Jackie Maffucci
Interview Posted By: Ashley Smith
1. Can you tell us a little about your background? i.e. Where you grew up, what education do you have, a summary of your resume, did you always want to do what you are doing now, when did you start to become interested in STEM, what internships/ volunteering
I grew up in Westchester County in New York. I have a B.S. in Animal Science from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from The University of Texas at Austin. As an undergrad, I worked in the lab or Dr. Elizabeth Adkins-Regan studying animal behavior and it was this that then really turned me on to research. Prior to this, I had always planned to go to veterinary school. However, I really liked the lab environment and once I graduated, I moved to Houston, TX and worked for two years as a research technician in a genetics lab. I wanted to try out research full-time to see if it was the path I wanted to take before committing to graduate school. Sure enough, at the end of two years I concluded I loved research, and so I started a neuroscience Ph.D. program with an interest in understanding the neural mechanisms behind animal behavior.
For my graduate work, I did work in a neuroendocrinology lab that had some behavior-focused projects. My dissertation was focused on the neural mechanisms driving reproductive aging.
I never intended to remain an academic researcher once I achieved a Ph.D., but I had always assumed I'd figure out what it was that I wanted to do while I was working towards my degree. That didn't happen for me and as graduation got closer, I turned my focus to my next steps. I was offered a position as a lecturer at a local college in Austin, TX, but after a few semesters decided to try a different path. I wanted something more multi-disciplinary. As I assessed my strengths and weaknesses, and the tasks that I enjoyed as a scientist, it became clear that the world of policy might be the best fit. I decided to move to Washington D.C. A few weeks before my intended move found out that I had been granted a fellowship at Research!America, an organization advocating for more research funding for NIH and other federal agencies.
This particular fellowship was just three months long. As that fellowship wrapped up, I was offered a position as a consultant for the Army. Although this was a very different path from anything I had ever imagined for myself, I decided to try it out. This was the decision that led to my career as a researcher embedded in the policy world, focusing on translating research into policy and specifically focusing on military and veteran issues.
2. What exactly IS your job? What do you do on a day to day basis?
I am currently the Research Director for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. In this role, my job is to make sure that all of IAVA's policy positions and initiatives are based in data. We have two lines of data that my department is responsible for tracking. The first is data published externally about the military and veteran community. These might be reports put out by federal agencies, nonprofits, academics and others. Our job is to track these data as they are released and separate the value add from the noise.
My department also works annually to survey IAVA's members on a number of issues relevant to veterans. This data helps IAVA to understand the needs of the community we represent, and allows us to better educate the policymakers and the public about the Post-9/11 general of veterans.
3. How does STEM relate to your job?How do you use the information you learned from your degree in your job?
A big part of my role at IAVA focuses on understanding the health outcomes data for the military and veteran community. This is specific to both physical and mental health. This is particularly where my neuroscience training comes in. But in a more general sense, I use my skills as a researcher every day, particularly my analytic skills. Every day I must review new data and determine its relevance for our organization and the community we represent from an education and policy standpoint. My role is essentially to translate data into action.
4. Have you faced any discrimination/ challenges being a woman in a stem field? If so, how did you deal with it? Do you have any advice for up and coming women in STEM?
The challenges I have mostly experienced as a woman in a STEM field has been in my interactions with other women, and particularly older women. To be clear, there have been only a few women with whom I have worked that I've experienced this, but it has definitely been surprising to experience this. I work in a heavily male dominated field, and I've only experienced respect from my male colleagues.
5. What is the best and worst part of your job? What do you look forward to in your job on a day to day basis? What do you wish you could change?
The best part of my job is having the opportunity to help people every day, and connecting people to one another to build greater impact. The hardest part is its fast-pace that at times is beyond emotionally draining. But every day, what I look forward to most is working with my talented and dedicated team and partners to impact change. If I could change anything, it would be the challenges that come with a non-profit, specific to resources. Resources can be tight and we constantly need to do a lot with a little, which can be challenging.
6. How do you balance your work and personal life? Any secrets or advice you’d like to share?
I didn't do a great job of this at first and was a marathon, not a sprint, and if I wanted to keep moving forward I had to draw some boundaries and stick to them. Each day, I go to work with a list of 2 -3 things that must get done, and knowing that they must get done by close of business has made me much more efficient. This helps me to be more realistic about what I can accomplish in a day and ensures that I don't let my work life overtake my personal life.
7. What do you define success as?
Success to me is knowing that I've made a difference in someone's life.
8. What is one personality trait that you think is universally important for a successful career?
Determination, but with an open mind. I never would have found this career if I hadn't been open to taking advantage of an opportunity that was a bit outside my comfort zone. And yet, because I decided to see the offer to work as a consultant for the Army as an opportunity, I've established a successful and fulfilling career as an advocate for the military and veteran community, and made a difference in the process.
9. Who was a mentor to you throughout your career? (can be more than one!) What did they teach you? How did they impact your life?
The project leads on the first consulting project on to which I was hired were amazing mentors that gave me the education and the confidence that I needed to really embrace this career. There were others along the way as well, and with each of them, they gave me was the confidence to reach higher than I thought possible and achieve something that I thought was un-achievable.
10. What do you think is the best advice you've ever received ? What advice would you give your younger self if you had the chance? What’s one piece of advice you can pass on to us?
The best advice I ever received was don't be afraid to try. When I moved to Washington D.C., I knew no one in a town where knowing people was very important for one's career. I was specifically told to identify people who have jobs that I want and reach out to them to request informational interviews. I never thought that these people would respond to a stranger, but yet every single one did. Every person starts somewhere and have people along the way who help them get where they're going. So never be afraid to try, and always be willing to pay it forward.
