Chrystelle L. Vilfranc, PhD loading…

First things first, I am a Brooklyn native. Besides my obligatory reminder that I am indeed from Brooklyn, New York, here is more about me and my mission for this site:

I am a first-generation American born to Caribbean immigrants. At a young age, I was always a curious and creative child, which led to my love for science and writing. I loved science and learning a bit about medicine from my father. I also enjoyed writing stories and poems as a child. Apparently, I inherited my family’s natural writing skills.

I followed my passion for science and medicine in college, majoring in Biochemistry and minoring in Mathematics. Upon completion of my Bachelor’s degree, I attended a National Institute of Health (NIH)-funded post-baccalaureate program for a year, in preparation for graduate school. I am currently pursuing my PhD in Cancer and Cell Biology. My dissertation project is looking at a very large protein that plays a big role in regulating DNA damage response and repair, including in the liver. I am trying to determine how this protein protects the liver against chronic liver injury and the most popular liver cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Currently, I serve as a digital curator for #VanguardSTEM, an online platform for women and non-binary persons of color in STEM. I have created a mental health writing series in collaboration with #VanguardSTEM, known as: #RevealToHeal. This series was made for, but not exclusive to women and non-binary persons of color in STEM.

I am learning to balance my creative writing and my scientific writing voices. Writing a blog piece calls for a more personal writing tone than a scientific article for a peer-reviewed journal. One of my goals with this site, is to create a playground for both of my voices to be free. However, my take on scientific writing may be unusual for some.

I am a firm believer that scientific research should be better presented to the general public. I do not know people outside of the science field who read scientific journals to learn more about cancer or any research advances. With that being said, I am challenging myself to share my interpretations of science literature, especially on topics regarding women’s health. However, I will do my best to write clearly and effectively and most importantly, avoid jargon. Call me out in the comments section, if ever something is not completely clear.

I am an advocate for mental health, as I have personal experience with maintaining my mental health and well-being. I am an endometriosis warrior who is still learning more about endometriosis and how it affects my body. Most importantly, I am a proud dog-mom, daughter, sister, aunt, godmother, and friend.

I hope through this portal you are able to learn quite a bit about graduate school, mental health, endometriosis, the world of research and academia, which is all basically my life in a nutshell.

Thanks for stopping by. Be sure to stick around!