'There's no wrong direction. You can't fall out of the Universe'

What attracted you to study at King’s?

I had a choice between Imperial and King’s. At that time, I wasn’t aware of Rosalind Franklin’s connection to King’s. But something made me choose King’s. I’m sure, somehow, it was Rosalind’s pull.

What inspires you about Dr Franklin?

It started when I saw a play called Photograph 51 by Anna Ziegler. The title references the infamous X-ray diffraction picture taken by Rosalind’s postgraduate student, which helped lead to the discovery of DNA’s double helix structure – and much of our modern understanding of genetics. Other scientists won major awards for this work. Rosalind never got the credit she so obviously deserved.

When I saw that play, I was bawling. That’s not like me at all. I felt Rosalind’s loneliness and her isolation so deeply. She was working at King’s in the 1950s, when female scientists were rare. It was something I struggled with in my career. Like her, I was a crystallographer and often the only woman in the room. And she had such passion for her work. There was this clear kindredness between us.

Since then, that connection has only grown. I read a book called The Dark Lady of DNA and went to hear the author speak. I asked, ‘Why would you choose such a negative title?’ She replied, ‘That's what Rosalind’s university colleagues, Jim Watson and Francis Crick, did. They painted her as this uncolourful, grey, unsocial person.’ And that’s totally untrue. The book also talks about Rosalind’s passion for hiking. She even had her own ice axe! I felt we were sisters. I wanted to know her so badly. And she died so young – just 37.

She’s inspired me so much. I’m hoping to visit the King’s archives soon to unearth more stories about her to tell the world.

What’s your favourite memory of your time at King’s?

Metallurgy for Chemists was my favourite class. My lab partner was a goth and he painted his nails black. I still have my notebook from that class. It’s unbelievable how detail-oriented I was. I loved the class because there was art and drawing involved, and lots of lab work. Wow, that notebook. I’m definitely not that neat any more!

What’s the key skill or lesson you learnt at King’s?

I’d say I developed attention to detail, particularly through crystallography. My courses extended my skills in terms of the depth of writing up quantitative data. I’ve used that in my scientific career.

What was your plan when you left King’s?

I had no plan. When I think about my career now, a lot of it happened because I followed what I loved – hiking, science and maths.

After my undergraduate degree, I needed to make money. I’d been on financial aid or scholarships during undergraduate education while also working part-time grading maths papers. I figured I could either go to New York and earn the big bucks as a consultant in the city wearing nylons and heels, or apply to graduate school in California and study rocks, going hiking in boots and be poor. In the end, I won a one-year graduate research fellowship at UC Berkeley and completed by PhD five years later.

Was that a good decision?

Yes. I stayed in active lab ‘bench’ science for almost 15 years. Most of that was at a big neutron scattering facility in the US, firing neutrons at different materials to understand their properties. The wavelength of thermal neutrons is comparable to atomic spacing in crystalline solids, making it useful, like x-rays, for studying the structure of things.

I also did a big project for the US Department of Energy, building a powerful spectrometer to measure rocks and other materials under pressure. That was one of my first experiences of managing lots of people and a huge proposal.

It was successful, so I was invited to apply for a job to manage a much larger project of $400million for five Department of Energy Nanoscience centres. Two weeks into that job, I was giving keynote talks on nanoscience – absolutely not my field – and I learned I’m good at learning what I don’t know, fast!

There was a natural point where I reconsidered what I wanted to do and that turned into creating my own company, KB Science. For more than 17 years, we’ve helped hundreds of companies large and small to put together big scientific programmes, helping them pitch for big pots of government money. It uses my skills and connections from previous roles and it’s incredibly varied, which I love. We’re at a transition point again right now because the US government funding landscape has changed. I’m excited to see what the next five years looks like.

What does ‘success’ mean for you?

My definition of success is not in number of millions, but service to others and helping innovation succeed. Bottom line: it’s not about a stated goal, but following your passions. I don’t believe there’s any other reason why we’re here. We’re not here to, you know, buy another car. We’re here for connection and to love each other and life, and to give back.

I’m grateful to be in a position now where I could fund the Rosalind Franklin Endowed Chair in Science at my old school, the Winsor School in Boston.

You’ve summited the planet’s highest and most difficult-to-climb mountains. What does standing on the top of the world feel like?

It feels awesome. No regrets! Geologists like me look at things at the atomic level. When you’re in the mountains, you see the vastness and you feel the magnitude of our existence. Maybe there’s something that connects the two – both are awe at the natural world, but on opposite scales. It’s also linked to why I feel like one of my primary purposes in life is to make sure that everyone remembers Rosalind Franklin. She discovered the very essence of our existence by revealing the structure of DNA.

I love to talk about mountains. People always want to hear about Everest. Yet other climbs, such as K2 and Nanga Parbat, are much harder.

You’ve also experiences challenging times while climbing…

Last spring, we climbed Mount Makalu, the fifth highest mountain in the world at 8,485m. I was climbing with friends. One of our group, Alex Pancoe, was a very good climber and one of about 40 people in the world to have climbed the highest points on the seven continents, plus he skied to the North and South Poles. We were up at 7,000 metres and Alex was so happy and feeling strong. We even took a selfie. Two hours later, he died while resting at camp. We believe he had a heart attack. His family set up the Alex Pancoe Foundation in his memory. Its aim is to help patients pursue meaningful, life-affirming experiences.

Alex is a huge part of my every breath these days. It makes you realise we have one precious life. I feel grateful to have the lungs to keep me going up, and the DNA in my knees to still get me down. I just feel grateful that we have another day. 

Finally, what advice would you give to King’s students and alumni wanting to follow in your career footsteps?

Take as many summer internships as you can. Get hands-on experience in the lab. If you get an opportunity to work at a big national facility, do it. There’s the UK’s neutron facilities or The European Organization for Nuclear Research at CERN not too far away. Try as many things as you can and follow your passion. Don’t be afraid. You can’t fall out of the Universe. The key for me is there’s no wrong direction.

Talk to everyone and take every opportunity. Never in a million years did I think I’d get to study Otzi the Iceman from the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology, climb mountains in Pakistan, go to Dubna in Russia and Tsukuba in Japan to their neutron scattering facilities, or summit the highest peak in Antarctica. Antarctica!

All these mentors I’ve had throughout my life and continue to have, they are pivotal points. It shows that if you just give a tiny bit of advice, pay it forward, it can change something huge. It can influence younger lives.

And, finally, if you look back at the mountains after you’ve climbed them, they look so high, you know? So, one step at a time.