Jessica Polka#ASAPbio

Polka received a BS in biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2007. While there, she was a Morehead Scholar.{{Cite book |url=http://www.moreheadcain.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/2019%E2%80%932020-Year-in-Review.pdf |title=More-Cain Year in Review 2019 - 2020 |publisher=Morehead-Cain Foundation |year=2020 |pages=29 |language=en}} She obtained a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of California, San Francisco under the supervision of Dyche Mullins in 2012.

In 2013 Polka became a research fellow in the department of Systems Biology at Harvard Medical School with Pamela Silver as advisor. She was also held a visiting scholar at the Whitehead Institute in Massachusetts. Polka conducted research in the assembly, function, and applications of protein polymers in bacteria, such as membrane-breaking protein needles called R bodies.{{Cite news|url=https://www.ibiology.org/speakers/jessica-polka/|title=Jessica Polka • iBiology|work=iBiology|access-date=2018-08-14|language=en-US}} Polka's work on R bodies was discussed in the American magazine The Atlantic,{{Cite news|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/02/thanks-for-the-transforming-nano-spears-bacteria/463119/|title=Biologists Steal Nanospear Technology From Bacteria|last=Yong|first=Ed|date=2016-02-17|work=The Atlantic|access-date=2018-08-14|language=en-US}} and covered by the American Chemical Society.{{Cite web|url=https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/pressroom/presspacs/2016/acs-presspac-february-17-2016/punchy-proteins-could-help-advance-drug-delivery-mems-devices-video.html|title=Punchy proteins could help advance drug delivery, MEMS devices (video) - American Chemical Society|website=American Chemical Society|language=en|access-date=2018-08-14}} Polka discovered that carboxysome, a protein organelle in cyanobacteria, grows like a crystal until it is coated by a layer of shell proteins.{{Cite news|url=https://www.jccfund.org/fellows/jessica-polka/|title=Jessica Polka - Jane Coffin Childs Memorial Fund|work=Jane Coffin Childs Memorial Fund|access-date=2018-08-14|language=en-US}}

File:Extended R bodies.jpg

Polka was co-chair of the American Society for Cell Biology's COMPASS (Committee for Postdocs and Students) during 2013 and 2014.{{Cite news|url=http://rescuingbiomedicalresearch.org/about/steering-committee-bios/bio-jessica-polka/|title=Bio: Jessica Polka - Rescuing Biomedical Research|work=Rescuing Biomedical Research|access-date=2018-08-14|language=en-US}}

Polka is on the steering committee for Rescuing Biomedical Research, an initiative to discuss solutions to problems addressed in the April 2014 PNAS article "Rescuing US biomedical research from its systemic flaws".{{Cite journal|last1=Alberts|first1=Bruce|last2=Kirschner|first2=Marc W.|last3=Tilghman|first3=Shirley|last4=Varmus|first4=Harold|date=2014-04-22|title=Rescuing US biomedical research from its systemic flaws|pmc=4000813|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|language=en|volume=111|issue=16|pages=5773–5777|bibcode=2014PNAS..111.5773A|doi=10.1073/pnas.1404402111|issn=0027-8424|pmid=24733905|doi-access=free}}

Polka is recognised as having insight into issues surrounding open peer review, preprint and early career progression, and has been quoted in numerous articles by Nature and Science on these topics.{{Cite news|url=https://www.science.org/content/article/nih-tweaks-plan-award-more-grants-younger-researchers|title=NIH tweaks plan to award more grants to younger researchers|date=2017-12-15|work=Science {{!}} AAAS|access-date=2018-08-15|language=en}}{{Cite journal|last=McKenzie|first=Lindsay|date=2017-06-16|title=Biologists debate how to license preprints|url=https://www.nature.com/news/biologists-debate-how-to-license-preprints-1.22161|journal=Nature|language=en|doi=10.1038/nature.2017.22161|issn=1476-4687|doi-access=free}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.science.org/content/article/new-fellowship-aims-increase-diversity-life-sciences|title=New fellowship aims to increase diversity in the life sciences|date=2016-09-21|work=Science {{!}} AAAS|access-date=2018-08-15|language=en}}{{Cite journal|last=Callaway|first=Ewen|date=2017-04-26|title=BioRxiv preprint server gets cash boost from Chan Zuckerberg Initiative|journal=Nature|language=en|volume=545|issue=7652|pages=18|doi=10.1038/nature.2017.21894|issn=0028-0836|pmid=28470210|bibcode=2017Natur.545...18C|doi-access=free}}{{Cite journal|last=Smaglik|first=Paul|date=2016-02-24|title=Activism: Frustrated postdocs rise up|journal=Nature|language=en|volume=530|issue=7591|pages=505–506|doi=10.1038/nj7591-505a|pmid=26918253|issn=0028-0836|doi-access=free}}{{Cite journal|last=Dolgin|first=Elie|date=2016-11-30|title=Big biology projects warm up to preprints|url=https://www.nature.com/news/big-biology-projects-warm-up-to-preprints-1.21074|journal=Nature|language=en|doi=10.1038/nature.2016.21074|s2cid=185520702|issn=1476-4687|url-access=subscription}}{{non-primary source needed|reason=Four examples of one and two of the other is not "numerous". These cites might be sufficient to say "several". Adding enough to support "numerous" would turn this into even more of a citation bomb. Better just use a secondary source that actually says this.|date=June 2019}} In 2015, Polka and Viviane Callier wrote an article for the careers column in Nature where they argue that funding agencies should support more than 16% of postdocs through fellowships. This would allow postdocs to "strike out away from the beaten path [and] will bring fresh ideas and approaches to the table".{{Cite journal|last1=Callier|first1=Viviane|last2=Polka|first2=Jessica|date=2015-12-02|title=Fellowships are the future|journal=Nature|language=en|volume=528|issue=7580|pages=155–156|doi=10.1038/nj7580-155a|issn=0028-0836|doi-access=free}}

