Joan Lunney

What’s the most important leadership lesson you’ve learned?

Teams count. To be most successful, teams require communication, coordination, and dedicated participation from all members.

What do you consider to be your most important career achievement or milestone?

At the International Veterinary Immunology Symposium (IVIS2023) in Kruger National Park, South Africa, Nov 2023, I was the Distinguished Veterinary Immunologist Awardee. From the award: “The selection committee has been really impressed by all your achievements in science and immunological toolkits, in in-field innovation and also in mentoring the new generations of veterinary immunologists. You know how to bring people work and think together.”

Describe an amazing opportunity in your STEM career.

In November 2022: I was selected by the US Office of Personnel Management to receive the Meritorious Senior Professional Award, befitting “senior career employees with a sustained record of exceptional professional, technical, and/or scientific achievement recognized on a national or international level.”

How was AWIS helped you professionally and/or personally?

AWIS is a resource that assures myself and mentees that we are not alone.

What is your favorite word? (only one word)

Persistence.

How do you define it?

Continued effort needed to achieve results.

How has this word influenced or inspired your career?

I use 3 words: Serendipity, Persistence, and Resilience to tell young scientists that nothing is automatic in building their careers.

What are you currently reading or listening to?

An Immense World by Ed Yong

What do you consider the best professional or personal advice you’ve ever received?

Say “NO.”

Joan Lunney, PhD, designed a major project to assess the genetic basis of resistance to a pig virus with USDA, university and pig genetic company personnel. Her team has identified an allele that partially determines resistance to viral infection and improved growth. The lab is now probing fetal resistance to congenital virus infection. She coleads the US Swine Immune Toolkit, developing new reagents for assessment of pig health, vaccines, and biomedical research. Joan actively mentors scientists as they work toward tenure.