Julie Labau
Associate Researcher / PhD candidate at Yale University / Maastricht University
Living in Connecticut, United States
Passionate about science, exploration and social justice, Julie uses an interdisciplinary angle, from STEMM to photography via science communication, to find solutions to global issues. She is a PhD candidate at Yale and Maastricht University, funded by a Marie-Sklodowska Curie Actions fellowship. Her research work focuses on the pharmacogenetic interactions, or how genetic variations in our genome affect our response to treatments, in patients with neuropathic pain. She completed her Bachelor’s degree in Biological Science at the University of Greenwich, UK, in 2014, where she received the Royal Society of Biology Award for best performing student, and her Master’s degree at Maastricht University, Netherlands, in Fundamental Neuroscience in 2017. As part of her research degree, she spent a year at the Institute of Molecular Bioscience, Brisbane, Australia, studying venoms for pain research.
She also advocates for gender minorities in STEMM and has both participated and directed mentoring programs for girls and women pursuing a career in science. As a climate justice activist, she has also organised and led actions that have had a direct impact on current policies. Her prime goals lay in improving the quality of life of people afflicted by disease and raising awareness on health disparities globally. Julie is also an experienced hiker and aspiring mountaineer, she has gone on several week-long expeditions, summiting mountain ranges, volcanoes, and rafting rivers. She is also a documentary and travel photographer and aims to combine her science communication skills to tell stories that can help shape a better future.
