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In Memoriam of Dr. Jess Millar
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When a soul such as Jess Millar passes, we are all left with a profound sense of loss and sadness asking -why so soon? I will share what Jess meant to me and how they contributed to our science and lives.
Jess joined my group in 2017 and asked specially to have a female mentor. It was a joy and from the beginning I felt Jess and I had an understanding of who they were and the amazing scientist, deep thinker and caring person they were. Jess was relied upon by many in my group for her deep statistical knowledge (they also had a master's degree in biostatistics) and also for how they could think big-picture-interdisciplinary science. Even when Jess was struggling with physical ailments, they gave her all (whether online or in person). Jess was still part of my lab during the COVID when we all moved to online, and they participated to the fullest extent possible. After Jess contracted COVID, they started to struggle health-wise, yet despite physical state, on good days they were productive to the point of us finishing a beautiful paper that formed the basis of her Master's in Public Health. Jess presented a defense of that work in person after COVID, which was very well-received.
After her MPH was complete, Jess continued to remain a part of the lab environment while they were working on new projects. She was considered indispensable for projects occurring in the lab as a sounding board and for input on approach. I had the privilege to serve on her PhD thesis committee as well, and closely followed and gave input on her thesis work. Dr. Robert Wood served as her committed PhD Advisor. Jess did beautiful work on vancomycin-resistant enterococcus acquisition in hospitals with Dr. Wood. Finally, as part of postdoctoral work, Jess worked remotely for Dr. Colacino in DCMB here at UM. The focus of her postdoctoral work was toxicity forecasting on data to compare pesticide exposure and bioactivity by farm work history and US citizenship.
Jess was also interested in advocating for DEI initiatives and lobbied to waive the GRE test scores to remove admission bias in academia (see publication below); they also had a great sense of humor creating comic strips about science; and were involved in coordinating food opportunities for those with food insecurities.
Jess' love language was gift-giving. Three gifts that stand out include the following. First, after her MPH they gifted each member of the lab a "stuffed animal" version of the bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis that they dressed in a lab coat and holding a math book. These dot the shelves of our lab today. Second, Jess gave almost everyone a little "certificate of awesomeness" that they purchased and filled in with our names filled out and the specific help they felt we offered. Finally, Jess gave me a key chain that is immunologically themed, related to the paper that we worked on together. Needless to say, they were very thoughtful and also showed gratitude and kindness in all they did.
During COVID, Jess had her sister make custom face masks for our lab that said K-lab on them. Even after they finished her MPH with the work in my group they continued to remain and integral part of our research and was involved in other papers as well.
Finally, Jess's PhD thesis had a dedication that read:
"This dissertation is dedicated to all doctoral students dealing with long COVID. I hope you all find the skills and support you need to make it through the process and eventually survive on the other side."
See you on the other side, Jess. You are amazing and we miss your presence on this side already.
Denise Kirschner, PhD
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A complete list of her publications from PubMed:
The GRE in Public Health Admissions: Barriers, Waivers, and Moving Forward,
Millar JA. Front Public Health. 2020 Nov 19;8:609599. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2020.609599. eCollection 2020. PMID: 33330345 Free
Risk factors for increased COVID-19 case-fatality in the United States: A county-level analysis during the first wave,
Millar JA, Dao HDN, Stefopulos ME, Estevam CG, Fagan-Garcia K, Taft DH, Park C, Alruwaily A, Desai AN, Majumder MS. medRxiv [Preprint]. 2021 Feb 26:2021.02.24.21252135. doi: 10.1101/2021.02.24.21252135. PMID: 33655256
Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococcus Acquisition in a Tertiary Care Hospital: Testing the Roles of Antibiotic Use, Proton Pump Inhibitor Use, and Colonization Pressure,
Chanderraj R, Millar JA, Patel TS, Read AF, Washer L, Kaye KS, Woods RJ. Open Forum Infect Dis. 2019 Mar 15;6(4):ofz139. doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofz139. eCollection 2019 Apr. PMID: 31024976 Free PMC article
To Sobol or not to Sobol? The effects of sampling schemes in systems biology applications,
Renardy M, Joslyn LR, Millar JA, Kirschner DE. Math Biosci. 2021 Jul;337:108593. doi: 10.1016/j.mbs.2021.108593. Epub 2021 Apr 16. PMID: 33865847
Risk factors for increased COVID-19 case-fatality in the United States: A county-level analysis during the first wave,
Millar JA, Dao HDN, Stefopulos ME, Estevam CG, Fagan-Garcia K, Taft DH, Park C, Alruwaily A, Desai AN, Majumder MS. PLoS One. 2021 Oct 14;16(10):e0258308. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0258308. eCollection 2021. PMID: 34648525
Dynamic balance of pro- and anti-inflammatory signals controls disease and limits pathology,
Cicchese JM, Evans S, Hult C, Joslyn LR, Wessler T, Millar JA, Marino S, Cilfone NA, Mattila JT, Linderman JJ, Kirschner DE. Immunol Rev. 2018 Sep;285(1):147-167. doi: 10.1111/imr.12671. PMID: 30129209 Free PMC article. Review.
The GRE in Public Health Admissions: Barriers, Waivers, and Moving Forward,
Millar JA. Front Public Health. 2020 Nov 19;8:609599. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2020.609599. eCollection 2020. PMID: 33330345
Spatial Organization and Recruitment of Non-Specific T Cells May Limit T Cell-Macrophage Interactions Within Mycobacterium tuberculosis Granulomas,
Millar JA, Butler JR, Evans S, Mattila JT, Linderman JJ, Flynn JL, Kirschner DE. Front Immunol. 2021 Jan 20;11:613638. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2020.613638. eCollection 2020. PMID: 33552077
Integrating NHANES and toxicity forecaster data to compare pesticide exposure and bioactivity by farmwork history and US citizenship,
Forté CA, Millar JA, Colacino JA. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol. 2023 Jul 20:10.1038/s41370-023-00583-5. doi: 10.1038/s41370-023-00583-5. Online ahead of print. PMID: 37474644
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