Chelsea Matisz (she/her)

About me

I was born/grew up in: I was born and grew up in Medicine Hat, Alberta.

I now live in: I live in Lethbridge, Alberta

I completed my training/education at: I completed my undergraduate degree in Biological Sciences, and my Master’s Degree at the University of Lethbridge. I earned my PhD at the University of Calgary, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship position there. I then moved back to Lethbridge to complete a second postdoctoral fellowship position.

What I do at work

My days are often different, which I enjoy. I may be planning a new experiment and sorting out the various treatment and control groups. This involves reading the research literature for background information. When I’m running animal experiments, I’m often in the area where we keep our study animals. Here I might be weighing mice or running behavioural experiments with them. When the animal experiments are ended, tissues are collected for processing. On those days, you can find me at the lab bench. I might be staining brain tissues with florescent antibodies. At other times I’m using fancy microscopes to see what different regions of the brain looks like. Or I might be measuring levels of inflammation markers in mouse poop.

When I’m analyzing data, I’m at my computer. Here, I’m in heaven! I love seeing how all the data comes together. As patterns in the data become clear, I start asking new questions. Lately I’ve been trying to learn how to write computer code. I’m planning to use this to automate the animal behaviours, which are all recorded on video. I use a lot of math and chemistry in my research. Chemistry was never a strong subject for me in school. Now I’ve become really interested in certain small molecules, and how they can travel from the gut to the brain. As a result, I’m learning a lot about biochemistry and metabolism pathways of different amino acids.

Much of the work I do involves problem solving. Experiments rarely go smoothly! Sometimes I have to figure out how to improve the ways I can visualize the different cells in the brain. For example, should I increase the concentration of the antibodies that I’m using? How can I stain my sample so I only see the things I’m interested in seeing? Other times I need to ask myself why my prediction didn’t turn out as I expected. For example, why didn’t my mice respond to the treatment? Is the dose of the drug too low? How is it absorbed by the body? Should I try injecting it, instead of putting it in their water?

There are times with I might not be sure of which method I should use to analyze my data. Whenever I need help, I find other scientists that can help me. Sometimes they might be working in my lab. Other times, I’ll reach out to scientists in other research labs. My job is very collaborative. Scientists are happy to help each other with techniques and protocols and how to interpret results. Scientists love to talk about their research, and we are always excited to hear about other people’s research projects!

The final part of a research project is writing a summary of your results. Science writing can be hard, but it’s a skill we can always improve upon. It involves telling a story. For example, why this research is important, why you asked the questions you did, and how your results fit with what we know about the subject.

My work also involves co-supervising students and teaching. I love this part of my job. Helping students with their projects is a lot of fun! It’s exciting to see them get enthusiastic about their research projects. I also enjoy hearing about the cool scientific papers they’ve read.

Another fun part of my work is presenting my research. Sometimes I do this during classes at the university. At other times I get to travel to conferences and share my research with other scientists from all over the world. It’s a fun way to learn about different techniques, new theories, and find people to collaborate with. 

My career path is

I have been interested in science since I was a little girl. I was always collecting things and studying them; bugs, rocks, and feathers. When I was in grade eight, I remember my science teacher asking me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I told him I wanted to be a professor, even though I didn’t really understand what that meant! When I finished high school, I wanted to be an ethnobotanist like one of my heroes, Wade Davis. An ethnobotanist is someone who studies how cultures use plants for medicines and things.

I spent several summers as an undergraduate working as a summer research student. I spent one summer collecting data on hummingbird foraging behaviours in Westcastle. I spent another summer collecting insects in pan traps. We were studying how logging and roads affect their diversity in Kananaskis. But when I took a class on invertebrate zoology and learned about parasites, I was hooked. The professor for the class was Dr. Cameron Goater. I found his enthusiasm for parasites to be irresistible. I started my master’s degree in Dr. Goater’s lab. I studied a parasite that travels to the brain of fathead minnows. After my M.Sc, I knew I wanted to continue research in some way. But I wasn’t sure what that looked like.  I knew wanted to study something more closely related to human health.

I didn’t always feel confident about the direction my career was heading. I would often reach out to people whose careers I admired. I would ask them how they got there, what they liked about their job, and what they didn’t like. Surprisingly, people are often very receptive to emails from complete strangers! One of my cold calls resulted in a three-month research stint at the University of Alberta. Here, I studied Malaria in blood samples collected from Canadian Refugees.

I ended up joining the lab of Dr. Derek Mckay, under the supervision of both Dr. McKay and Dr. Keith Sharkey. Both of my supervisors were, and remain, very supportive mentors. Here I studied how a parasite can be a good thing! I researched how the immune response created by a parasite can help overcome inflammation in the gut.

When I joined the lab, I felt completely in over my head. It seemed like everyone was smarter and more confident than I was. They all knew what they were doing. It took a long time to find confidence in my path. About 16 months into my PhD, I had to change my project. It wasn’t working. I had to rewrite my research proposal. I had to switch from studying joint inflammation to gut inflammation. It was a really hard time! I felt like I didn’t belong here. But with the support of family, friends, and my supervisor, I overcame these feelings of self-doubt. It took a lot of hard work, focus, and support. I developed the skills, expertise, and confidence that I observed among so many of my peers when I first began.  Overall, these experiences have given me great resilience. Now, when I must learn a new technique, or move into a new area of study, I know that I have the potential to learn.

I am motivated by

I’m really excited when I’m analyzing data! I love seeing how the patterns start to appear in the data. For example, how does the severity of gut inflammation relate to the expression of certain proteins in certain regions of the brain? How does this correlate with the amount of time mice spend exploring their environment? What kinds of hypothesis can I develop based on the results of this study? My career allows me to read exciting science papers and learn new techniques. I also get to come up with new ideas, figure out how to test my hypotheses, teach and tell people about my research. I get to hear about other people’s exciting research, travel to different locations, and meet new people. It’s a very rewarding career. This career lets me be creative, which is important to me. Sharing my enthusiasm for research with younger generations of scientists is really rewarding to witness.

How I affect peoples’ lives

I am studying how gut health affects brain health and mental health. There are increasing rates of anxiety and depression across the globe, especially among adolescents. Our gut health plays an important role in mood.  A diet high in fat, sugar, and processed foods changes our gut microbiome. This affects our gut health and mood. I would like to find ways that people can improve their gut and brain health through personalized diet and nutrition.

My research helps people understand the connection between gut health, brain health, and mental health. It helps people understand how what they eat affects their gut microbiome. It helps them understand how this plays an important role in their health. It can also help them to make good decisions about the food they eat.

Outside of work I

It’s so important to balance work with hobbies. I really enjoy music! I play the guitar, the piano, and I sing. I like to lift weights and kickbox. I also love spending time with my family. I have two young boys who keep me very busy when I’m not at work. We like to go camping, swimming, and spend time outside. We are all learning American sign language so we can all communicate with each other, as my oldest son is deaf.

My advice to others

Find people who have careers you admire and reach out to them. Ask them questions about their job. Find out what do they like about it and what they don’t like. Find out what their career has been. Go outside of your comfort zone. Consider going to public talks offered by your school, university, or local library.