EDI Spotlight Series: Renée Lawson on her neuroscience research journey and the power of opportunity

In this spotlight, we hear from Renée, a recent MSc to PhD transfer student conducting neuroscience research under the supervision of Dr. Daphne Voineskos at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). 

How did you become interested in neuroscience research?

My first introduction to anything neuroscience-related started after I suffered a nerve injury that affected my right arm and shoulder, significantly altering my future career plans as a professional dancer. Through the many different doctors’ appointments, treatment efforts and nerve testing sessions, I began to learn more about the central and peripheral nervous system on my own to cope with this major life change. That led me to take neuroscience courses through my psychology minor in undergrad (my major was Kinesiology), which was the reason I eventually decided that I wanted to pursue a career in neuroscience research in the future.

Fast forward to the summer of 2022, when I started as an Amgen Scholar at UofT, I was introduced to the intriguing world of clinical neurophysiology, specifically using transcranial magnetic stimulation and electroencephalography (TMS-EEG for short) to study neural correlates of various neurodegenerative diseases and mental illnesses. The mentorship and incredible experiences I gained that summer are what gave me the courage to apply to graduate school, and that is how I ended up in my current lab.

What do you like best about being a graduate student?

Definitely the flexibility! Every lab’s structure and methodology is different, resulting in very different experiences for students working in ‘wet-labs’ vs ‘dry-labs’. The work I do within the Temerty Centre for Therapeutic Brain Intervention at CAMH is very much ‘dry-lab’ oriented, as the data processing and analysis can all be done from my laptop. This allows me to structure my days in a way that fit me best, while still meeting all my goals and milestones. The nature of this set up is also supported by the fact that my supervisor (who I am incredibly grateful for) trusts me to complete everything concerning my thesis by the set deadlines, without needing me to adhere to the typical 9-5 schedule.

How did EDI impact your journey to becoming a graduate student?

EDI initiatives relating to both research experience and funding have been the backbone of my success thus far as a researcher. The Amgen Scholars Program was my first exposure to all facets of clinical research, and their acceptance criteria emphasized choosing candidates of minority backgrounds, even without previous research experience (which was a perfect description of me at the time!). Initiatives like these give people like me the opportunity to be introduced to career paths that would have not been well known by myself or family members, since I am the first in my family to go to graduate school. That program taught me so much, and forged connections that have influenced my success until today.

As for funding, my first year of applying to the CGS-M competition happened to be the year they introduced setting aside a specific number of awards for Black Scholars. As one of the recipients, the extra funding supported me in more ways than one, and positively contributed to my overall experience as a graduate student and researcher.

What would you say to your younger self?

I would tell her to look around a bit more, and take everything in. You’ll miss those who surround you every day, as university and post-grad life gets hectic fast. Hang on to every moment you have in dance training and performance opportunities. The changes and challenges that you will face over the next 8 years will be incredibly hard and devastating, but many great things will come up later on that you could have never expected. You are much stronger than you think.