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Cayuse Champion Spotlight: Tracy Parker

By Simon Helton posted 06-01-2021 11:34

  
The Cayuse community is thrilled to shine its Champion Spotlight on @Tracy Parker, Program Manager at Intuitive Surgical. Keep reading below to get to know Tracy better.

MeadowcroftHarvest.jpg
Tracy and her daughter harvesting grapes


How do you interact with Cayuse products on a daily basis?
We are in the process of implementation of Cayuse for IACUC, vet records and (eventually) training. Moving from “paper” (i.e. Word doc) protocols to a cloud-based system will improve our efficiencies and make the researchers’ lives easier (not to mention mine!). We were successful in moving our anesthesia monitoring and animal records away from paper and into Cayuse as well…no more “matter on the data” for us!

What do you like to do outside of work?
We bought what was supposed to be our “retirement home” at the end of 2019 (yes, just weeks before the pandemic turned everyone’s lives upside down). Now that I work almost exclusively from home, we’ve moved into the “retirement” home. My office has a beautiful view of the lake, which is the place I go with the dogs (both rescues), kayaking with my husband, and boating. I also volunteer at our weekly Farmer’s Market and grow a pretty decent garden myself.

What do you see as the hottest trends in research today?
With the approval of mRNA technology with COVID vaccines, I think we will see many more submissions with use of this soon. Overall, the trend towards specialized treatments (using gene technology, immunotherapies, CRISPR, etc.) is where I think we are trending.

What do you consider most promising in the era of big data?
The quickness with which vaccines to protect against COVID were approved is a great indicator of how information sharing will help scientists accelerate the discovery process and bring new vaccines, therapies and cures to market faster than ever.

How can an organization stay relevant five years from now?
Just like in any business, understanding the market and the trends is paramount. For research, we need to make sure that we are carefully studying the demographics of the population as well as the environmental impacts that we are just beginning to understand.

What app would be hard for you to live without?
Good gracious…Zoom is the #1 for me. I was able to facilitate IACUC semi-annual inspections, meetings, team building…you name it, we figured out how to use Zoom to make it happen.

If you could meet any historical figure, who would you choose and why?
This is a tough one! Mozart…I’d love to learn from him (or really any artist)…how he “sees” music and composition. I enjoy the arts but have no talent…it would be very interesting to listen to how someone with such an amazing gift perceives the world. Assuming I’d still know about today’s technology, I’d love to see his reaction to the technology and whether he would use it…or stick to his roots.

Thank you Tracy for being a Cayuse Champion and sharing your thoughts!​​

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