Balancing Science and Identity: Dr. Stephen Robinson's Story of LGBTQIA+ Empowerment
Dr. Stephen Robinson advocates for LGBTQIA+ visibility in STEMM.
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Dr. Stephen Robinson grew up in the US West (Colorado, Wyoming, Montana and California). Robinson started his career at the University of California, Santa Cruz, studying for his PhD, investigating mammary gland biology under the supervision of Professor Charles Daniel. During his studies, Robinson gained a firm understanding of how to use and manipulate the mouse mammary gland as a model system for investigating developmental biology and cancer.
Robinson later moved to Boston to complete his postdoctoral work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with Dr. Richard Hynes. The mouse models he generated during this time continue to be a powerful tool for studying the role of leukocyte rolling in several research fields, and this role helped to develop his passion for cell adhesion.
In 2000, Robinson moved to the UK to work as a principal scientific officer with Cancer Research UK studying angiogenesis. His work with Professor Kairbaan Hodivala-Dilke, at Barts Cancer Institute, included publishing groundbreaking studies on the roles played by integrins during angiogenesis; changing the research community’s perception of how integrins function in vivo to regulate both normal and pathological angiogenesis.
Robinson then moved to the University of East Anglia (UEA) in 2011 as an independent principal investigator, studying cell adhesion and angiogenesis. In 2018, he took on a synergy post with Quadram Institute Bioscience, focusing his lab on understanding host–microbe interactions in the context of cancer as well as cell adhesion and angiogenesis. Robinson was also awarded UEA’s PhD Supervisor of the Year in 2018.
Rhianna-lily Smith (RLS): Can you tell us about your research interests?
Stephen Robinson (SR): Historically, my lab focuses on understanding the molecular basis of endothelial cell adhesion and migration in regulating angiogenesis. We have established a reputation for combining the use of transgenic and knockout mice with cellular and molecular biology to gain mechanistic insight into physiological and tumor angiogenesis. More recently, we have investigated how microbial communities and specific microbiota members interact with the host to regulate vascular development and health, as well as tumor immune surveillance in breast cancer.
RLS: What would you say are your proudest achievements while working in STEMM?
SR: I would say mentoring the scientists that come through the lab, particularly the PhD students. I have always been lucky to work in labs with amazing supportive supervisors (during my undergrad, PhD and postdoc years – my PhD supervisor was like a second father to me), and I try to be the same. For me, the key is not making someone into a mini-me but supporting them in whatever endeavor they want to take on next. People coming out of the lab have gone on to do many different things, with only a few staying in academia, and I think that is so cool.
RLS: Have you faced any obstacles in your career due to identifying as LGBTQIA+?
SR: For me, personally, the biggest obstacle has been myself. I was closeted until I was in my early 30s. I think I would have achieved so much more if I’d allowed myself to be my authentic self, but I perceived such a stigma associated with being gay, that I was too afraid to come out. If I’d known any out scientists, that might have helped me to feel comfortable enough to be myself.
So, I guess, that’s who I try to be now: a confident gay scientist who is openly out so that junior scientists have someone to look at and say, “Hey, it’s okay to be me.”
RLS: How do you balance your professional identity as a scientist with your personal identity as an LGBTQIA+ individual, especially in environments where there may be varying levels of acceptance or understanding?
SR: Not very well, is probably the real answer to that question. The approach I’ve taken more recently (last couple of years) is to not suppress any of the LGBT side of things. Sometimes, that probably means people know more of my “business” than they’d like to. But it’s too hard to create multiple identities for different situations. I guess I am (finally) learning not to care so much if people aren’t comfortable with who I am. This extends to openly displaying tokens of my identity (LGBT related or not), like pride items, piercings, tattoos, etc.
RLS: If you could give one piece of advice to young LGBTQIA+ researchers beginning their career, what would it be?
SR: Find someone who is “like” you and ask for their guidance when you need it and rely on their mentorship.
Dr. Stephen Robinson was speaking to Rhianna-lily Smith, Editorial Assistant at Technology Networks.
About the Interviewee:
Dr. Stephen Robinson is a Group Leader at the Quadram Institute Bioscience, and a Lecturer in Cell Signalling and Angiogenesis at the University of East Anglia, where his lab focuses on understanding host–microbe interactions in the context of cancer, as well as cell adhesion and angiogenesis. He attained his PhD in 1993 at the University of California Santa Cruz, under Professor Charles Daniel, before moving to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to conduct postdoctoral research with Professor Richard Hynes studying leukocyte adhesion and rolling.
