One on one with Shana V. Stoddard

As a mentor, educator, and chemist with a disability, Shana V. Stoddard brings a powerful and multifaceted perspective to scientific research and higher education. At Rhodes College, she leads a dynamic research team that studies protein and small-molecule drug targets for conditions such as autoimmune disorders and cancer. Alyssa T. Paparella talked to Stoddard about her experience navigating the challenges and triumphs of academia and what it means to lead with resilience, purpose, and authenticity.This interview was edited for length and clarity.What first sparked your interest in science? And how did that passion evolve into your current research focus?I can remember my siblings and I—we were probably around 8, 6, and 4—we were trying to figure out if food got from your mouth to your stomach by gravity or if there was a set of muscles that was capturing it and pulling it down. My dad walks in on this conversation, and after we explain that we’re trying to figure out the mechanism, he holds my youngest sister upside down and gives her some food to eat. He said, “Did it get to your stomach?” She said it did, so I said, “Okay, so it’s muscles.” Research was something I fell into, not knowing that it would actually be something I was passionate about. And it was because someone nominated me for a summer NIH [US National Institutes of Health] research program in high school. To this day, we still don’t know who that person is. I did this project