Karin A. Remington, ‘85

Current job title:
Director, Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, National Institute of General Medical Sciences, NIH

One sentence summary of what you do:
Our Center provides grant funding to academic researchers for projects that bring computer science and mathematical tools to biological research.  I also lead a coordination effort for similar programs across the 27 Institutes and Centers comprising NIH.

Concrete examples of what you do:
I read a lot of grant applications.

I read a lot of scientific journal articles, so that I can understand the material in the applications.

I talk to researchers on the phone, answering questions about the NIH grant process, talking about their science and grant application, and discussing with them how their favorite project might fit into the broader goals of NIH.

I follow up on awarded grants to ensure that the research is progressing at a reasonable pace and that I keep up on any course changes as the projects develop through several years of funding.

How does your work impact the general public?
We support work that leads to better understanding of life processes, which ultimately leads to improvements in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease.

What other positions have you held in your field?
I worked for many years with Dr. Craig Venter, a renowned scientist in the field of “genomics”, which is the study of our DNA and how it works to set life in motion and keep life going.  My first position in the field was at Celera Genomics, a small start-up biotech company which took on the daunting task of sequencing the complete human genome (our chief competition was led by my current employer, NIH!)  Later, I went to work for Dr. Venter at a non-profit research institute he established after leaving Celera.  There I lead a research team that analyzed genomic data from, of all things, the microbes living in various ocean environments. Though tiny, these microbes play an enormous role in the Earth’s natural energy processes. Somewhere in there we also analyzed the genome of the dog – Craig Venter’s standard poodle named Shadow, who often came to the office to observe.

Can you pinpoint the moment, or series of moments, when you knew you were going to pursue science (e.g., as a child you liked to mix liquids to see the effects)?

I enjoyed both the science and math I learned as a child, but I certainly never felt a “calling” –  and that was still missing even upon finishing a Ph.D.!  In retrospect, I didn’t really understand what “science” was.  I finally realized what I was missing during our effort at the Venter Institute to mine the genome sequence data from the seawater samples we’d taken in the Sargasso Sea near Bermuda.  We’d pulled together a group of biologists to work together with my group of informaticists, and I realized just how open the field was, and how sometimes even the most naïve questions (my specialty!) were difficult to answer.  The exchanges with top-notch scientists who were both extremely knowledgeable, but also humble enough question their own assumptions, led me to understand how the excitement of science wasn’t in the knowledge, but in the search. This was only a handful of years ago. I wonder often how different my life would be if I’d really understood what it meant to be a scientist back when I was still in training, some 25 years ago.

What does science literacy mean to you?
When I think of “science literacy”, I think of a comfort level that we all can and should have when talking and reasoning about the areas where science touches our lives, from coping with an energy crisis to coping with a serious medical diagnosis.  We all are born scientists, asking “why?” and “how?” all the time (parents reading this will know it well!).   If we can keep that questioning spirit, and give up the temptation to leave it to the “experts”, then there so much that is accessible to even the most general audience.   Certainly some details may not be decipherable, but coming to an understanding of where discoveries are leading us, and how we best can consider and use those discoveries as we make decisions – in our society, or in our personal lives – is not only a possibility but a responsibility. 

How do you see the general public “using/thinking” science every day?
There’s science everywhere in our thinking these days. In small things like trying to make good choices about what we eat, in big things like trying to make the right choice about medical treatment for our loved ones, and in shared issues like trying to ensure that our environment is healthy and sustainable. We have an avalanche of science information to process – stories in the news every day, comments from politicians and lobbying groups that hope to invoke science to be persuasive, a world-wide-web that we can Google at will to look up medical information before or after we check in with our doctor.  Each of us has to filter this information, and come up with what we feel is most credible and worthy of our attention and action, and what requires more questioning.

What do you love about science?
I love the cascade of discovering new things – one idea leading to another, like a mystery revealing itself piece by piece. I used to think scientists knew much more than they actually do, but now realize how much more enjoyable it is not know, and be working to uncover something new.

How might the general public get more involved/engaged in science in their lives?

The key to science is a questioning mind. It’s something that we all have – we were definitely born with it – and somehow we tend to turn it off when we hear about science in the news, or read about science on the web.  It’s easy to think the “experts” know it all.   When you start to question what you hear or read, you can appreciate just what it means to be a scientist. It isn’t to know a lot and tell everyone what you know, but to admit all that is not known, and settle in to figure it out.

Institutional Advancement
College of Saint Benedict
St. Joseph, MN 56374
(320) 363-5682
(800) 648-3468