The Scientific Vision of Independent Researchers

At the 2025 SciX Conference, which took place from October 5–10, in Covington, Kentucky, attendees had the opportunity to attend numerous talks that covered numerous application areas in analytical spectroscopy. From clinical analysis to environmental analysis to data analysis, the talks featured at SciX highlighted the latest research that used spectroscopy to advance our knowledge and understanding of certain phenomena.

One technical session in particular, titled, “Illuminating Health: Optical Innovations in Disease Management,” focused on how spectroscopy is being used in clinical analysis to improve disease detection and streamline patient outcomes (1,2). This session was chaired by Fay Nicolson, who is a Research Fellow at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School.

Nicolson earned her Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Strathclyde in 2018. Upon her graduation from the University of Strathclyde, she completed postdoctoral research at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (2). She later joined the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School as a Research Fellow. In 2024, Nicolson established her independent laboratory in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Dana-Farber, where her research focuses on developing molecular imaging technologies and radiotheranostic agents for cancer detection and treatment (2).

In the first part of our conversation with Nicolson, she offered a preview of her technical session that she chaired at SciX, spotlighting the topics that the speakers in the session addressed (3). In this video segment, Nicolson discusses her career trajectory, from her time in graduate school to her time as a postdoctoral candidate to her time as an independent researcher. Nicolson will explain the main lessons that she took from her different roles, and how her scientific vision was influenced by them.

This interview clip is the second part of our interview with Nicolson. To stay up to date with the latest coverage of the 2025 SciX Conference, click here.

References

1. SciX Conference, Online Program – Tuesday October 7. SciX Conference. Available at: https://scixconference.org/2025-final-program (accessed 2025-10-15).
2. SciX Conference, From Postdoc to PI: Navigating the Early Stages of an Academic Career. SciX Conference. Available at: https://scixconference.org/2025-final-program (accessed 2025-10-16).
3. Wetzel, W. Innovations in Disease Management. Spectroscopy. Available at: https://www.spectroscopyonline.com/view/innovations-in-disease-management (accessed 2025-10-16).