E59: Janice Bahr Junior Scientist Travel Award with Dr. Camilla Hughes

What does it take to transition from a curious undergraduate to an award-winning Assistant Professor? In this episode, host Dr. Pam Monahan (Northwestern University) sits down with Dr. Camilla Hughes, Assistant Professor of Reproductive Biology at Penn State and the 2025 recipient of the Janice Bahr Junior Scientist Travel Award.

Dr. Hughes dives into the "through-line" of her research: the fascinating and often under-explored relationship between immune cells and the ovary. From the prenatal establishment of the ovarian reserve in cattle to the complex signaling that regulates the corpus luteum, Dr. Hughes explains why understanding the immune system is key to unlocking new insights in reproductive physiology.

Beyond the bench, we discuss the power of the SSR community. Dr. Hughes shares the profound impact of the late Dr. Janice Bahr’s legacy, her experiences in the world-renowned Frontiers in Reproduction (FIR) course, and practical advice for junior scientists on how to "be a sponge" at scientific meetings.

In this episode, you’ll hear about:

• The Janice Bahr Legacy: The importance of supporting junior faculty and the impact of long-term mentorship within the SSR.
• Ovarian Physiology: A deep dive into bovine and ovine models, prenatal development, and the role of immune resident cells.
• The "Frustration" of Learning: Why the most difficult moments in the lab often lead to the most significant scientific breakthroughs.
• Conference Networking 101: Concrete tips for trainees on how to navigate large meetings, find collaborators, and move past "imposter syndrome."

About the Guest:
Dr. Camilla Hughes is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Animal Science at Penn State University. Her lab focuses on ovarian physiology, specifically the role of immune signaling in the establishment of the ovarian reserve and the function of the corpus luteum. She is a proud alumna of the FIR course and a dedicated member of the Society for the Study of Reproduction.

This podcast is sponsored by the Virtual Education Committee of the Society for the Study of Reproduction (SSR). Our mission is to highlight member careers, share technology updates, and bring you the latest scientific advancements in reproductive biology.

Learn more about the Society for the Study of Reproduction (SSR) at www.ssr.org.

Note: AI tools were utilized in the generation of the transcript and summary for this episode. All content has been rigorously reviewed by the Future Conceived team for accuracy.

