Jennifer Canale is a Senior Microbiologist for the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in Queens, NY, as well as an adjunct microbiology lecturer for City University of NY (York College and College of Staten Island). Jennifer is also passionate about promoting women in science and leads an annual women in science event at the FDA as a means to promote awareness about gender discrimination in the workplace.
[DXS] First, can you give me a quick overview of what your scientific background is and your current connection to science?
[DXS] First, can you give me a quick overview of what your scientific background is and your current connection to science?
[JC] I have always been interested in
science, and since most of my family worked in Bellvue Hospital, I was very
comfortable around people in lab coats. In the early seventies, at the age of 5, I
announced to my grandfather, the X-ray technician, and his brothers (my great
uncles) that I wanted to become a doctor, specifically a doctor that delivers
babies.
My grandfather was proud and my
uncles were dismayed. My uncle Joe said to me, “Jennifer, you mean a nurse like
your cousin Joanie, right?” My cousin Joan applied to Medical School in the sixties and the same group of uncles convinced her that her fiancé, Warren, wouldn’t
wait 4 years to get married and it was more lady-like to be a nurse. Today she
is a retired left-handed OR nurse that specializes in cracking open chests for
cardiac surgery, not so lady-like after all. So in an attempt to not have a
repeat of Joanie, my grandfather jumped to my defense against his brothers and
said that 'she can be a doctor if she wanted to be', and, furthermore, his niece Joanie
was smarter and more capable than most of the doctors he worked with and shouldn’t
have had to take orders from them.
My uncles agreed that there was
no question of the intellectual prowess possessed by both Joanie and myself, and their reluctance came out of concern for me.
They worked in the hospital, too, and saw how male doctors would abuse
the female ones and make their lives more difficult because they didn’t want to
allow girls in the all-boys club. “Do you want our baby - our most precious
blood - to have to fight her whole life for this? What about the family - how will
she find a husband and bring us more children if she sticks her nose in a book
the rest of her life?” These arguments
sounded a lot better when they were stated in Sicilian. Back then, the concept
of 'women can have it all' - work and family - was not the norm like it is today.
My grandfather came back with his
final answers to them. I was his granddaughter, I looked just like him, I was a
fighter just like him, and this is America and she will be what she wants to be, 'End of Story'. My uncles agreed that I was his granddaughter, I looked just
like him, and I was a stubborn mule just like him, so he was probably right and
they would pray for me and secretly hope I would change my mind.
Now this all transpired in front
of me in a combination of English and Sicilian while I stood there in my denim
overalls with a Tweety Bird patch. I was listening, and since I was only
beginning to learn Sicilian, I only caught a couple of words: blood, children,
book, change, and I misunderstood the word for fighter as “afraid.” I added to
my grandfather’s “end of story” remark that I was not afraid of blood, I can
learn how to deliver children from a book, and questioned why they wanted me to
change- those overalls were my favorite!

My parents eventually gave up,
and my uncles kept praying for that change of mind, but I spent the late seventies and early eighties winning science fairs with experiments my Uncle Ben, the
electrician, rigged for me. They thought there was hope for me to be more
“lady-like” in 1984 when I started high school and wanted to try out for the cheerleading
squad, but the teachers advised me that “the cheer squad” was no place for an
“honor student” like me. So it was off to advanced placement Biology and
Chemistry, and by graduation in 1988, I was accepted to the pre-med program at
NYU.

The NYU pre-med was highly
competitive - a constant process of elimination from 500 students (1:3,
female:male) down to only 109 of us
actually completing the program. The men thought it was strategic to flirt with
the girls and convince us that we shouldn’t become doctors but instead should
marry them. The guy that told me that got a punch in the stomach – in the name
of the other women that worked. It was also apparent that many were planting
the seeds of doubt in the pre-med females, stating that if we became doctors,
then we wouldn’t be able to have a family.
In essence, we were being told that we would be giving up the chance to
have children. You had to go against your “true female nature” to breed and nurture and (instead) become a selfish and testosterone-like human to make it in this field. That
was the nail in the coffin for a lot of the women in my program. The most
brutal tactic and final blow to confidence was when I heard someone say that
“only the ugly girls become doctors because no man would want them.”


