Dr. Charli Fant and Her Work at Zoetis
On Tuesday of this week our class had the privilege of hearing from Dr. Charli Fant talk to our class about herself and the work that she is doing at Zoetis! Dr. Fant is an alum of Transylvania University and went on to get her PhD and is now working in industry! It was a great opportunity for our class to hear from and talk with someone who had been sitting in the same seats as all of us not that long ago!
Zoetis
Zoetis is an animal health company that is developing as well as manufacturing veterinary medicines, vaccines, and diagnostic products for livestock as well as companion animals. They are a stop animal health company that has the mission to improve the health of animals and make a positive impact on the world during the process! On Zoetis website I saw that there is an importance on the development of genomic tools that can be used to improve animal health. They are working to try and better understand the genetic makeup of animals to help develop targeted solutions for preventing as well as treating different diseases. In addition to their work in genomics, Zoetis is also very focused on developing new vaccines and treatments for a range of animal diseases. This company has a large variety of different products in development and their commitment to research and development is seen through their investment in state-of-the-art facilities as well as their partnership with various academic institutions and other companies in the animal health arena! Zoetis’ work has become a crucial part of improving the health and well-being of animals that in turn also benefits farmers, pet owners, and even our society as a whole!
During her presentation, Dr. Charli Fant, a Senior Scientist at Zoetis, discussed some of her work and also brought up the term “in silico.” This term was originally meant, “performed on computer or via computer simulation,” but in modern science it refers to experimental techniques performed by computers and is related to the more established terms of in vivo and in vitro studies. This was a term that I have very heard before, let alone knew what it meant, but it was super cool to learn more about it through Dr. Fant’s presentation as well as doing some outside research of my own! She discussed how in silico could be used in their model of the discovery engine as well as gearing up for the challenges that they would be faced with as they moved ahead in their development process! It was also very interesting to hear about some of the company's principles which includes: accountability does not preclude collaboration, communication continues to be key, and interfaces exist where they are not emphasized or indicated - embrace it!
Personal Reflection Questions
At the end of her presentation, Dr. Fant asked our class three different questions, "What gets you excited about science? What is your personal why? What kind of team member are you?" All of these different questions are very interesting questions and very valid things for us to all think about! I have personally thought about all of these questions a couple times before, but the one question that I have thought about a couple times before is the one Dr. Fant's brought but is what is my personal why? I feel like I think about what my purpose is a lot! I know that with my time on these earth I want to make some kind of an impact on the people that I have the chance to come into contact with. I have always known that I wanted to help people in some sort of why in my profession, which has changed from time to time. I have always felt a lot of empathy for those in need and I hope that one day my why will be helping others!
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