COM Outlook Spring 2019

20 | DR. KIRAN C. PATEL COLLEGE OF OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE on a personal and professional journey that led her away from the Soviet Union and toward ultimate vocational satisfaction. OPPORTUNITIES ABOUND IN FOREIGN LANDS As she neared the end of her Ph.D. studies at Volgograd, Nathanson had undergone a personal transition and was now married and pregnant. Seeking a better life in a place free of anti-Semitism, Nathanson and her husband decided to emigrate to Israel. The relocation to Israel, however, came at a steep price. “According to Soviet law, we had to give up our Soviet citizenship and pay a fee to leave. Addition- ally, we could take only $150 per person with us.” Thankfully, Israel turned out to be a welcoming country to Nathanson, who was seven months pregnant and pursuing new educational and career prospects. The biggest hurdle she needed to over- come was finding a job in a country where Hebrew was the prevailing language. Fortunately, the non- Hebrew-speaking Nathanson was able to land a job at the Feinberg Graduate School Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, where she earned her Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry. “I learned both English and Hebrew when I started working at the Weizmann Institute. The first three months were like being in a fog, but then I realized I suddenly understood what people around me were talking about,” she said. “I learned a lot professionally during my time at the Weizmann Institute. We worked at the cutting-edge level, and it was an honor to learn from the world-class scientists.” After earning her Ph.D., Nathanson relocated to South Florida in 1997 to accept a postdoctoral position at the University of Miami (UM) Miller School of Medicine, where she began honing her expertise in cellular processes. What followed was a productive 12-year stint as a UM researcher, where Nathanson served in a range of roles, including director of the Gene Expression and Microarray Core for UM’s John P. Hussman Institute for Human Genomics. It was an exciting time for Nathanson, who gained extensive hands-on experience in the intricate science of sample processing for microarray, NanoString, next- generation sequencing analyses, and the study of large genomics datasets and system biology analysis. Her multifaceted UM endeavors would eventually lead to her immersion in groundbreaking research related to myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) and Gulf War illness (GWI). “I was initially exposed to the conditions of ME/ CFS and GWI about 10 years ago when UM research- ers Nancy Klimas, M.D., and Mary Ann Fletcher, Ph.D., M.A., decided to run microarrays in our Gene Expression and Microarray Core to investigate Clockwise from right: Lubov Nathanson strikes a pose at age four; she celebrates her son Yonathan’s (right) bar mitzvah, along with her older son, David (left); Nathanson (right) poses with her sister, Nataly.