Polka was one of the organisers of the first Future of Research Symposium in Boston in 2014. She was on the executive committee until she became president of the board of directors in 2016.{{Cite news|url=http://futureofresearch.net/board-of-directors/|title=Board of Directors|date=2016-04-30|work=Future of Research|access-date=2018-08-14|language=en-US}} Polka is involved in creating debate amongst early-career scientists about the financial, historical and political influences on academic research. Future of Research was awarded the People of the Year award in 2015 by Science journal for their "efforts to empower early-career and aspiring scientists...".{{Cite news|url=https://www.science.org/content/article/people-year-future-researchs-postdoc-activists|title=People of the Year: Future of Research's postdoc activists|date=2015-12-17|work=Science {{!}} AAAS|access-date=2018-08-15|language=en}}

Polka was a founder of ASAPbio which began in 2015 after Ron Vale showed that University of California, San Francisco students were taking a long time to publish and proposed that preprinting might mitigate the issue.{{Cite journal|last=Vale|first=Ronald D.|date=2015-07-11|title=Accelerating Scientific Publication in Biology|url=https://www.biorxiv.org/content/early/2015/07/11/022368|journal=bioRxiv|volume=112|issue=44|language=en|pages=13439–46|doi=10.1101/022368|pmid=26508643|pmc=4640799|arxiv=1509.03775|bibcode=2015PNAS..11213439V}} Vale recruited Polka, Daniel Colon-Ramos and Harold Varmus which led to the first ASAPbio meeting in February 2016 attended by scientists, representatives from funding agencies, journals and preprint servers.{{Cite news|url=http://asapbio.org/meeting-information/attendees|title=Attendees (2016 preprint meeting)|work=ASAPbio|access-date=2018-08-15|language=en-US}} The meeting Polka led was widely recognized as a turning point in scholarly communication{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/2016/02/the-rainbow-unicorn-trying-real-hard-to-transform-biology-publishing/|title=Biologists are working on a replacement for slow, stodgy peer review. It's a rainbow unicorn.|magazine=WIRED|access-date=2018-08-15|language=en-US}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/16/science/asap-bio-biologists-published-to-the-internet.html|title=Handful of Biologists Went Rogue and Published Directly to Internet|last=Harmon|first=Amy|date=March 15, 2016|work=New York Times|access-date=2018-08-16|language=en}}{{Cite journal|last1=Callaway|first1=Ewen|last2=Powell|first2=Kendall|date=2016-02-16|title=Biologists urged to hug a preprint|journal=Nature|language=en|volume=530|issue=7590|pages=265|doi=10.1038/530265a|issn=0028-0836|pmid=26887471|bibcode=2016Natur.530..265C|doi-access=free}} and a catalyst moment in the so-called "preprint revolution" in biology and science more generally.{{Cite news|url=https://www.science.org/content/article/are-preprints-future-biology-survival-guide-scientists|title=Are preprints the future of biology? A survival guide for scientists|date=2017-09-21|work=Science {{!}} AAAS|access-date=2018-08-16|language=en}} Polka began working full-time at ASAPbio in 2016 after funding was granted from the Simons Foundation, Sloan Foundation, Arnold Foundation, and Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.{{Cite web|url=https://www.simonsfoundation.org/2016/06/20/foundations-announce-support-for-scientist-driven-effort-to-promote-use-of-preprints-in-the-life-sciences/|title=Foundations Announce Support for Scientist-Driven Effort to Promote Use of Preprints in the Life Sciences {{!}} Simons Foundation|website=www.simonsfoundation.org|language=en-US|access-date=2018-08-15|date=2016-06-20}}

