Dr. Wendy Campana
Professor Department of Anesthesiology, University of California, San Diego
Postdoctoral Fellow University of California, San Diego
PhD in Endocrinology/Cell Biology The Pennsylvania State University
As an athlete, Dr. Wendy Campana’s first interest in science was from the perspective of a runner. She was intrigued by the biochemistry of nutrition and metabolism – how the body might use energy for peak performance – and pursued these interests as an undergraduate at University of California, Berkeley. While she had always been enamored by academia and the intellectual idealism of the ivory tower, these scientific questions soon became a driving force in her life. She knew that she wanted a career in research.
Wendy followed her interest in nutrition to graduate school at The Pennsylvania State University, joining a lab focused on lactation. She originally thought she would find the nutritional aspects of milk production the most fascinating, but instead she found herself falling in love with cell biology, especially with receptor interactions at the cell surface. This love would stick with her as she started her postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. John O’Brien at University of California, San Diego (UCSD) – her first foray into neuroscience. At the time, the O’Brien lab was particularly interested in prosapasins, molecules that stimulate regeneration and neuronal survival. Despite having never worked with neurons, Wendy’s expertise as a cell biologist allowed her to thrive.
She chose to investigate prosapasins in Schwann cells, the myelinating glial cells of the peripheral nervous system, because the rest of the lab was focused on the central nervous system. While Wendy was not at the time particularly intrigued by Schwann cells themselves, she was attracted to the idea of carving out her own niche within such a large lab, giving her more freedom to take the project in whatever direction she wanted. It was a serendipitous choice. This niche not only allowed her to write several independent grants, but also meant that her advisor was content to part with the project as Wendy set out to start her own laboratory. Remembering this, Wendy advises new postdocs to try to do the same: “find a niche and pick a mentor who is willing to let go of things!” Wendy built upon her postdoctoral work as she started her own lab, and she is still studying Schwann cells today – they had turned out to be wildly interesting!
Wendy is now a Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and a faculty member of the Neurosciences Graduate Program at UCSD. Her lab studies the molecular and cellular responses to peripheral nerve injury, focusing on Schwann cells and their underappreciated role in neuropathic pain. In running her own lab, Wendy tries to emulate her postdoc advisor in some ways, while in other ways carving out a mentorship style that is purposefully distinct. John O’Brien was particularly influential for Wendy in building up her confidence. “What I took away from him was: work hard, don’t lose track of your dreams, and don’t let people distract you. People tell you ‘that idea is crazy’ – if you think it’s a good idea, run with it. Prove them wrong, or prove them right, but keep going with it.” However, in contrast to John, who adhered to a hierarchical model for his large lab, Wendy likes to keep her lab small and foster a team effort. “I want [my trainees] to feel like they are building something with me,” she says, stressing that everyone has a voice at her lab meetings and that she loves to hear trainees’ own ideas about the direction of new projects.
Besides her postdoc advisor, another important mentor for Wendy was Dr. Eva Feldman, a neurologist whom she met at a conference as a postdoc. Eva was enthusiastic about Wendy’s presentation, and they formed a bond that would last throughout Wendy’s career. Eva became someone Wendy could check in with from time to time when issues arose, particularly issues regarding gender. “I was really glad to know a senior woman—there weren’t a lot around. I probably at that time didn’t think I needed [a female mentor], but I did gravitate to her, so maybe subconsciously I did.” Wendy has paid this mentorship forward in a big way, changing the landscape of the anesthesiology residency program at UCSD to make it a more welcoming environment for women. As she was transitioning from associate to full professor, she received an Association of American Medical Colleges Women’s Mid-Career Development Award and subsequently co-founded the Society for the Advancement of Women in Anesthesiology (SAWA). At the time, UCSD was matching an equal number of men and women into their anesthesiology residency program, yet the program’s cohorts were less than 20% women, far below the (still abysmal) national average of 29%. Women were not choosing to attend UCSD.
The idea behind SAWA’s “climate accelerator” program was simple – a group of women residents, postdocs, and faculty met three times a year to discuss issues they faced with each other and with guest speakers. It was simple but effective. Despite some negative attitudes from the “old guard” of men in the field, the climate accelerator was immensely successful. Just five years after SAWA started, although UCSD’s anesthesiology residency program was still accepting equal numbers of men and women, over 60% of women interviewed were deciding to accept their offers at UCSD, catapulting the program above the national average. Prospective female residents felt welcomed, seeing that there was a forum in place through which women’s opinions could be heard. On the heels of this success, Wendy teamed up with sociology professor Dr. Mary Blair-Loy to create the Center for Research on Gender in STEMM, applying SAWA’s climate accelerator model to all departments in the medical school. Wendy is now the director of this women’s group that spans the UCSD Health Sciences departments.
When she is not busy managing her lab or changing the face of the medical school, you will likely find Wendy spending time with her husband and dog or running. “There is something unique about running. It’s probably the endorphins,” she muses. “I solve problems when I run – it’s such a great place to do that uninterrupted.” Running has been a constant throughout Wendy’s life and career. Another constant has been her gravitation towards academia and the famed ivory tower. While Wendy has made her home in the ivory tower, she has not remained complacent there. Instead, she has been instrumental in changing it from the inside, making UCSD Health Sciences a more welcoming and accessible place for women.
Check out Catie’s full interview with Wendy on April 5th, 2019 below!
