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CHAPTER 12
Julie –
The Art of the Matter
Again, I met Julie through another stroke of chance. While combing through a spreadsheet of names, I spotted that she was based in Toronto. So, I took a chance and sent an email. We spoke for over an hour on the phone and I realized that she would be perfect for this book.
I have a very eclectic and varied background. My first job when I graduated from college was in water quality. I performed various tests on water samples from wells to determine whether they were safe and just what was leaking into the water. After about a year, I lost that job because it lost funding.
At first, I went through a period of, “Oh dear!” and I was deeply concerned about what I was going to do next. I was the breadwinner in my household. My husband was in graduate school. However, I quickly found a position as a virology research assistant. Virology is the study of viruses. The gentleman I worked for and with had been at Harvard in the School of Tropical Public Health. He was quite a well-respected researcher. I was privileged to work with him for three years on a grant focused on human cytomegalovirus, which is a herpes virus.
From there, I went into a diabetes research position and then another job in immunology. I worked at a children’s medical facility and studied children’s
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