Profile
Delma Childers
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About Me:
I grew up with my eyes on the stars – both by watching Star Wars and planning how to become an astronaut. I am now a scientist and I have a garden trying to take over my living room and flour scattered all over the corners of my kitchen from when I’m baking.
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I live in Aberdeen with my husband. We want pets, but right now we’re living with my collection of plants that are slowly taking over the living room. I love pizza with pineapple or even grilled pineapple with some cinnamon sprinkled on top. I can recall most every jingle from a movie, TV show, or advertisement. My pronouns are she/her.
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I work at the Institute of Medical Sciences at the University of Aberdeen. My lab is really interested in understanding how a certain type of microbe, fungi, cause infections. Some fungi are pretty scary and can become resistant to drugs, or antimicrobials, we use in treatment. So my lab looks at how these resistant fungi became resistant. We also look at how human cells, macrophages, gobble up fungi that have been treated with antimicrobials. These macrophages are part of our natural defense system against fungi and other microbes, so if we can find a way to help them do their job better, we can help fight these infections.
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My Typical Day:
My typical day starts with coffee. Probably too much of it, if I’m honest! I eat breakfast, then walk to work. I’ll pop into the lab real quick to see how everything is doing. I used to do a lot of experiments in the lab, but now I spend more time in my office writing. I write lots of different things – I write grants to support my students, I write articles to show what discoveries we’ve made, and I end up writing a lot of emails! At the end of the workday I go home and have dinner with my husband.
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Coffee is the essential start to my day. I even take it to work with me!
I used to do a lot of work in the lab. We call our workstations benches, so I would go to my bench and setup experiments with fungi. Sometimes I have to go to a special cabinet with controlled airflow to grow human or mouse cells for my experiments. Humans and mice have cells called macrophages that are part of our natural defense against microbes. The fungi I work on can be gobbled by macrophages and killed, but sometimes this process doesn’t work in us. I investigate how antimicrobials can help macrophages control microbes so that we can do a better job of fighting these infections.
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Education:
Schreiner University (2003-2006; Kerrville, Texas, United States); University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (2006-2012; San Antonio, Texas, United States)
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Qualifications:
Bachelors of Science in Biology; Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology
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Work History:
Lecturer in Aberdeen (2019-now); Research Fellow studying yeast in Aberdeen (2016-2019); Postdoctoral researcher at University of Edinburgh working on an International Space Station microbe project (2015-2016); Research Fellow at University of Aberdeen researching yeast that cause infections (2013-2015), Graduate Student at University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (2006-2012)
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Patient, Persistent, Resourceful
What did you want to be after you left school?
An astronaut
Were you ever in trouble at school?
Very rarely
Who is your favourite singer or band?
Lately, lots of Oldies: Gloria Gaynor, Otis Redding, The O'Jays, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas
What's your favourite food?
Fried dill pickles with ranch dipping sauce
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
1. Achieve consistent work-life balance; 2. Make a difference by inspiring students about science through my teaching or discovering a better treatment for fungal diseases; 3. Have the time and resources to explore more of our world through travel.
Tell us a joke.
I could tell you a science joke, but all the good ones Argon.
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