Transcript

The following Future Conceived podcast is sponsored by the Virtual Education Committee of the Society for the Study of Reproduction, with the mission to develop virtual programs that will aid in the education, highlighting the careers of society members, bringing technology updates, and the latest scientific advancements in reproductive biology. Thank you for listening. Well, hello, listeners, and welcome to this episode of The Future Conceived, the official podcast of the Society for the Study of Reproduction. This podcast is sponsored by the Virtual Education Committee of the SSR, which is dedicated to education, highlighting member careers and sharing the latest scientific advancements in reproductive biology. So thank you for listening. My name is Doctor Pam Monahan, and I am a lecturer in obstetrics gynecology from Northwestern University. And I will be your host for this episode. Today I'm pleased to welcome Doctor Camilla Hughes, a Doctor Hughes is an assistant professor of reproductive biology at Penn State and is the twenty twenty five recipient of the Janice Bahr Junior Scientist Travel Award. This award was established in twenty seventeen to recognize a regular member of the society that is an assistant professor or position of similar rank on the tenure track. This award is supported by Doctor Janice Bahr, who is a longtime member of SSR and a mentor to many generations of junior scientists who are now themselves mentors and members of SSR. This award is in place to recognize up and coming junior scientists at the society and to help defray the costs of attending SSR s annual meeting. So welcome, Doctor Hughes Camilla, to the podcast. Thanks so much for having me on. It's so great to get to speak with you today. To start off, congratulations on receiving this award. What does it mean for you to be this year's recipient? Thank you so much. It really means a lot to have received this award. And it particularly means a lot because of the the sponsor or donor who created this award, Doctor Janice Bahr. Uh, for those of you who, who may not know, this year at the SSR meeting, um, the heritage honoree was Doctor Bahr. And so although I had met Doctor Bahr in the past, and I, of course, knew her legacy and the great diversity of species that she had studied and the really amazing discoveries that she had made during her career. Uh, it was really special to be the recipient of this award and to get to attend her heritage lunch and learn more about her legacy. And, you know, the thing about Doctor Bahr that I think is really amazing is that she has been a mentor to many generations of scientists in the SSR, and she also has really worked hard to financially support many generations of junior scientists in the SSR. She supports them through this award, and she also has supported scientists through awards that are given in her department, in her community, her state. And that kind of support really means a lot to junior scientists. We may not have the major funding that more established scientists have, but but the fact that there are senior people who are providing support and helping us to get to the meeting really means a lot. And so it's a real honor to have gotten this award. And it's a real honor to have just a little tiny part of Doctor Bahr's legacy. Yeah, she's definitely a mainstay of the meetings. Really. Yeah, yeah. I, I, she was actually on my committee for my graduate degree. Was she. Wow, Wow. So it's always, I don't know, it's kind of nice to just say that I know these big wigs in science. Yeah, absolutely. So as a junior faculty member, uh, someone who's jump started their own research program in the last few years, could you maybe give us a little bit of insight into what your labs research focus is? Yeah, absolutely. So I'm in the animal science department at Penn State. And so the main model that we're using is the cow. Um, we're also sort of moving into using the sheep as an additional model. And we're interested in both the development and the function of the ovary. So we're really an ovarian physiology lab. Um, one of our major projects is focused on prenatal ovarian development, the establishment and early activation of the ovarian reserve, and trying to understand the role of ovarian resident immune cells and immune signaling in the establishment of the ovarian reserve. We have some USDA funding to work on that project, and it's really one of our major focuses. So hopefully see some of those results at an upcoming SSR meeting. A secondary focus that we have in the lab is understanding the development and function of the corpus luteum, which produces progesterone and maintains pregnancy. Um, and we're really interested in understanding effects of prostaglandins on the corpus luteum, which cause luteolysis. We're interested in understanding how the responsiveness of the corpus luteum to prostaglandins changes throughout the cycle and how immune cells might be regulating this. So sort of a through line through all of the research in my lab is trying to understand the relationship between immune cells and the ovary. Really neat. Yeah. I think as an ovarian biologist myself, um, I don't think you hear as much about the immune aspect of that particular tissue. Um, so I think it's, I think it's really awesome that you're taking a large focus on that. Um, and hopefully some amazing things will come out of your lab that I will maybe get to teach in my classes coming up. I hope so. I hope so, maybe one day I came from a a lab in my PhD, where a major focus was immune cells in the corpus luteum. Um, and so I really wanted to take some of those tools that I learned into other parts of ovarian