In 2016 Polka was described in the journal Nature as an "agent of change" for explaining how junior researchers can increase the impact of their work. For instance, ASAPbio encourages preprints within biology.{{Cite journal|last=Gewin|first=Virginia|date=2016-10-26|title=Agents of change|journal=Nature|language=en|volume=538|issue=7626|pages=543–545|doi=10.1038/nj7626-543a|issn=0028-0836|doi-access=free}} ASAPbio tries to mitigate the effect of lengthy waiting times before publications are reviewed and published, following the example of physics, computer science and maths, fields that have already adopted preprints. She has also taken an interest in strategies for preventing sexual harassment in the scientific community.{{cite book|title=Sexual Harassment of Women: Climate, Culture, and Consequences in Academic Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uyZnDwAAQBAJ&pg=PR12|date=1 September 2018|publisher=National Academies Press|isbn=978-0-309-47087-2|pages=xii,228 |editor-last1=Johnson |editor-first1=Paula A. |editor-last2=Widnall |editor-first2=Sheila E. |editor-last3=Benya |editor-first3=Frazier F.}} In 2017, PLOScast interviewed Polka about her work which contributes to the changing way that science is published.{{Cite news|url=http://blogs.plos.org/plospodcasts/2017/10/24/episode26/|title=How ECRs like Jessica Polka are reinventing science publishing {{!}} PLOScast|date=2017-10-24|work=PLOScast|access-date=2018-08-14|language=en-US}}

Since 2019, ASAPBio has begun to host open databases to collate information about academic publishing practices. ReimagineReview tracks the different peer review policies and models of academic journals, with a focus on experimental forms of peer review.{{Cite journal|last=Noorden|first=Richard Van|date=2019-03-04|title=Peer-review experiments tracked in online repository|url=http://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-00777-8|journal=Nature|language=EN|doi=10.1038/d41586-019-00777-8|s2cid=86845470 |url-access=subscription}}{{Cite web|url=https://reimaginereview.asapbio.org/about/|title=About|last=|first=|date=|website=ReimagineReview|language=en-US|access-date=2019-06-24}}{{Cite web|url=https://asapbio.org/launching-reimaginereview|title=Launching ReimagineReview, a registry of peer review experiments|website=ASAPbio|date=4 March 2019 |language=en-US|access-date=2019-06-24}} The Transpose database extends on this to cover journal policies including on peer review, co-reviewing, preprints, licensing, and versioning.{{Cite journal|last=Woolston|first=Chris|date=2019-06-18|title=Unravelling the mysteries of preprints and peer review|url=http://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01947-4|journal=Nature|language=EN|doi=10.1038/d41586-019-01947-4|pmid=32546808|s2cid=197826972 |url-access=subscription}}{{Cite web|url=https://asapbio.org/launching-transpose|title=Launching Transpose, a database of journal policies on preprinting & peer review|website=ASAPbio|date=13 June 2019 |language=en-US|access-date=2019-06-24}}{{Cite web|url=https://transpose-publishing.github.io/#/|title=Transpose|last=|first=|date=|website=transpose-publishing.github.io|access-date=2019-06-24}}

• Beckman Coulter Distinguished Graduate Student Prize (American Society for Cell Biology) (2013){{Cite news|url=https://www.ascb.org/ascb-post/the-5000-ascb-kaluza-prize-and-the-winner-is/|title=The $5,000 ASCB Kaluza Prize—And The Winner Is… - ASCB|date=2013-11-20|work=ASCB|access-date=2018-08-14|language=en-US|archive-date=2018-08-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180814232731/https://www.ascb.org/ascb-post/the-5000-ascb-kaluza-prize-and-the-winner-is/|url-status=dead}}
• Jane Coffin Childs Fellowship (2013–2016)

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• {{Official website|http://jessicapolka.com/}}
• [http://rescuingbiomedicalresearch.org/ Rescuing Biomedical Research]
• [http://asapbio.org/ ASAPbio]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Polka, Jessica}}

Category:American systems biologists

Category:Harvard Medical School faculty

Category:Living people

Category:American molecular biologists

Category:American women molecular biologists

Category:University of California alumni

Category:Synthetic biologists

Category:Open content activists

Category:University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni

Category:21st-century American chemists

Category:21st-century biochemists

Category:21st-century American women scientists

Category:American women biochemists

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

Category:American women academics