Casual Conversation: NIH Research Administration Careers with Jaron Lockett, PhD and Candace Kerr, PhD

Casual Conversation: NIH Research Administration Careers with Jaron Lockett, PhD and Candace Kerr, PhD

Dr. Jaron Lockett is a scientific program analyst in NIA’s Office of Planning, Analysis, and Evaluation. As such, he leads NIA evaluation projects, conducts portfolio analysis, and coordinates the collection of information in response to NIA and NIH leadership inquiries. He was previously an NIH Management Intern, where he rotated in several NIH institutes and offices, including the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute on Deafness and Communication Disorders, and the National Institute on Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

Dr. Lockett received his Ph.D. in cellular and molecular pathobiology and cancer biology from Wayne State University in Detroit in 2007. He completed a post-doctoral fellowship in the Laboratory of Immunology in NIA’s Intramural Research Program, focusing on cell signaling pathways in melanoma. In 2009, he became the scientific recruiter/associate training director for the NIA intramural program, where he was responsible for the matriculation of post-doctoral, graduate, and post-baccalaureate students and summer interns, as well as the recruitment of new trainees.

Dr. Candace Kerr is the program officer for the Stem Cell Program in the Aging Physiology Branch of the Division of Aging Biology at the National Institute on Aging. NIA’s Stem Cell Program has supported major findings on the genetics regulating stem cell lifespan and genomic stability, the relationships between stem cell survival and aged health, and the discovery of molecules that facilitate stem cell depletion and cellular senescence.

Before joining the NIA in 2017, Dr. Kerr was on the faculty of the University of Maryland School of Medicine researching human adult and cancer stem cells, and earlier on the faculty at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine where her laboratory studied human pluripotent stem cells and the translation of these cells to treat reproductive and neurological conditions.

Dr. Kerr received her M.S. in molecular genetics at the University of Maine and her Ph.D. in quantitative genetics and biochemistry from Pennsylvania State University. As a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, she also studied the glycobiological interactions in receptor binding and endocrine functions in mice fertility and reproduction

Dr. Kerr is the author of 35 peer-reviewed research papers and 14 review articles, textbook chapters, and commentaries. She has also shared her expertise as editor for several journals related to the stem cell biology field.

Dr. Kerr covers the basic and translational areas in aging of the following systems.

Stem Cell Biology Program

• Role of the aged microenvironment in stem cell functions

• Factors affecting age-dependent changes in stem cell renewal and differentiation

Cardiovascular Biology Program

• Age-related changes in hematopoiesis

• Age-dependent changes in cardiac and vascular structure and function.

• Role of stem cells in cardiac and vascular maintenance and renewal.

• Aging effects on cell death and proliferation in the heart and vasculature.

• Aging of the vascular endothelium.

Endocrinology Program

• Age-related changes in hormone production, metabolism, and action

• Age-related changes in non-reproductive hormones and hormone action

Digestive, Pulmonary and Reproductive Programs

• Molecular and cellular mechanisms of age-related changes in health and disease states of the urogenital system (ovaries, uterus, testes, bladder, urethra)

The PDCO/BCI Casual Conversations Series is a monthly career exploration event where career professionals share their career path and answer any questions you might have. YOU drive the conversation and content.