Janina Jeff, PhD, MS •  Population Geneticist

Section Styles spotlight-header

 

I am a

population geneticist

Janina Jeff, PhD, MS

Presented by Illumina
MY PATH

How I became a podcaster, mentor, and geneticist.

MAJOR INFLUENCES

  • My Family

    My grandparents were college educated and my grandfather even had a PhD. Also, my aunt went to Spelman College, which inspired me to want to do the same. It is a historically black liberal arts college for women located in Atlanta, Georgia.

  • Professors

    I had a professor at Vanderbilt who studied African descent populations. This made me excited to study something that was so connected to my community.

  • Spotify

    I applied to a Spotify podcast competition that was specifically seeking women of color and I won! It was a huge motivating factor in pursuing my ‘In Those Genes’ podcast.

My family had a lot of wonderful education opportunities but didn’t always take advantage of them.

Despite growing up poor, I chose to follow in the footsteps of my grandparents and aunts. College wasn’t necessarily easy. Later, when I was accepted to a PhD program at Vanderbilt and found a professor working on the genetics of African descendants, I knew I had found my calling.

Major Milestones

Science Fairs

To satisfy my constant need to ask “Why?” I participated in science fairs. It also gave me a chance to be artistic when creating my projects in high school; one of my science fair projects won both the school’s science fair and the city’s science fair.

College + PhD

I decided that college was one of the few opportunities for me at the time to alleviate the unjust financial burden of being poor, Black, and a woman in America.

Working at Illumina

I realized how important it was for me to focus as much on my world outside the lab as inside the lab. When I started applying for jobs, I was determined to choose an environment where I could be fully happy. at Illumina I can travel the world while solving research problems that directly impact my community.

Things I learned

along the way:

  • Failure makes me a better scientist.

    Every failure is an opportunity to learn more. Whether it’s a failed experiment or a rejection letter, I’ve always come out on the other side stronger and more knowledgable.

  • Hierarchies shape a lot of pain and oppression.

    It’s a ‘rule book’ that we all live by because we don’t know anything different. I really like dismantling that by questioning the way we structure society and modeling good leadership.

  • Accessibility is important.

    Unfortunately, not everyone is presented with the same opportunities. This taught me to work even harder to make my work accessible to others so that we can shape a society that is well-informed and in charge of their lives.

Looking for teacher resources?

PHOTOGRAPHER: Idalmiz López • Illustrator: Mar Bertran Bellvehí

© 2024 THE PLENARY, CO. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. TERMS. PRIVACY.

This is a brand new site! See an issue? Let us know.