CRS Scientist Spotlight on Victoria Zhu, MS

Victoria Zhu, MS, is an alumna of the MS-RSM program, Class of 2022. She is currently a research technologist in the Duncan Lab.

What brought you to join the CRS community and what is your current position? 

During my undergraduate years, I became really intrigued by reproductive science and took several classes in reproductive physiology. This eventually led me to join the Master of Reproductive Science and Medicine (MS-RSM) program here at Northwestern and now I am working as a research technologist at the Duncan Lab.

Could you describe what your work entails?

Most female contraceptive methods rely on physical barrier or hormone disruption, so our team aims to develop novel, non-hormonal female contraceptives that can provide an alternative method of family planning. I am currently working on setting up a reliable drug screening platform and workflow for the discovery of non-hormonal female contraceptives. I work with a lot of talented biologists and chemists to identify potentially promising drug candidates from a large library of compounds and conduct comprehensive evaluations on the drugs. 

What aspect(s) of CRS do you find most valuable?

The fact that we are able to communicate and collaborate with such a large group of amazing scientists and clinicians who share the same passion for reproductive science. You really do learn new facts and meet new people everyday!

What has been the most valuable aspect to your work in reproductive science?

We are making progress everyday in constructing a reliable workflow for drug screening and drug candidate identification, and I couldn't have done it without the help of my colleagues.  I am very grateful and fortunate to find not only collaborators but also inspiring mentors during my time here, and for that, I believe collaboration is the most valuable aspect to my work.

What would you recommend to students and young professionals in order for them succeed in their careers? 

Never be afraid to ask questions! You’ll be surprised how much you could learn from just talking to people. And these amazing connections might someday bring wonderful research/career opportunities.

What do you think will be the next big contribution in the reproductive biology field?

I might be biased but I do think the field is making a lot of progress in identifying potential non-hormonal female contraceptives, so I wouldn’t be surprised if the next big contribution in the field is the identification of promising molecular targets or drug candidates. I also hope to see the development of male birth control.

What hobbies do you have outside of the lab?

Playing video games, watching TV shows, and going to cat cafes.