I grew up in Westchester County in New York. I have a B.S. in Animal Science from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from The University of Texas at Austin. As an undergrad, I worked in the lab or Dr. Elizabeth Adkins-Regan studying animal behavior and it was this that then really turned me on to research. Prior to this, I had always planned to go to veterinary school. However, I really liked the lab environment and once I graduated, I moved to Houston, TX and worked for two years as a research technician in a genetics lab. I wanted to try out research full-time to see if it was the path I wanted to take before committing to graduate school. Sure enough, at the end of two years I concluded I loved research, and so I started a neuroscience Ph.D. program with an interest in understanding the neural mechanisms behind animal behavior.
For my graduate work, I did work in a neuroendocrinology lab that had some behavior-focused projects. My dissertation was focused on the neural mechanisms driving reproductive aging.
I never intended to remain an academic researcher once I achieved a Ph.D., but I had always assumed I'd figure out what it was that I wanted to do while I was working towards my degree. That didn't happen for me and as graduation got closer, I turned my focus to my next steps. I was offered a position as a lecturer at a local college in Austin, TX, but after a few semesters decided to try a different path. I wanted something more multi-disciplinary. As I assessed my strengths and weaknesses, and the tasks that I enjoyed as a scientist, it became clear that the world of policy might be the best fit. I decided to move to Washington D.C. A few weeks before my intended move found out that I had been granted a fellowship at Research!America, an organization advocating for more research funding for NIH and other federal agencies.
This particular fellowship was just three months long. As that fellowship wrapped up, I was offered a position as a consultant for the Army. Although this was a very different path from anything I had ever imagined for myself, I decided to try it out. This was the decision that led to my career as a researcher embedded in the policy world, focusing on translating research into policy and specifically focusing on military and veteran issues.
2. What exactly IS your job? What do you do on a day to day basis?
I am currently the Research Director for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. In this role, my job is to make sure that all of IAVA's policy positions and initiatives are based in data. We have two lines of data that my department is responsible for tracking. The first is data published externally about the military and veteran community. These might be reports put out by federal agencies, nonprofits, academics and others. Our job is to track these data as they are released and separate the value add from the noise.
My department also works annually to survey IAVA's members on a number of issues relevant to veterans. This data helps IAVA to understand the needs of the community we represent, and allows us to better educate the policymakers and the public about the Post-9/11 general of veterans.
3. How does STEM relate to your job?How do you use the information you learned from your degree in your job?
A big part of my role at IAVA focuses on understanding the health outcomes data for the military and veteran community. This is specific to both physical and mental health. This is particularly where my neuroscience training comes in. But in a more general sense, I use my skills as a researcher every day, particularly my analytic skills. Every day I must review new data and determine its relevance for our organization and the community we represent from an education and policy standpoint. My role is essentially to translate data into action.
4. Have you faced any discrimination/ challenges being a woman in a stem field? If so, how did you deal with it? Do you have any advice for up and coming women in STEM?
The challenges I have mostly experienced as a woman in a STEM field has been in my interactions with other women, and particularly older women. To be clear, there have been only a few women with whom I have worked that I've experienced this, but it has definitely been surprising to experience this. I work in a heavily male dominated field, and I've only experienced respect from my male colleagues.
5. What is the best and worst part of your job? What do you look forward to in your job on a day to day basis? What do you wish you could change?
The best part of my job is having the opportunity to help people every day, and connecting people to one another to build greater impact. The hardest part is its fast-pace that at times is beyond emotionally draining. But every day, what I look forward to most is working with my talented and dedicated team and partners to impact change. If I could change anything, it would be the challenges that come with a non-profit, specific to resources. Resources can be tight and we constantly need to do a lot with a little, which can be challenging.
6. How do you balance your work and personal life? Any secrets or advice you’d like to share?
I didn't do a great job of this at first and was a marathon, not a sprint, and if I wanted to keep moving forward I had to draw some boundaries and stick to them. Each day, I go to work with a list of 2 -3 things that must get done, and knowing that they must get done by close of business has made me much more efficient. This helps me to be more realistic about what I can accomplish in a day and ensures that I don't let my work life overtake my personal life.
7. What do you define success as?
Success to me is knowing that I've made a difference in someone's life.
8. What is one personality trait that you think is universally important for a successful career?
Determination, but with an open mind. I never would have found this career if I hadn't been open to taking advantage of an opportunity that was a bit outside my comfort zone. And yet, because I decided to see the offer to work as a consultant for the Army as an opportunity, I've established a successful and fulfilling career as an advocate for the military and veteran community, and made a difference in the process.
9. Who was a mentor to you throughout your career? (can be more than one!) What did they teach you? How did they impact your life?
The project leads on the first consulting project on to which I was hired were amazing mentors that gave me the education and the confidence that I needed to really embrace this career. There were others along the way as well, and with each of them, they gave me was the confidence to reach higher than I thought possible and achieve something that I thought was un-achievable.
10. What do you think is the best advice you've ever received ? What advice would you give your younger self if you had the chance? What’s one piece of advice you can pass on to us?
The best advice I ever received was don't be afraid to try. When I moved to Washington D.C., I knew no one in a town where knowing people was very important for one's career. I was specifically told to identify people who have jobs that I want and reach out to them to request informational interviews. I never thought that these people would respond to a stranger, but yet every single one did. Every person starts somewhere and have people along the way who help them get where they're going. So never be afraid to try, and always be willing to pay it forward.