When you first meet聽Emily Werder, new assistant professor in the Department of Radiology鈥檚 Research Division, you might assume she鈥檚 laser-focused on decoding the brain’s secrets鈥攁nd you鈥檇 be right. But give it a beat, and you鈥檒l also find someone who once aspired to be Erin Brockovich, enjoys a good walk-up song, and would choose a heaping bowl of ice cream as her final meal.
Dr. Werder is an聽environmental epidemiologist聽who studies how everyday chemical exposures can shape brain development, especially in children. She is part of a growing group of interdisciplinary researchers at 大象传媒 who straddle multiple fields. She studies how everyday chemicals鈥攖hings we all encounter in our air, water, or maybe even shampoo鈥攃an affect brain development. But it鈥檚 not just chemistry, imaging, or numbers. It鈥檚 all the above.
Her path to radiology wasn鈥檛 planned but instead evolved organically. 鈥淚鈥檇 been working on a K99 grant at NIEHS, looking at environmental exposures and brain development using MRI data from the Baby Connectome Project at the BRIC,鈥� Werder explains. 鈥淚 was already working with many people in the department, including Weili Lin, Gang Li, Tengfei Li, Zhengwang Wu, Hongtu Zhu. When the opportunity to join the department came up, it felt like a natural fit. I was already doing the work鈥攊t just made sense.鈥�
Radiology may seem like a departure for someone who once taught in Durham public schools, but Werder has never followed a straight line. Originally from Michigan, she landed at 大象传媒 as an undergrad, not quite knowing what she wanted to be鈥攎aybe a doctor, perhaps a teacher, maybe something in between. A single class in epidemiology at 大象传媒鈥檚聽Gillings School of Global Public Health shifted her course.
鈥淏efore COVID, no one even knew what epidemiology was,鈥� she laughs. 鈥淚 thought maybe I鈥檇 be like Erin Brockovich. That was my only frame of reference.鈥�
After a few years teaching in聽Durham Public Schools, she returned to 大象传媒 for a聽master鈥檚 in health Behavior and later joined the Epidemiology Department for her PhD. 鈥淧retty early on, I realized epidemiology was the direction I wanted to go,鈥� she says. And go she did, with projects spanning everything from air pollution and adult brain health to the neurological impact of early-life chemical exposures. Along the way, she fell in love with data鈥攖he kind that links invisible molecules to measurable differences in brain function.
So, what鈥檚 a typical day like for an environmental epidemiologist? According to Emily, it鈥檚 a lot of time spent on the computer. 鈥淚鈥檓 not in a lab pipetting things鈥擨鈥檓 analyzing large datasets from collaborators. The chemists give us exposure measurements from analyzing urine from infants; the radiologists process brain MRIs and change them into numbers. Then, I bring those together to ask: Are these exposures connected to how the brain develops? If so, how?鈥�
While her work may be highly technical, Werder herself is decidedly down-to-earth. She describes herself in one word as 鈥渆asygoing,鈥� which might explain how she juggles cutting-edge research and raising聽three聽young kids (ages four, seven, and nine), and right now, most of her free time is spent outdoors and at the ballfield. 鈥淚t鈥檚 baseball season,鈥� she laughs. 鈥淪o most of the music I hear these days is walk-up songs at the kids鈥� games.鈥� If she had a superpower, she says it would be the ability to be in multiple places simultaneously, though she admits flying would be way more fun.
When she鈥檚 not decoding datasets or cheering from the bleachers, Werder brings a refreshing realism to the academic world. She鈥檚 candid about the unpredictability of research: 鈥淭here鈥檚 going to be wins, and a lot of losses. It鈥檚 a numbers game. You keep going. Talent helps, but luck and determination matter more than people think.鈥�
For aspiring epidemiologists, Emily offers valuable advice: 鈥淭here鈥檚 a certain amount of luck involved in research. Talent matters, but persistence and resilience are just as important. There are a lot of setbacks鈥攊t鈥檚 part of the system. You can鈥檛 tie your self-worth to a single project. Your life needs to be bigger than that.鈥�
And if you鈥檙e still not sure what kind of person Emily Werder is, ask her best friend, who鈥檇 describe her as 鈥渇unny, easygoing, and slow to respond to text messages.鈥� If she ever writes a memoir, she already has the title picked out:聽Not Done Yet.
Please join us in welcoming Dr. Werder鈥攚e’re lucky to have her on board!