physiology. Amazing. Well, I mean, that segues greatly into the next question. Could you maybe tell us more about your background and how you came to be a reproductive biologist? Yeah, absolutely. Um, so I grew up in Blacksburg. I grew up just where Virginia Tech is. Um, so I grew up in the Appalachian Mountains and I went to Virginia Tech as an undergraduate student. Like many animal scientists thinking that I wanted to be a veterinarian. Um, and I very quickly discovered volunteering at a vet clinic that they seem to do the same boring thing every day. And I discovered volunteering in a lab that they were getting to learn new, new things that no one else had ever known before. Um, and that just seemed really exciting to me. Uh, I took an undergraduate reproductive physiology class at Virginia Tech, was taught by Jim Knight, who probably a few older members may know. He's now retired, and he really got me excited about becoming a reproductive physiologist. At that same time, I got involved in doing undergraduate research in Alan Ealy's lab at Virginia Tech. Um, Alan just takes absolutely wonderful care of his students, his undergraduates, as well as his graduate students. And, um, Alan really helped me get to an excellent lab and an excellent research group for my PhD. So in Alan Ealy's lab, I was working on some placental cell line stuff. Um, but Alan ended up recommending that I go work for, um, Joy Pate at Penn State, um, for my PhD. And so I came to Penn State in twenty fourteen. Um, at that time, Joy, Joy Pate and Troy Ott had sort of a combined lab group working on immune cells in the corpus luteum and immune cells in the uterus. And it was a really exciting dynamic group to be part of. Um, I was mainly interested in the corpus luteum during maternal recognition of pregnancy in cattle and using a lot of big data technologies to understand changes in the gland during that time. I then went on and did a postdoc in the laboratory of Doctor Bruce Murphy after I completed my PhD. So continued north and started my postdoc right before Covid started. So, you know, everybody sort of has their story about what they were doing during Covid. I was a brand new postdoc, taking care of a mouse colony. Really got some exciting work done in Bruce's lab as well. Um, that was where I really got into some of these questions related to ovarian development and ovarian reserve establishment. Um, and elucidated the role of the transcription factor Steroidogenic factor one or SF one in ovarian reserve establishment. Some of that work is ongoing, so hopefully there will be more to see from that project. But we've gotten a couple of really exciting publications out of that. Um, after that, I was pretty set. I wanted to return to an animal science department and interviewed for a number of jobs, and was lucky enough to get to come back to Penn State. We have the center for Reproductive Biology and Health here at Penn State. We have a really interdisciplinary group of reproductive biologists in, um, in animal science, as well as kinesiology, anthropology. Even someone from entomology has joined our repro group now. Um, so really a great place to be a reproductive biologist. And I've been here for about two and a half years. Wow. Yeah, I, it's nice hearing like name drops where you're like, oh, I know that person. I see them at meetings. Um, totally. Yeah. And to have your kind of career start off with such great influence early on in, in your undergrad years, I've similarly had some, um, experiences with, uh, a member of SSR who at the time I didn't know was such a bigwig in the society. So, um, I took Mary Ann Handel's genetics class, and she's kind of seen me throughout my growth as a reproductive biologist as well. So I'm sure all of the people that have kind of seen you up and coming are, you know, still rooting for you as you establish your own career, um, at Penn State. Yeah, SSR is a place that's full of really excellent mentors. Really is definitely. Um, and I, you know, I really think SSR is heavy training focus was a huge draw for me when I was looking for a home society as a young scientist, it's really given me so many opportunities. That's, I think, really nurtured my growth in the reproductive science realm. Um, and when, so when did you decide to join SSR and how has becoming a member impacted your career development? Yeah, so I actually joined SSR when I was an undergrad researcher in Alan Ealy's lab. Um, so Alan wanted to take, I'd done a little project and Alan wanted to take me to SSR. I guess he had a little bit of extra money. And so I joined. And you know, when you're an undergrad, SSR seems really gigantic. Um, but even that very first year, you know, I was presenting my project and I had some people, some SSR bigwigs, you know, they're willing to come talk to undergrads. And, and so I had a couple people come talk to me about my poster and ask me questions. And it just felt really exciting to be so early in my career and to have people be interested in what I did. Um, that was really cool. And I, I felt, you know, supported and like the society would be a great place to, um, to, to be as a scientist. Yeah, I, I joined, I think my second year of grad school, so it was still early times. But yeah, I think even with that first meeting, I was like, this is great. I love these people. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Do you have any like standout memories as your time as a member? Maybe from a meeting? Yeah, I mean, definitely a lot. Right. Um, when I was looking through the questions that you sent me, I, I looked at this one and I was like, oh my gosh, there are so many. Um, but, you know, one meeting that I remember just being a very exciting meeting, um, was the weird meeting that happened in December in Saint Louis, right? When we were finally allowed to, um, to meet again in person after Covid. And, you know, I think that people had been stuck inside for so long and we were so eager to talk to each other. That was a meeting where it just seemed like everyone was engaged, everyone was excited, everyone was asking questions. We were all happy to be there. We were masked, you know, we were distanced, but we were really excited to be getting to talk about our science. And so that's definitely one that stands out in my memory as a really fun one. Um, my PhD mentor also was getting the mentoring award at that one. So that was kind of cool, you know, to be able to celebrate her. But that, that was a really excellent SSR. Yeah, I was at that one as well. So I remember kind of the excitement of everybody being able to go back and really share their science again and get input and just talk to other peers and collaborators in person, even if it was under the guise of, you know, Covid being still around. Yeah. Um, yeah. Well, thanks for sharing that. Uh, so alongside those memories, you know, that we've been talking about mentorship and how it's been really important and impactful for both of us. Um, and mentorship often plays a huge role in shaping a scientist. Is there any advice from a mentor that you've had that's really been influential in your career? Yeah. So I have had a lot of advice from a lot of mentors. Um, that has been really influential and I've been lucky to have, um, many excellent mentors, both official mentors and, uh, you know, PhD, postdoc mentors, those kinds of things. Committee members, um, as well as, you know, in the SSR, people whose work you admire pretty quickly become mentors, right? So you've read a paper by some person, and then you go to SSR. You go up to them and talk to them. And and then pretty soon they are another mentor to you. Um, and I think that has been something that has been really wonderful about being part of the SSR. I don't know if I would say I have one particular piece of advice, but but two things came to my mind when I was thinking about this question. So one is my PhD mentor, Joy Pate, loved to talk to us about, um, about this, this idea that the thing that is most reinforcing to your learning is being frustrated. So the idea being that the, that when you're frustrated, the thing you want is to solve the problem, right? And then the relief of solving the problem is really, really positively reinforcing because you're not frustrated anymore. And so that really helps you to learn whatever the thing is. And so whenever we were frustrated with an experiment, it's like, oh, this doesn't work or I can't understand why it doesn't work. She would remind us, you know, that that frustration is this thing that is really positively reinforcing for learning. And it's one of these things that's really going to help you learn. Um, so that's, that's one, I don't know if that's really a piece of advice, but that's been certainly something that I have carried forward. Um, my postdoc mentor, Bruce Murphy, uh, something that he often said, and I'm paraphrasing here, I'm not saying it exactly the way he would say it, but, but he would always say there's no experiment that is slower or harder than the quick, easy experiment. Um, when you say, oh, I'm going to be able to get that done, it's going to be really quick and easy. You know, there's no experiment that's slower than, than the quick, easy experiment. And I think of that often because it is very, very true. Right. Anyone who's done lab science knows that. That's very, very true. But but those are just just two things that popped to my mind. Um, I, I've been lucky to have lots of good mentors who've given me lots of really good guidance. Yeah. And I think one of the things, as you become a faculty member and enter into that realm, you become a peer and a collaborator. So it takes on a whole new kind of connotation of having a mentor that's also a peer. And then you have alongside that, your own peers who also become your mentors. Um, yeah. So yeah, no, those are some really kind of, I think, powerful kind of pieces of advice that you've given. I really do, I mean, growth under adversity is kind of, you know, the tenant of biology, right? Um, that's how evolution works. Um, and kind of the reinforcement of like positive brain chemistry. Like when you finally solve that problem, your brain is just flooded with those chemicals of, I finally got it. Happiness. Um, and it really drives you forward. And I think that's, you acknowledge what we're here as scientists to do is kind of push forward through through the difficult questions. Yeah, totally. Yeah. So this has clearly been very impactful for you. And I'm sure the listeners will also identify with that. Um, so looking ahead to the next generation of scientists, you are now a mentor. Um, you are shaping the minds of, of future scientists in reproductive biology. Do you have any words of wisdom, wisdom to offer these young researchers or maybe anyone interested in entering into the field of reproductive biology? Yeah. Um, so I don't know that I have sort of abstract wisdom to offer. Um, but I have a couple of concrete things that are things that I, I sort of like to suggest to trainees or remind trainees about. Um, so one, of course, you know, we've been talking about how wonderful the SSR is. I encourage all of my students, I encourage the students whose committees I'm on, students in the department to join the SSR to get involved, to attend the annual meeting to attend the annual meeting every