Day in the Life: Elena Flowers
Photos of her two, young daughters and their painted handprint artwork decorate the office of Elena Flowers, PhD, RN. She is a mom, but she identifies as a researcher and professor too. “In April, I am volunteering at my daughter’s school for DNA Day to talk about my job,” Flowers said. “I appreciate that my job allows me the scheduling flexibility to do that.” While her job allows for flexibility, it can also cause her to work for several hours on a Friday night to keep up with her work responsibilities. The Assistant Professor in UC San Francisco’s Department of Physiological Nursing is coming up on five years at UCSF and her schedule is anything but slow. Having just finished an interview for a video project, she explains that since 10 a.m. she …show more content…
“Through my research I am trying to better understand differences between genetic predisposition and lifestyle factors for type 2 diabetes,” Flowers said. “I also look at how to optimize risk prediction and prevent type 2 diabetes for high risk racial groups.” Flowers lab is a mixture of a dry lab and a wet lab and she collaborates with other faculty members. One faculty member she collaborates with often is Kord Kober, PhD, who is another UCSF genomic laboratory lead. They both manage and oversee the Nursing Genomic Lab together. Their lab functions as a resource to faculty and Flowers and Kober manage faculty activities and facilitate faculty research.
Two other faculty members who collaborate and mentor Flowers are Yoshimi Fukuoka, RN, PhD, FAAN, and Alka Kanaya, MD. Currently, Flowers, Kober, and Fukuoka are working on a pilot randomized clinical trial (RCT) examining behavioral intervention weight loss for those that are Filipino with type 2 diabetes. Next, they will study gene expression associated with insulin sensitivity and intervention
Photos of her two, young daughters and their painted handprint artwork decorate the office of Elena Flowers, PhD, RN. She is a mom, but she identifies as a researcher and professor too. “In April, I am volunteering at my daughter’s school for DNA Day to talk about my job,” Flowers said. “I appreciate that my job allows me the scheduling flexibility to do that.” While her job allows for flexibility, it can also cause her to work for several hours on a Friday night to keep up with her work responsibilities. The Assistant Professor in UC San Francisco’s Department of Physiological Nursing is coming up on five years at UCSF and her schedule is anything but slow. Having just finished an interview for a video project, she explains that since 10 a.m. she …show more content…
“Through my research I am trying to better understand differences between genetic predisposition and lifestyle factors for type 2 diabetes,” Flowers said. “I also look at how to optimize risk prediction and prevent type 2 diabetes for high risk racial groups.” Flowers lab is a mixture of a dry lab and a wet lab and she collaborates with other faculty members. One faculty member she collaborates with often is Kord Kober, PhD, who is another UCSF genomic laboratory lead. They both manage and oversee the Nursing Genomic Lab together. Their lab functions as a resource to faculty and Flowers and Kober manage faculty activities and facilitate faculty research.
Two other faculty members who collaborate and mentor Flowers are Yoshimi Fukuoka, RN, PhD, FAAN, and Alka Kanaya, MD. Currently, Flowers, Kober, and Fukuoka are working on a pilot randomized clinical trial (RCT) examining behavioral intervention weight loss for those that are Filipino with type 2 diabetes. Next, they will study gene expression associated with insulin sensitivity and intervention