After having spent a decade at UC Riverside where she completed her doctoral degree in Environmental Toxicology and a four-year postdoctoral appointment where she has been researching tobacco exposure and its effect on fetal development, Sparks decided to make the leap to UC Irvine for several reasons. The growth of the Program of Public Health into a School of Population and Public Health; the diversity of the campus; and the interdisciplinary research across many fields with the larger goal to improve human health.
Specifically, Sparks was recruited as part of a hiring incentive stemming from the UC Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellowship, a program that was established in 1984 to encourage outstanding women and minority PhD recipients to pursue academic careers at one of the ten campuses in the UC-system.
“Being a female researcher of color and not interacting with faculty whom I can relate to is discouraging,” Sparks said. “Not many places can show these initiatives in action like UCI can and the campus’ strategic plan to change the climate of the campus is inspiring.”
Sparks brings a unique area of research to UCI Public Health in that she is looking at what environmental toxicants, such as using and exposure to tobacco products, can do to a fetus’s development. She is looking at these toxicants at a granular level and how they can cause birth defects and alter bone development.
“Science has always interested me, and I wanted to apply my professional endeavors of running my own lab to help vulnerable populations,” Sparks said. “I realized during my doctoral degree that my research was in public health at a very molecular level.”
Sparks’ lab will use stem cell and animal models to observe how a toxicant can change microRNA and mRNA expression levels that cause an embryonic osteoblast (bone-forming cell) defect. She plans to collaborate with faculty from the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health and the Air Pollution Health Effects Laboratory to see how real-world air pollution exposure effects bone development.
In addition, Sparks would like to work with researchers from pediatrics to obtain cord blood stem cells to understand the inhibitory effects of environmental toxicant exposure on primary cord blood-derived osteoblasts. Her goal is to better understand the function of microRNAs and mRNAs and their potential as a biomarker of osteoblast differentiation inhibition and bone birth defects.
The California native also looks forward to teaching, mentoring, and influencing undergraduate and PhD students who will eventually be the next generation of scientists. “I want to make their experience be all that it can be and help remove barriers they may face in science, as I’ve had the good fortune of having instrumental mentors guide me throughout my career.”
I owe much of my success by creating a community of people who support me, being persistent, and knowing my goals and worth. I encourage everyone to take the initiative and go for every opportunity and do not let others nor doubt discourage them.”
– Nicole Sparks, PhD
Sparks shares two children with her husband and high school sweetheart, and she is excited for this new chapter of her professional story. “The pandemic allowed me to take a step back and appreciate my journey,” Sparks said. “Since graduating high school, it has taken me 22 years to get to this point of my life. I learned very late in my career to celebrate my accomplishments, be flexible and open to new paths, and understand that failure is part of the journey. I have learned and grown from my setbacks, but I did not allow it to stop me.”