year. You know, once you start going, you start to know all of the SSR people. Then when you're coming back each year, you know, I remind the trainees, it's it is becoming less intimidating each year, right? You are meeting the people, you're developing that network. Um, and so I would really encourage any trainee who wants to become a reproductive biologist to really get involved in the community early and to use the community as a resource. Um, I found my postdoc through the SSR. I more or less found my current faculty position through, through SSR connections and connections from my PhD. Um, I have collaborations that I've developed through the SSR, so it just is a really, really great resource for students who want to become reproductive biologists. Um, the other thing and I, I know that my, my mentors from FIR would, would want me to say this, um, the Frontiers in Reproduction course or the FIR course. Um, is also a SSR related group. Um and opportunity that I think trainees who are really interested in becoming reproductive biologists would really do well to take advantage of. So it's a six week advanced training course in reproductive biology techniques. Um, there are about twenty students. There are about eighty faculty. So it's a really amazing resource to develop that network to get more involved in the community. Um, and to, to really learn about other areas of reproductive biology other than those that you might have the opportunity to learn about in your own lab. Um, so those two things for, for the new students, I say, you know, you should join SSR and you should go to FIR. Those are the two things that you should do. Yeah. I am not a FIRbie, but I know many FIRbies and I feel like Northwestern at every meeting, there's always a FIRbie get together and you can just see how that course was so impactful for them. And, you know, you create lifelong scientific relationships, but also friends from from the course. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. So I have one additional question that's off the cuff question, but it's related to SSR. So attending meetings can be daunting for newer members, um, or graduate students, undergraduates who are attending a scientific meeting for the first time. What advice would you give them to maximize their experience in going to a scientific conference? Yeah. So I had a mentor in my PhD who was a senior PhD student, and he always said to all of us, not just about professional conferences, but about everything. He would say, be like a sponge, soak up all the knowledge. And, and so that's my advice about SSR. You want to be like a sponge. You want to go to every session that you can go to. You want to go to every poster session. You want to talk to people at every poster session. You want to be sure to make it to all the plenaries. Those are going to be the really exciting talks. So really take advantage of all of the scientific opportunities that there are at SSR. Um, there are also a lot of really great networking opportunities. So going to the opening reception, um, going to the trainee mentor lunch, those kinds of things that can make going up to somebody who's, you know, an SSR, famous kind of person, um, a little bit easier or a little bit less intimidating. Um, I think SSR does a really good job of providing those kinds of opportunities. I also with my own students, I talk to them before going to the meeting and I say, you know, look, if there's anyone you want me to introduce you to, I can do that. Um, you know, if there's anything I can do to help you with, with your networking, I can do that for students who have a mentor who can do that. You know, they can start that conversation and say, hey, I really want to meet this person. Um, so, so I would say get your mentors to help you, whether that's your actual advisor, whether that's other mentors in your department or even senior students. And then really just take advantage of every opportunity at the meeting. Don't hide up in your hotel room. Um, it can be tempting to go explore and see the sights in the city, but don't do that until the meeting's over. Right? Make sure you're going to all the sessions, going to everything at the meeting, and really engaging with the science, because this is your opportunity to engage with the science. Yeah. And I think SSR is a is a great opportunity to do that for people who may be a little intimidated because everybody is so welcoming. It's so it's such a friendly society. And, and I have walked up and introduced myself to a number of people. I'm a, I'm a sort of a shy, introverted person. And, and I've done that many times and, and only ever had friendly interactions with people. Yeah. Same. And yeah, ask questions, make connections. Just really dive head first into everything that you can, like you said. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. All right. Well that's it. Do you have any anything else you want to share? No. Thank you so much for having me on. I really enjoyed it. Yeah. So that brings us to the end of our episode. A huge congrats and thank you to Camilla Doctor Hughes. Thank you for chatting with me today. Thank you so much. Yeah. And thanks to our listeners for tuning in for this episode. Don't forget to subscribe to the Future Conceived podcast and follow us on social media for for more updates on the latest in reproductive research. AI may have played a role in the creation of this podcast episode. Specifically, we may use AI when drafting scripts, generating transcripts, and producing our episode summaries. Rest assured, a human member of our team rigorously reviews all AI generated content for accuracy and quality before it's published.