The passionate perseverer

This profile is part of a series that celebrates the people at Hopkins who make it possible.

Marta Escarrà-Senmartí thrives on solving tough scientific challenges and supporting the family she's built along the way.

Originally from Spain, Marta came to Baltimore seven years ago with her husband to pursue their careers in research. She started at Johns Hopkins as a research specialist in oncology, then became a postdoctoral research fellow in rheumatology. She was recently promoted to research associate at Bayview. Alongside her scientific accomplishments, Marta has benefited from Hopkins' family-focused benefits, including the university's child care scholarship program, which helped her and her husband balance career growth with raising two young daughters.

"What motivates me is knowing I gave something my all," she says.

Here, Marta reflects on her journey through Hopkins, the importance of teamwork, and why she tells aspiring scientists to keep going, even when it's hard.

What has your career path at Johns Hopkins looked like?

I have been working at Hopkins for seven years, but I did not always want to be a scientist. I grew up in a family of teachers, and education was always the stuff that I would hear about during my lunches and dinners. But then science caught my attention and I started studying chemistry. I enjoyed it a lot. I did a master's degree in chemistry, applied to biology, and from there I decided to go into the immunology field. So when my husband and I arrived here, I decided I wanted to develop my career, so I interviewed for different jobs. I started as a research specialist in cancer at the main Hopkins campus and then I transitioned to a postdoc position in the rheumatology division. I have been there for three years and they recently promoted me to a research associate position.

Why is teamwork so essential to success in the lab?

In the lab you have to be a team. Without teamwork it doesn't work because everybody knows different aspects, different fields, and then you have to combine your knowledge, and it's a matter of communication and sharing information. It's like cooking. When cooking you always have a recipe, but in the laboratory, you always have to change different things. You walk without knowing where you're going, and sometimes you find things that are going to surprise you. There are ups and downs, and when it's up, it's so exciting.

What has been one of your proudest moments in the lab?

During my postdoc, I worked on a project that was difficult, very challenging. I had to do a knockout of a gene with cells that are called HL-60 cells. I have knocked out other genes before, but this in particular took more than one year. And the day that I saw the results and I saw that I got it, I was like, "Oh my God!" It was so exciting.

You and your husband both work at Hopkins. What has it been like working in the same field and sometimes on related projects?

We have not always worked together. I thought it would be more difficult, but actually it has been an interesting experience. We used to share our knowledge at home, but now that we are working with projects that are very related, sometimes we have to say, OK, stop talking about this! But we enjoy a lot just sharing our day, what we are doing during the day. And sometimes we actually help each other. "You try this? Yeah, just try this because it will work. I tried it on the other experiment and I think it has been so helpful."

What are some things that you love doing outside of Hopkins?

Well, I love to hike. I'm from a place that has a lot of mountains. The first thing when I came here was like "where are the mountains?" But still, Maryland has a lot of parks to go to on the weekends to take a walk. I have two girls and we like to spend time together outside or going to restaurants. My husband is also a very good cook and it's something that I think we enjoy together as a family. So we always try to find recipes and things to make at home.

How has Hopkins supported you as a parent?

One of the benefits we took from Hopkins that we are very grateful for is the scholarship for child care. Since my husband and I are both part of Johns Hopkins, we were able to apply and it has been very, very, very helpful. When we came here we were just shocked when we realized the cost of day care. It was a relief to have this scholarship because they pay 80% of the tuition. We were able to save money to travel to visit our families and buy a house and a car. We have been in this program seven years because we started with my oldest daughter and now my other daughter is enrolled. So we are very, very grateful for that benefit. I would love this program to keep going for the future because it definitely is something that improves lives.

What has the Hopkins community meant to you as someone who came from another country?

Baltimore has a lot of people from everywhere in the world because Hopkins is a university that attracts a lot of people. We have a great international community of people like me, and this diversity helped us to feel more comfortable and familiar and happy. Sometimes it's difficult to be alone in another country that is not yours. But Hopkins has a great pool of people from everywhere and we all help each other.

If you had one piece of advice for future scientists, what would it be?

If I had to give advice to the new future scientists like me, I would say work hard, persevere. Don't give up and keep going. Things take time. In our job, we need patience, so ask for patience everywhere you can. And work a lot.