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BIOPHYSICAL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER
3
FEBRUARY
2016
that many scientists are familiar with: “I submit-
ted a proposal to the National Institutes of Health
that previously received a good, but not fundable
score. The resubmission failed. In the summary
statement, the panel said my work was incremen-
tal. This was devastating,” Scarlata says. “I was
extremely depressed and looking at other career
options, but then a friend asked, ‘Who are these
people [the reviewers] anyway?’ This question put
the reviewers into a different light. I realized that
not everyone is going to understand what you are
doing unless you clearly state the importance of
your work and how it fits into a bigger picture. I
also realized that you need a really thick skin to be
in science. Not everyone is going to be sensitive or
constructive.”
Following Cornell, Scarlata took a position at
Stony Brook University, where she worked for
24 years before moving to Worcester Polytechnic
Institute last fall. “We have several projects in the
lab that all center on the phospholipase C beta-
G protein signaling pathway,” she says. “This
pathway is one of the main ways that allows cells
to respond to many hormones and neurotrans-
mitters to increase cellular calcium levels, which
allows cells to move, divide, or die depending on
the specific circumstances. Our goal is to under-
stand the series of changes in protein associations
that accompany these signals and the factors that
impact their responses.”
“Scientifically,” Scarlata says, “the most challeng-
ing aspect is to think of all of the appropriate
controls for each experiments. There are so many
potential interactions of components in cells that
can vary in different cell lineages and different lo-
calizations in the cell.” Even more of a challenge is
getting funding, which Scarlata considers primar-
ily a matter of luck.
Scarlata’s favorite thing about biophysics is being
able to quantify biological systems and to put
biology into physical terms, but the aspect she
finds most fulfilling is seeing her students succeed.
“I find it really rewarding when one of my gradu-
ate students presents their thesis research at their
defense and see how excited and confident they are
about their work,” she says.
“This is when I feel the most
successful.”
When not in the lab, Scar-
lata spends time with her
husband,
Walter Zurawsky
,
Associate Professor of
Chemical Engineering at
WPI, and three daughters,
Cassandra
,
Alyssa
, and
Cathe-
rine
. Scarlata and Zurawsky
are currently working on
renovating an old house
they bought upon moving
to Worcester. She spends
much of her free time playing sports, as part of a
tennis group and a few different soccer teams. In
any remaining leisure time, Scarlata reads novels,
discusses politics, and watch-
es what she calls “ridiculous”
TV series.
Throughout her career, Scar-
lata has been a member of
the Biophysical Society. “I’ve
been a member of BPS for so
long that it seems like fam-
ily,” she says. “To me, the
BPS meeting is the whole en-
chilada—from science on the
one-on-one level at poster
sessions to large seminars,
to networking groups, to
career support—I really
get so much out of the meeting. The Society has
provided me with a peer group [with whom] I can
discuss science, career, academics, etc. I’ve made
many connections and have had a great deal of
input that has really helped my research.”
Scarlata would advise biophysicists just start-
ing out in their careers, “Keep your eyes on the
prize—don’t let yourself get bogged down on
peripheral studies or control studies that are un-
necessary. Don’t waste time on reagents. Look for
the key experiment that will give you the informa-
tion you need.”
Profilee-at-a-Glance
Institution
Worcester Polytechnic
Institute
Area of Research
Chemistry and
Biochemistry
Family picture from right – daughter Cassandra,
husband Walter Zurawsky, daughters Alyssa and
Catherine, and Scarlata.
Some past and present students: Top – Leo Williams,
Bonnie Calizo, Louisa Dowal, Paxton Provitera, Osama
Garwain, Marjorie BonHomme, Tilly Wang. Bottom –
Siddartha Yerramilli, Shriya Sahu, Yuanjian Guo and
Loren Runnels. Scarlata is at the very bottom.