Volunteer Program

Ana Rafaela Teixeira – JEM, February-July 2025

Ana Rafaela Teixeira has a Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry and a Master’s degree in Molecular and Cell Biology from the University of Porto, Portugal. She completed her PhD studies in the lab of Dr. Joana Tavares at the Institute for Research and Innovation in Health (i3S) in Porto, Portugal studying the efficacy and immune response of vaccination against Plasmodium’s pre-erythrocytic phase in preclinical models. She is currently conducing postdoctoral studies in the lab of Dr. Michel Nussenzweig at the Rockefeller University, New York, USA, trying to understand the mechanisms underlying the latency in the establishment of HIV reservoirs.

Marwa Saad – JEM, August 2024–January 2025

Marwa obtained her bachelor’s degree in biomedical sciences from Western Michigan University. As an undergraduate, she trained in Dr. Wendy Beane’s laboratory of stem cell and regeneration where she investigated the role of heat shock proteins in planarian flatworm regeneration. She also trained in Dr. Stefani Spranger’s laboratory at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she was introduced to and intrigued by the field of tumor immunology. Marwa is currently a fifth year PhD fellow at the Rockefeller University. She is doing her thesis project in Dr. Daniel Mucida’s laboratory of mucosal immunology. Her project investigates T lymphocyte recruitment dynamics in various stages of colorectal cancer using genetic fate-mapping mouse model combined with colonoscope-based tumor implantation system. Throughout her PhD, Marwa developed an interest in scientific editing. She is currently volunteering and training with Dr. Montse Cols at the Journal of Experimental Medicine where she is further cultivating this interest.

"For the past few months, I had an invaluable experience volunteering at JEM under the outstanding supervision of Dr. Montserrat Cols. Montse has been an encouraging, enthusiast, and a thorough mentor. She provided training with detailed feedback on the various activities an editor usually does, such as assessing manuscripts including transfers, finding peer-reviewers, communicating with authors, commissioning front matter topics and finding potential authors, planning meetings at conferences, and discussing various aspects of the editorial process. That gave me a more comprehensive view of the editorial track, which I developed more interest in pursuing after completing my PhD. I also appreciated the monthly journal club held by the JEM team. It gave me an opportunity to discuss recent papers and interact more with the JEM members, who were all very welcoming and eager to help. I cannot be more grateful for Montse and the whole JEM/ RUP team for making this unique opportunity possible!"

Marina Schernthanner – JEM, January–June 2024

Marina received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Innsbruck in Austria. For her master’s thesis work, she studied the role of prostaglandins at the stromal:epithelial interface within the context of colorectal cancer and inflammatory bowel disease in Dr. Richard Flavell’s laboratory at Yale in New Haven (United States). Following a brief research internship at the Institute of Cancer Research of the Medical University of Vienna (Austria) in Dr. Dietmar Herndler-Brandstetter’s lab, Marina then joined Dr. Elaine Fuchs’ lab at the Rockefeller University in New York (United States) for her graduate studies. Here, she has been focusing on dissecting stem cell:niche communication in spatial detail across the skin and gut epithelial barriers, implementing state-of-the-art transcriptomic and imaging approaches.

"I interned with Montserrat Cols at the Journal of Experimental Medicine (JEM) for ~6 months in early 2024. During my time there, Montse has introduced me to every single facet of the editorial life in a very fun, creative and engaging way. I was involved in reviewing papers, assigning reviewers, forming editorial decisions about manuscripts and communicating those to the authors, while regularly being prompted to pitch ideas for review and opinion pieces at JEM, etc. When I review papers with my PI, I am typically left in the unknown about what happens to those manuscripts, so it was refreshing to see how the journey continues and how much more goes into publishing a manuscript. I can only recommend taking an opportunity like this, especially if you are considering alternative job perspectives following a PhD or postdoc. Not only did I learn a lot, I also met wonderful new colleagues, got exposed to often inspiring new findings in research and am left reassured that working as an editor at a scientific journal for me will be a gratifying plan B, should academia not be a fit for me."

Emily Atlas – JCB, January–June 2024

Emily completed her undergraduate studies at Columbia University, majoring in biochemistry and working in the labs of Dr. Oliver Hobert and Dr. Martin Chalfie to study neurogenetics and neuronal cell biology in C. elegans. Upon entering graduate school at Rockefeller University, Emily grew interested in understanding the dynamic cellular behaviors and interactions involved in robustly structuring organs. For her thesis work in the lab of Dr. Jim Hudspeth, she studies a cell rotation event that precisely places pairs of sensory cells found on the skin of the zebrafish. She enjoys the interdisciplinary nature of her research and the collaboration among the biologists and physicists in the lab. In the future, Emily is interested in continuing to study cell behaviors involved in organ development and regeneration by both describing their behaviors and manipulating them in a growing tissue. This past Spring 2024, Emily completed a part-time volunteer program with the editorial staff at JCB, where she helped to handle papers covering a broad range of topics in cell biology from DNA replication to cytokinesis to cellular migration. She also aided in the preparation of Special Collections highlighting key JCB papers covering a particular topic, such as cancer cell biology.

"Volunteering at JCB was a great learning experience. I gained a deeper and broader understanding of the editorial review process from submission to acceptance. It required me to zoom out and think more broadly about a wide range of cellular biology topics."