Focus your energy on figuring out what your purpose is in, and the path will come.
-Professor Tashara Leak, PhD, RD
With a story that takes her from being a pre-med in undergrad to graduate school, then a dietetics program, industry work, and currently, academia here at Cornell, Professor Leak’s path has been far from linear and smooth. This April, Career Assistant Angella was grateful for her chance to speak with Professor Leak about her research, how she got to where she is now by following her purpose, her advice for undergraduate students who are still searching for what they want to do, and actionable tips for getting a research position as an undergraduate student.
Below is a summary of what was shared in the interview, alongside an audio recording of the full interview.
What is your research like? Could you tell me a little about who you are?
Tashara Leak is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell and an Assistant Professor in General Internal Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical School. The goal of her research is to “create sustainable solutions”, building long-lasting relationships with programs, and informing policy.
Are there any specific projects that you would like to chat about?
Advanced Cooking Education (ACE) is a 12-week nutrition education program for 8th graders in New York City that contains nutrition lessons, cooking labs for ethnic dishes, and professional development to explore careers in nutrition. Prof. Leak acknowledges that the field of nutrition is not as diverse as it could be and wants to “show these early adolescents that there are some really cool careers in the field of nutrition”.
What was your undergraduate experience like? What were you involved in during your undergraduate years?
Dr. Leak attended UNC Chapel Hill during undergraduate years, and imagined that she would be a physician as someone on the pre-med track. She was involved in clubs such as the American Red Cross Club, the Minority Association for Pre-Health Students, and did a lot of volunteer work around the community. While shadowing physicians in the MED summer program offered by UNC Chapel Hill, she noticed that no one spoke about nutrition, despite seeing patients with diet-related chronic diseases, such as diabetes and obesity. Determined to understand nutrition further, which she viewed as a form of preventative medicine, she decided to pursue a Master’s in Nutrition before applying to medical school.
While Dr. Leak was in graduate school, however, she discovered her love for research. With encouragement from her mentor, she realized that a PhD was a better fit for her as she wished to solve systems-level, population-level problems, appreciated the freedom to create, and wanted the flexibility to be a part of many different work environments (being out in the community at times, working at home at times).
Did you have that “eureka” moment with your mentor/professor?
Looking back at her own career trajectory, Dr. Leak advises undergraduates to “Focus your energy on figuring out what your purpose is, and the path will come”. She realizes that while her path changed, her purpose remained with her.
How did you decide to pursue an RD?
Dr. Leak pursued an RD at the end of her PhD program through an ISPP (Individualized Supervised Practice Pathways), an accelerated dietetic internship for people holding PhDs. Now that she is starting a clinical study, she found it helpful to have this RD license. She collaborates with physicians and can work in clinical settings. Says Dr. Leak: “I’m still doing the work that I think I always was supposed to do.” Reflecting on what role she wanted to pursue, Dr. Leak says: “I wanted to be the researcher. I want to be the person who’s creating the interventions with the solutions to the problems”.
Are there traits or internships that you think students could have right now, which could translate to multiple professions in the future?
Dr. Leak encourages undergraduates to pursue experiences that truly bring them joy, even if it has nothing to do with their career. “This is a marathon, not a sprint”. Dr. Leak has been there before and recommends that you still schedule in time for yourself. Says Dr. Leak: “ I often tell students right now this is probably like the least busy you’re ever going to be in your life.” She recommends finding things you truly enjoy because “You’re always going to be busy so you have to make time for things that destress you, [that] can just bring you joy and help disconnect from your work.”
For additional experiences, Dr. Leak recommends having summer internships and exploring different kinds of research to see what things you like or don’t like. Dr. Leak recommends research for these reasons: “I think a lot of students feel like research is like working in a lab of mice and that’s not true! That’s one type of research. Again I’m out in the communities. I’m with real people and then when I’m building relationships before I start studies, I’m helping out with career fairs, at most schools I’m going to PTA meetings. I’m out in the field. And research also just teaches you really great critical thinking skills that help you become a better writer.”
Are there any challenges you’ve faced?
Throughout her career, Dr. Leak has fought to navigate a space that historically wasn’t created for her to exist in for both herself and through her work in communities with people who look like her with similar backgrounds as she did growing up. She acknowledges that it is isolating to see that “the further along [and] the higher up you get in terms of your degree, there are fewer and fewer people who look like me”.
She prioritizes building community, whether online or in-person. Dr. Leak is in a writing group with other women of color who are at different universities and they meet every Thursday from 2 to 5 to write.
Dr. Leak urges many systems, including higher education, to need change as they become more and more diverse. She urges reflection in the university address belonging to aim “not just for there to be people present here representing the variety of different backgrounds” but also “what does it mean to show up as your whole self” in these spaces.
What’s the process like to join a lab and what kind of traits are you looking for? How would you encourage students or maybe just finishing up their schooling to look for opportunities outside of the university?
Professor Leak suggests that students gain or advertise skills that would benefit labs; these skills are often not what people first think of for lab work.
- CITI Training
- Other training
- Bronfenbrenner Center
- Survey Research Institute
- Mann Library workshops
- Other unconventional skills such as Adobe (InDesign, Photoshop), photography, etc.
For entering the workforce, Dr. Leak recognizes that it may be difficult to get that “perfect” dream job, so she encourages you to “give yourself some grace”, especially during these times when finding jobs are difficult for many people. She suggests you to be open to different opportunities and work through trial and error to fine-tune what you truly want to do. She acknowledges that “It’s not going to be perfectly aligned with everything that you want to do” but “you just want to learn all the things you want to learn as much as humanly possible and then from there you can be more selective”.
The audio recording of the interview is below, and the video can be provided upon request.
You can learn more about Professor Tashara Leak and her work here: https://www.tasharaleak.com/