Katharine Hubert advocates for disability in STEM
Katharine Hubert, who grew up in Monongahela, Pennsylvania, is graduating this winter with a PhD in genetics. In this Q&A, she talks about her motivations behind researching genetics, her experience co-founding CHAMP, Chronic Health Allies Mentorship Program, and her work to make lab equipment more accessible. Katharine will be staying in Madison to pursue a postdoc with hopes of having her own research lab.
Why did you choose your program? What was the most interesting or the coolest thing you learned?
During my undergraduate studies, I began experiencing an array of symptoms, which, unbeknownst to me, would take ~6 years to be diagnosed. While I initially intended to pursue a genetic counseling career, my experiences as a patient inspired me to pursue research. As a patient, I was frustrated by the lack of treatments/answers and recognized this was due to gaps in our scientific knowledge.
I chose to pursue my degree in Genetics to become a patient-scientist and not only bridge the gaps in knowledge surrounding my own condition, but also to work to bridge the disconnect between biomedical research and patients’ experiences.
What student organizations, groups, and other activities were you involved in?
During my time at UW–Madison, I co-founded and co-directed CHAMP (Chronic Health Allies Mentorship Program) from 2020-2023. The goal of this organization was to create relationships between undergraduate and graduate students who manage chronic illness, chronic pain, or physical disability. In fostering these one-on-one mentoring relationships, we sought to build self-advocacy skills, create feelings of belonging and inclusion, and offer support and advice, ultimately working to grow the disability/chronic health community on campus, especially within STEM fields.
What are your future academic and/or career plans, short-term and long-term?
I’ll be staying in Madison to pursue a postdoc and hope to one day have my own research lab. Disability advocacy in STEM will be a critical part of my career journey.
When you think about your time here as a student, what are you proud of?
I am most proud of my disability in STEM advocacy work. In addition to founding/directing CHAMP, I also created #labdaptations (lab + adaptations, one word), or the tools I use in the lab to make research accessible to me. #labdaptations started out of necessity during my second year of grad school-I needed to adapt my research equipment in order to maintain my independence and functionality in the lab. However, the decision to share these tools online was fueled by a desire to increase dialogue surrounding disability in STEM and promote inclusive practices in research. The response from the broader scientific community has been overwhelmingly positive.
In addition to speaking at UW–Madison inaugural Disability in STEM symposium, I’ve had the opportunity to share #labdaptations and my experiences as a disabled scientist via serving on a Genetics Society of America panel (“Creating and maintaining accessible research environments”), been interviewed for a Chemical and Engineering News article (“Making Space in STEM for people with disabilities”), co-authored “Navigating a research career with a disability”, and most recently, wrote a Nature’s Reviews Chemistry Comment article, “#labdaptations for inclusive laboratory research”. Encouraged by the immense interest, I’ve complied my #labdaptations into an easily shareable database (labdaptations.com) and am currently working with a team of Biomedical Engineering students to invent new accessible research equipment.
If you had to eat one Babcock ice cream flavor for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
Very difficult question…probably Mnookie Dough. I’ve always loved chocolate chip cookie dough and enjoy the twist on the classic flavor.
What’s your favorite thing about the city of Madison?
I love that the city doesn’t feel like a city, yet has most things larger cities have (i.e. museums, symphony, etc.). There are many natural areas not too far from campus that have brought me great peace and joy. I also love the food scene and in particular trying new restaurants during restaurant week.