I met discrimination on both
sides of the stereotypical coin, in academia and in the work force. I was told
when I was interviewing for graduate schools (and then for science jobs) that I
had several strikes against me. First, strike one, my thick Staten Island/
Brooklyn accent supposedly made me sound less intelligent. My mentor in graduate
school, Dr. Mark Albano, said to tell people to kiss your “you know what” because as long as I could
discuss topics like “molecular genetics” who cares how it sounds. Besides he
found my accent endearing, especially because it made boring topics sound more
interesting.
Strike two was my long hair. I was told that my long hair was not
practical in a scientific environment, and if I looked too glamorous on
interviews I would not be taken seriously. I put my hair in a bun and toned
down my make-up, but I didn’t cut it.
Apparently, I looked too feminine, especially given my major curves, and
even my power suits could not hide that. Women at the time were dressing very
masculine (think early Miranda on Sex in the City) to compete with men for
jobs. When I got the interview for my first job with Dr. Moretti in the
Reproductive Immunology Lab at St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Staten Island, I
remember wearing a black and white houndstooth print sheath dress with a
matching short suit jacket, accessorized with pearls. Dr. Moretti said I was like Rosalind Franklin
and Jackie Kennedy all rolled up into one, with a side order of cannoli.
The early 2000s arrived, and
attitudes toward science changed. Shows like CSI became wildly popular. Science
fiction movies about transforming robots became blockbusters. People began to
use technology in their everyday lives, such as smart phones, tablets, and car
navigation systems, and it suddenly became “cool.” I met my husband in 1999, and since I really
was into him, I told him the truth about being a “microbiologist” from the
start. He said, and I quote, “Wow, your
smart, sexy, and Sicilian - it’s like I hit the Lotto!”

So now I have it all: I am a
female scientist, a wife, and a mother, even though others didn’t think that
would be possible. But I always knew it
would happen. I understood and forgave my uncles because I knew that they wanted
to protect me, not hinder me. As for all my doubters I regularly take Dr.
Albano’s advise and tell them to kiss my “you know what!”
Even my current supervisor,
Maureen Coakley, recently told me in an interview that I am an “anomaly,”
meaning that I am a flamboyant scientist. That was one of the best compliments
I ever received. I am who I am, and that is why my playlist on my iPhone has
the “Big Bang Theory Theme Song” followed by “I’m sexy and I know it!”
Times have changed. Perceptions
have altered in a good way, but not entirely.
Lesson learned from both academia and the school of life is that some people
will get you and some people won’t. If they don’t, don’t take it personally
because it is their loss and their ignorance. Some people see the person, and some see the stereotype. All you can do is try to educate them in an
attempt to bust the stereotype. The only perception that matters is how you
perceive yourself and use that perception as a means to become the woman that
you were meant to be.
[DXS] What ways do
you express yourself creatively that may not have a single thing to do with
science?
[JC] Ever since planning my wedding in 2004, I have been
interested in event planning. I have a knack
at coordinating events, which I do as part of my collateral duties at FDA,
where I have served as the Women's Program Coordinator for the past 9
years. People call me the "Fun Fairy" because I can be very
creative and take any topic, put a different and interesting spin on it, and
present it to a group in very entertaining ways. My creativity is driven by my intellectualism,
and I incorporate that into something fun and memorable. I always make little
inexpensive favors - buy them to give out to my audience - that are"theme
oriented," and they keep them as a reminder of the event.
The people I work with have whole
collections of these favors, and they remember what each one stands for.
For instance, the Women's History Month theme for one year was "Our
History is Our Strength." Before
planning this event, I had attended at NYU the Satellite Summit of National
Women's Conference hosted by Maria Shriver (then 1st Lady of California) and
the First Lady, Michelle Obama. So I thought I would highlight the
contributions of the First Ladies to US history. I found an educational video
on the history of the First Ladies, did a presentation on the Satellite Summit,
and even had a fashion show featuring of reproductions of Jacqueline
Kennedy jewelry collection (my favorite first lady). I used the symbol of
a "Cameo" to represent the first ladies, and so I made a huge
paper one with beads on tulle on my bulletin board with pictures of the first
ladies around it and gave out cameo bracelets that I made from gluing plastic
cameo buttons on ribbon. Everyone still has a cameo on their desk at work,
occasionally conjuring up memories of my First Ladies event.
[DXS] Do you find
that your scientific background informs your creativity, even though what you
do may not specifically be scientific?
[JC] My entire life is influenced by, or even revolves around,
"Science." I love science fiction
movies, books, comic books, etc. Any
inspiration I get for any of my creative projects always has some root in
something "science-related." I also think that my background in
science helps make my visions come to life. Even the smallest details like the
stemware I chose for my wedding was a Mikasa pattern that resembled a DNA
double helix, or a hexagonal candleholder that looked like a benzene ring (at
least it did to me!). Another example comes from my Women's Program, when
the theme was "Writing Women Back Into History." So I found a book
called The Women of Apollo, which gave the untold story of the
women engineers who had critical contributions to the Apollo Space programs. For me, all roads lead back to science.
[DXS] Have you
encountered situations in which your expression of yourself outside the bounds
of science has led to people viewing you differently--either more positively or
more negatively?

