Dr. 萨沙·拉森·阿金斯(Sasha Larsen Akins)把她职业生涯中的一个关键时刻称为“我的莎士比亚故事”.”

Two days before Thanksgiving in 2019, Larsen Akins(09 / 11生物科学专业)是西雅图一家传染病实验室的40名员工之一，他们在管理层变动后失去了工作.

A scant few months later, 拉森·阿金斯(Larsen Akins)和她的27名同事为他们的新雇主工作, the Center for Global Infectious Disease Research at the Seattle Children’s Research Institute.

One of their new projects was a clinical trial for the Moderna 疫苗是目前控制COVID-19大流行的关键之一.

“For the Moderna study, 我们的职责是每周处理成吨的样品，然后把它们运出去，这样我们的团队和其他团队就可以对它们进行评估,” she said. “我们是所谓的疫苗和治疗评估单位(VTEU)的一部分.”

Larsen Akins说，许多致力于疫苗研究的实验室采取了一种“非常协作和合作”的方法, hopefully, bring the pandemic under control.

“You are really rooting for one another. 早些时候，有一种疫苗比另一种更受欢迎. 我必须告诉你，疫苗界并不这么认为。. “我们需要四到五种这样的疫苗才能产生高效."

“Take me as an example. While we worked with samples from the Moderna study, 我接种了辉瑞公司的疫苗，因为这是我第一次获得的疫苗. We are just getting started. It is exciting to be part of the process.”

Crediting her science education at Pacific

Larsen Akins, 他在圣地亚哥附近长大，在正规博彩十大网站打曲棍球, 说如果没有她的体育奖学金，她不可能上大学. 前太平洋曲棍球队与许多东海岸球队在一个会议上比赛.

“There was a lot of travel involved. 我已经习惯了在酒店大堂参加考试。. “Unfortunately, with all of that travel, 作为一名本科生，我没有多少机会从事实验室项目和研究.”

当拉尔森·阿金斯开始在正规博彩十大网站读研究生时，情况发生了重大变化. 她与生物科学教授Joan Lin-Cereghino和Geoffrey Lin-Cereghino一起进行了各种研究项目.

“在我决定我的研究生院经历之前，我想要更多的实验室经验. 我开始与Joan Lin-Cereghino和Geoff Lin-Cereghino合作，这是非常有益的，”她说. “我学到了很多东西，在我的教育阶段，我不能要求更好的导师. I have had nothing but positive mentors ever since. 我还在圣华金县蚊虫和病媒控制区工作, which was a great experience.”

Joan Lin-Cereghino和Geoff Lin-Cereghino深情地回忆起Larsen Akins在太平洋公司的工作经历.

 “There is this quality of a fierce woman, and that was Sasha. 很多时候，在科学领域，你正在研究一些最终会失败的新事物. 但她从未放弃，”琼·林-切里吉诺(Joan Lin-Cereghino)说，她现在是负责教务的副教务长. 她的领导能力对她的硕士课程很有帮助，因为, in addition to your studies, you have to teach, you have to do research, and she also held a job on the side. 她是一名优秀的助教，也是本科生的优秀榜样.”

“她是曲棍球队的队长，也是实验室的领导者, too,” Geoffrey Lin-Cereghino said. “She was so persistent and had such fortitude. 她经常是第一个尝试许多技巧的人, and the other students would follow. She was a trailblazer.”

Larsen Akins earned her Ph.D. in Emerging Infectious Diseases from the Uniform Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland. 这是一所有小规模民用项目的军事医学院. 学校位于沃尔特里德国家军事医疗中心和国立卫生研究院附近.

“所以你可以想象，周一我们会有专家X来和我们谈话，周二我们会有专家Y,” Larsen Akins said. “It was like an all-star, rock star lineup for our lectures. 我有很多很棒的导师，尤其是我的首席研究员. Andrew Snow, and the school had amazing resources.”

Back to the West Coast

Larsen Akins said it was important for her to find a “strong, woman mentor who supports both career and starting a family.” She found that mentor in Dr. Rhea Coler他在西雅图传染病研究所(Infectious Disease Research Institute)领导了一个关系密切的科学家小组.

“我在2016年加入了她的实验室，这是一个非常积极的举动，”拉森·阿金斯说. “She is very well known and respected in the field. 我知道我可以向她学习，我知道她会支持我的事业和家庭目标. She is an incredible individual.”

她丈夫是09届的科尔·阿金斯，太平洋棒球队的投手. 他曾在小联盟打过棒球，目前是一名自由编剧. They have one son, “almost-three-year-old” Graham.

Coler and Larsen Akins were among the 27 people hired by the 西雅图儿童研究所全球传染病研究中心的工作人员，因为他们在之前的实验室被裁掉了. 这导致了新的挑战的良好连续性——包括对Moderna疫苗试验之一的工作.

Larsen Akins gets peppered with questions when friends, 熟人和其他人听说她正在研究新冠病毒疫苗. She appreciates the queries.

This has spilled over into her social media accounts. Larsen Akins说，她每周都会做一次疫苗问答 her Instagram account.

“That has been incredibly rewarding. 许多人现在开始回复我，给我发信息，附上他们疫苗接种卡的照片，说我帮助他们做出了这个决定. 一想到敞开心扉，哪怕是一点点，都有帮助，我就觉得很惭愧，”她说.

“The main question I get is ‘should I take it?’ People call me or text me and ask if it’s safe. 对人们提出的问题保持清晰和开放的态度有助于消除错误信息——不幸的是，错误信息非常普遍. It is an important part of the process. I tell people that it’s OK to ask those questions. It is important to keep people at the table. I would prefer to see everyone vaccinated. But it is a decision people must make."