Dr. Maeve McLaughlin (she/they) is a trans femme, neurodivergent postdoctoral research associate at Michigan State University. As a molecular microbiologist, her research examines how transcriptional regulatory networks influence cellular decision making and fitness in bacteria, with recent projects examining how bacteria-infecting viruses interact with these regulatory networks. Dr. McLaughlin has had an impressive research career thus far, earning her B.Sc. in Biology and Ph.D. in Biological Science from Wayne State University (Detroit, MI) in 2014 and 2019, respectively. Throughout her career, Dr. McLaughlin has given over 25 presentations, including at national conferences such as American Society of Microbiology Microbe 2023, where she earned an award for the best overall abstract.
In fact, I stumbled across Dr. McLaughlin’s work after she posted a tweet about that particular presentation. In it, she mentions a conversation she had with a queer person after her talk, saying, “This is why I will always put a trans flag in my slides or wear ultra queer clothing to present. We deserve to not feel alone!!” Dr. McLaughlin came out as trans and began transitioning partway through her postdoc and has ADHD as well as social communication and sensory issues.
While Dr. McLaughlin inspires others professionally, she points out that “being trans and neurodivergent in STEM hasn’t been easy.” She is regularly misgendered by some of her colleagues and faces issues that cis or neurotypical colleagues do not consider. For example, she asks, “will an environment be overstimulating, and if I do get overstimulated, is there a place that I can go that’s sensory friendly where I can decompress?” Due to safety concerns, she also has to limit the places she travels for work if they are unsafe for trans folks.
Dr. McLaughlin states that she repeatedly explains these issues to her cis and neurotypical colleagues, sometimes to the same individual, which can create feelings of a lack of support or community. “One of the most difficult things about being neurodivergent and queer in STEM are the feelings of isolation,” Dr. McLaughlin states, arguing that a lack of representation can make you feel like an outsider. She advises people in STEM to “find your community, and if it doesn’t exist, then make that community yourself, as long as it’s safe to do so.” Dr. McLaughlin stresses the importance of going beyond acceptance in STEM; nothing is like “the connection and understanding you get from someone that is like you.”
To foster a sense of community and belonging among historically marginalized groups, Dr. McLaughlin is committed to advocating for and engaging with diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ). Throughout her career, she has been involved with several DEIJ committees at her university (e.g., Michigan State University’s College of Natural Science Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Advisory Council), but one initiative has stood out to her.
As a member of the Advisory Committee for the Molecular Genetics of Bacteria and Phages meeting this year, she spearheaded the “Mixer” and “Diversity Showcase.” She developed the Mixer for “scientists from historically marginalized groups to socialize and network in a safe space” to avoid feelings of isolation and connect with people from their communities. The Diversity Showcase was a document that promoted the work of scientists from historically marginalized groups at the conference. It contained information about each person, their presentations, and the communities they were part of, which not only encouraged support for their incredible work, but also “allow[ed] us to find the people within our communities.” These efforts were huge successes, with >110 people attending the mixer and >70 people from all career stages featured in the Diversity Showcase. In fact, Dr. McLaughlin states that they’ve even created a virtual community to allow members to stay connected outside of the conference due to excitement around and support for these initiatives. Her work doesn’t stop there though; Dr. McLaughlin is already working hard alongside her best friend to ensure next year’s conference is “even better and more accessible.”
If you’re interested in learning more about Dr. McLaughlin’s work, check out her publications listed below! You can also click the link below to connect with her vial email.
McLaughlin M, Fiebig A, Crosson S. 2023. XRE Transcription Factors Conserved in Caulobacter and ΟCbK Modulate Adhesin Development and Phage Production. bioRxiv. doi: 10.1101/2023.08.20.554034.
North H, McLaughlin M, Fiebig A, Crosson S. 2023. The Caulobacter NtrB-NtrC two-component system bridges nitrogen assimilation and cell development. bioRxiv. doi: 10.1101/2023.06.06.543975.
McLaughlin M, Hershey DM, Reyes Ruiz LM, Fiebig A, Crosson S. 2022. A cryptic transcription factor regulates Caulobacter adhesin development. PLOS Genet. 18(10): e1010481.
McLaughlin M and Higgs PI. 2019. A negative autoregulation network motif is required for synchronized Myxococcus xanthus development. bioRxiv. 738716.
Feeley BE, Bhardwaj V, McLaughlin M, Diggs S, Blaha GM, Higgs PI. An amino-terminal threonine/serine motif is necessary for activity of the Crp/Fnr homolog, MrpC and for Myxococcus xanthus developmental robustness. Mol Microbiol. 2019. 112(5):1531β1551.
McLaughlin M, Bhardwaj V, Feeley BE, Higgs PI. MrpC, a CRP/Fnr homolog, functions as a negative autoregulator during the Myxococcus xanthus multicellular developmental program. Mol Microbiol. 2018. 109:245-261.
Carly E. Karrick π³οΈβπ 