gainesville. She was in the Department of Metabolism in the College of Veterinary Medicine. She studied how some of the body’s hormones (endocrine system) help to regulate body temperature during heat stress. She graduated in 1980 with a MS and in 1984 with a PhD. Out on Her OwnDr. Gwosdow got her first postdoctoral position at the John B. Pierce Laboratory, which is part of Yale University in New Haven, CT. While she was there she worked on several projects that studied the effects of different factors, such as exercise, clothing fabric, and work environment, on metabolism and temperature regulation. In her search for her first job, she decided to look for a position that would combine her human and animal work as it dealt with temperature regulation. She was hired by the Pediatric Endocrine Unit at the Shriners Burns Institute in Boston, MA as a research scientist in July 1987. Her research program concentrated on the endocrine regulators of inflammation during stress, specifically burn trauma. The Research Grant GameIn 1990 she applied for and got a 5-year grant from NIH. However, she realized that it might be hard to do the kind of basic research she wanted to do in a clinical department where the focus was more on applied human research. She decided it would be best to move her lab to a more research-oriented department. She moved her lab to the Endocrine Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). It was there that she learned many new techniques in cell physiology, molecular biology, and biochemistry that she needed for basic research. Partway through her 5-year grant, Dr. Gwosdow decided it was time to begin applying to NIH for her next grant so that she would have plenty of time to submit it more than once if necessary. It is not unusual for scientists to have to re-write and send grants in more than once before they get funded. As she kept trying, she started to look for other types of jobs that she could do besides research. New ChallengesAs is often the case, having friends paid off. A friend showed Dr. Gwosdow an article that told how MGH had gotten a large grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to support its science education partnership with a local Boston public middle school, the Timilty Middle School. She also found out that the person in charge of the program was leaving. Although she knew about this program before, she always felt she was too busy to get involved with it. However, she had been volunteering as a scientist to kids through the Boston Museum of Science’s Science-By-Mail program and found that to be a great experience. So she decided to apply for the job and soon found herself the new Co-Director of the program. She was able to work in that position and still work in her lab half time. It went so well in the new job that the program won a national award and Timilty Middle School was recognized as a National School of Excellence. As a result, Dr. Gwosdow got to go to the White House to receive the award. At this time she was also on the APS Women in Physiology Committee. While she was on the Committee, she helped start a Mentoring Program for women students (now the Career Mentoring Program and open to both women and men). After her term on that Committee was done, Dr. Gwosdow got asked to be on the Education Committee. It was during that time that she became very involved in doing more with science in the K-12 grades. She worked with both children and adults, putting together science programs such as Science Career Nights and Family Science Nights. With these activities and the success of her job, Dr. Gwosdow began re-thinking her career and what she wanted to do with her life. She realized that the best way to use her interest in science education and her science background to bring science activities to a larger audience was to start her own company. After taking a business course and doing lots more networking with friends, she launched Gwosdow Associates in 1997 and became its President. Her Own CompanyGwosdow Associates (www.gwosdow.com) is a science consulting firm that provides medical and scientific writing and editing and scientific support for educators, attorneys, and other industries. Having her own company allows Dr. Gwosdow to combine her skills as a scientist with her interest in science education. During the time she has been in business, Dr. Gwosdow has written manuscripts, review articles, abstracts, grants, programs to keep doctors up on what’s new, and meeting summaries for health professionals, medical communications companies, medical device companies, biotech companies, and drug companies. She also works with schools on science education and interprets science for the general public and nonscientists. Because of that work, she was asked to be the first Chair of a newly established Communications Committee for APS. As Chair, she has organized talks at national meetings to help scientists learn how to explain their research and concern over funding to the general public and media people.
Dr. Gwosdow is still working as a Clinical Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School and teaches physiology to first-year medical students there. Free TimeDr. Gwosdow likes outdoor activities like hiking and biking. In addition, she loves to read and make quilts. She is also active as a volunteer, training therapy dogs and bringing them to nursing homes to cheer up patients. In addition, she continues her work to bring hands-on science activities to teachers, students, and their parents in her local school district. |
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