Radical View | August 2022

Rafael Radi, MD, PhD
Universidad de la República - Uruguay

Prepared by: Isabelle Elena Logan

As scientists we serve humanity. Do you have advice on how to communicate science to policy makers and the public?
Communication needs to be clear, transparent, and consistent. It is best that what is communicated is settled and has had the consensus of the scientific community. In pandemic times, raw scientific speculation to the policy makers and the public is counterintuitive. This does not mean at all not to show uncertainties. It is better to simply state what is not known, rather than elaborating on issues that are pure speculation and lack actual evidence. Solid knowledge synthesized by interdisciplinary teams is the best way to avoid bias in scientific analysis, advise and communication. Credible reports and statements generated by independent and strong scientific teams are central clues to deal with a complex event such as the COVID-19 crisis. Assessments from knowledgeable individuals can be important but much better those arising from interdisciplinary team work. With good science communication strategies, policy makers can propose better quality and evidence-based public health measures and society can better understand, believe and adhere to them. 

As an experienced mentor, how would you advise younger mentors at the start of their career?
I would say five key things:

1. Generate a friendly, relaxed and collaborative lab atmosphere.
2. Structure together with the junior researchers their projects and then give them freedom to proceed. 
3. Make sure that all the literature is always covered, not just the newer ones! Dig together with the junior researchers into the very early work of the field. It is fun, important, and there is a lot out there!
4. Have frequent informal meetings (they can be short!) and also have formal meetings every week, such as journal club and lab meeting.
5. Points 1-4 should result in the generation of sense of a "lab community" in which all members feel part of a relevant, timely, productive and enjoyable enterprise. Make sure that every lab member and administrative personnel feel proud of being part of your lab.

What was the most exciting experience you've performed, and which publication was the result?
One of the most exciting and important experiences is one we did together with Joseph S. Beckman (now at Oregon State University) when we were working together at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. I was a postdoc in Bruce Freeman's lab, and with Joe we ran a stopped-flow spectrophotometry experiment on the consumption of peroxynitrite in the presence of cysteine, following peroxynitrite decomposition at 302 nm. I remember walking with Joe on the streets of Birmingham, Alabama, "uphill" several days with a tray full of reagents and solutions as we had to borrow the stopped-flow apparatus from another colleague that had the instrument some blocks away from our lab! 

This was the first experiment to report a second order rate constant of peroxynitrite with a biomolecule. The methos was then adopted by many groups and still represents the state-of-the-art-approach to assess the kinetics of peroxynitrite reaction with target molecules. This key experiment was integrated into a paper that with time became a "citation classic" (now with 2,375 citations, Web of Science, February 2022). [Radi R, Beckman JS, Bush KM, Freeman J Biol Chem. 1991 Mar 5;266(7):4244-50.]  Below the key figures (primary and secondary plot) from that experiment.

What is your passion outside of the lab, what is your favorite pastime?
I follow soccer very closely and watch matches of our national professional league live a few times a month. I had played extensively in competitive amateur leagues and now, after quitting during the hardest pandemic times, I am reinitiating recreational indoor soccer. I also have long walks in my neighborhood in Montevideo, in particular in the botanical gardens, almost every day which helps me both for exercising and also to organize my thoughts! I also enjoy a lot of music: during the pandemic time I started to learn a rather challenging musical instrument, the bandoneon.