An interview with Karen Sears Free

Let's start at the beginning – when did you first become interested in science?

My parents love to tell the story that, when asked what I wanted to do when I grew up, 5-year-old me would tell people that I wanted to be a paleoanthropologist. So, while my interests have shifted somewhat, my interest in mammals and evolution has been a part of who I am for a long time.

Where did you complete your PhD, and what did your research focus on?

I was awarded my PhD in 2003 at the University of Chicago, USA, from the Committee on Evolutionary Biology. My research focus was primarily on evolutionary biology in mammals, but I had already begun to dabble in developmental biology a bit.

What did you do after completing your PhD?

I joined the lab of Dr Lee Niswander at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, USA. Lee, in addition to being an amazing person and mentor, is a leader in the field of mammalian developmental genetics. I knew that to do the type of evo-devo research I wanted to do I needed the type of training that I could get in Lee's lab. After my time in Lee's lab, I joined the faculty of the University of Illinois, where I remained for 10 years, before moving to UCLA to become a Professor and Chair of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

What research questions did you initially set out to address when you established your own lab, and how did you end up working on such a range of organisms?

Starting a lab can be tough because there are so many research directions from which to choose! When I initially set out, my research focus was much as it today – how have mammals evolved, and why have they evolved the way that they have? Why have some forms evolved repeatedly, and others never evolved? Because these questions are grounded in the study of variation within and among species, I couldn't hope to answer them without working with a broad range of organisms. Not working on traditional model animals, the rate-limiting step, so to speak, of my research has always been tissue samples. So, every chance I had to get samples from new species I took it!

How has the focus of your lab shifted since you started it?

The focus has not shifted so much as extended to some degree. My lab has always worked to identify processes that drive change in organisms during their lives and over evolutionary time – we have just extended our focus from development to the entire lifespan. By broadening our scope, we can get a better picture of the factors driving organismal form, function and evolution.

Over the course of your career, have you noticed a change in how unconventional model organisms are viewed in the laboratory context?

Yes, definitely. I think the biggest factor that has driven the change, for good and for not-as-good, is the rise of genomics. Compared with 10 years ago, non-traditional species, at least in the mammalian realm, seem to be much more accepted as laboratory models. I think this is in large part due to the rapid accumulation of sequenced genomes, especially for mammals. That's the good. The not-so-good is that actual, hands-on functional testing remains time-intensive and difficult in most mammals, especially non-traditional models, and can require months, if not years, of foundational, establishing work. So, we might have a mammal's genome, but we are not usually able to test results derived from studying genomes in actual animals in a higher throughput manner. However, people that don't do functional testing don't always realize this, leading to a mismatch between expectations and reality. An example outcome of this would be a grant application that includes, let's say, genomics and functional testing in three or four non-traditional model organisms. Ten years ago, the application would likely have been viewed as too ambitious. But in the post-genomic era, the application might be viewed as not ambitious enough, even though the ‘throughput-ness’ of functional assays has not greatly improved. This disconnect in the rate at which we can generate genomic and functional data remains one of the largest obstacles to the further incorporation of non-traditional models into laboratory research.

Why did you accept the invitation to become Guest Editor for this Special Issue on Uncovering Developmental Diversity, and what was your role?

At this stage in my career, I feel that it is important for me to continue to help move the fields of development and evolution forward when I can. For the Special Issue, I was responsible for overseeing the review of many of the submitted articles in animal evolutionary developmental biology.

What have you enjoyed most about helping to curate the Special Issue?

I have enjoyed the opportunities to communicate with diverse members of the field about their research and to shepherd some exciting new research through the review pipeline.

What do you think are the most exciting questions in your field today?

It is tough to narrow this down, as there is so much exciting research being generated. I think, for me, the most exciting research is that which spans diverse fields and organisms to address questions that were previously out of reach. I am definitely a fan of big picture, cross-field research.

You are also actively involved in public outreach. Why is this important to you?

The public is crucial to what we do, in part because so much of our research as a field is funded by public dollars. It is therefore not only our duty (and honour) to inform the public of what their money has funded, but also important for the future funding of the field. I also just really love what I do, and I enjoy sharing it with people. Most people respond very positively, and that feeds back and makes me feel better about the work we are doing. It's a win-win.

Finally, is there anything that Development readers would be surprised to learn about you?

I am a pretty open book with very little filter, so I am sure many readers already know more than they want to about me! I guess one of the things I like to share with trainees is that imposter syndrome, or whatever one wants to call it, is real thing that, even as a full professor at a top university, I still experience almost every day. I also share with them that I struggle from time to time with a diagnosed anxiety condition. I do this because I think it is important to normalize the challenges many of us face in addition to celebrating our successes. Science is hard enough as it is.

Karen Sears was interviewed by Laura Hankins, Reviews Editor at Development. This piece has been edited and condensed with approval from the interviewee.