[DXS] Have you
found that your non-science expression of creativity/activity/etc. has in any
way informed your understanding of science or how you may talk about it or
present it to others?
[JC] In planning these events, I have come up with a formula of sorts
to create a successful soirée. Of
course, this formula is an entire science in itself. I have to consider things
like timing, lighting, printed materials (programs, table cards, menus, etc.) and a gamut of other things that involve an understanding of science. I am a
biologist with a minor in chemistry, but the more I do these events, the more I get into
things like astronomy (for a celestial-themed wedding, for instance). I mention lighting, which seems so simple, because
it is actually quite complicated - getting the right reflections and materials to use (i.e.-
LEDs, wax candles vs. battery operated, the limitations of pyrotechnics in
party venues) is critical. Even in doing crafts for favors and printed
materials, like event programs, I’ve learned different scientific techniques, such the right kind of bonding
agent to use to attach ribbons, charms, or vinyl decorations, or even the use
of edible ink in printers to make fondant or wafer decorations to put on
cupcakes or cakes. It is a continuous learning experience.
[DXS] How
comfortable are you expressing your femininity and in what ways? How does this
expression influence people’s perception of you in, say, a scientifically
oriented context?

[DXS] Do you think
that the combination of your non-science creativity and scientific-related
activity shifts people’s perspectives or ideas about what a scientist or
science communicator is? If you’re aware of such an influence, in what way, if
any, do you use it to (for example) reach a different corner of your audience
or present science in a different sort of way?

I feel my true gift is being able
to communicate science. My mentor in
graduate school always told me I had the talent of taking complicated
scientific ideas and expressing them in a way that anyone could understand. I
have some ideas brewing involving science books for children and teens, and I
would like to explore these avenues in order to share this gift with others. I
would also like to get involved in maybe writing for popular science
publications, if given the opportunity.
[DXS] If you had
something you could say to the younger you about the role of expression and
creativity in your chosen career path, what would you say?
[JC] I would say be true to yourself. Whatever path you take
career-wise, always remember that is could be something you will be
doing the rest of your life. Yes, there are
financial considerations to make, but if you do not have that creative
outlet incorporated into your career, then you will be miserable. I am the
happiest at work when I am planning a Women's Program alongside doing experiments or
going to my second job as a professor at York College. You need the
creativity to keep the blood flowing. Where would science be without
creativity? Find what your talent is and what makes you happy, and then apply
it to your career. That is the
secret to success.
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