Eikon Senior Scientist Bruno da Rocha-Azevedo awarded 2022 ASCB Fellowship

Eikon cell biologist Bruno da Rocha-Azevedo has built a life and career dedicated both to pursuing scientific excellence, and to creating a safe and inclusive space for LGBTQ+ individuals within the scientific community.

On December 3, Bruno was honored by his peers in the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) when he was recognized as a 2022 ASCB Fellow alongside seventeen distinguished colleagues including current and emeriti professors, senior investigators, and the co-founder of bioRxiv and medRxiv.

ASCB Fellows are elected by their peers within the organization, in recognition of meritorious efforts to advance cell biology and/or its applications, and for service to the Society.

In addition to being one of the youngest nominees in 2022, Bruno also stands out as one of the only Fellows on the list working in industry, rather than in academia. He proudly represents scientists pursuing careers outside of academia - a demographic that is growing as the biotech industry continues to attract more post-docs and mid-career scientists.

“People need to know that if you go into industry, you’re still doing science,” Bruno says. “In the end, whether I’m in academia or industry, I’m a cell biologist.”

Working at a biotech company like Eikon has many benefits, he adds. You are part of a bigger team, with a powerful sense of “we” and collective workspaces. Tangible impacts are realized more quickly and at a larger scale than in individual academic labs, he says.?

Prior to joining Eikon, Bruno spent seven years working on single molecule tracking and advanced imaging. In his new role, he has been able to combine that experience with his original love: taking care of cells.

As a senior scientist in cell culture, Bruno and his growing team are at the center of the Eikon drug discovery and development pipeline.?

‘It’s very multidisciplinary, and there’s a certain magic about it. You have the engineers, the chemists, the biologists, and you have to make sure the knowledge is shared and understandable. Every conversation gives you a different perspective. It’s fascinating.”

Bruno has been an active member of ASCB since 2005. In 2014, he took a significant step to create the ASCB’s LGBTQ+ committee which he continues to co-chair.?

“We didn’t realize how powerful it would be for people to have an advocacy group, and how important role models could be,” Bruno says. “Science is open-minded work, but scientists often don’t know what to do as allies, or how to help promote inclusivity.”

Under Bruno’s leadership, the ASCB’s LGBTQ+ task force works to help the LGBTQ+ community by providing travel awards to LGBTQ+ students and postdocs, writing articles and blog posts, leading webinars and increasing visibility in other ways.

Bruno considers the LGBTQ+ community to be an invisible minority in science.?The community’s challenges are nuanced and the challenges they face can be subtle, he says. LGBTQ+ scientists might experience overt discrimination such as pay disparity or a lack of partner rights, or they may encounter more indirect forms of exclusion such as being made to feel uncomfortable socially, or feeling that they are not welcome to bring their partners to work events.

“Some international LGBTQ+ scientists may have fled their home countries to pursue both the science and the freedom to be openly gay. They must be supported,” Bruno says.?

Bruno said the ASCB is now one of the most LGBTQ+-inclusive scientific societies, and he’s proud of the significant role he played in helping to make that so.??

“I’m an LGBTQ+ advocate, and my battlefront is in science.”