Introducing our newest staff members!

Please join us in welcoming Arian Abdullah, Biomedical Science Librarian, and Kate Joshua, Clinical Librarian, to the Library staff!

Both Arian and Kate began working at the Library in 2018 (Arian in May, and Kate in June), and they have quickly became an integral part of both the professional and social lives of the Library. We are delighted to have them here, and hope that you enjoy learning more about them.

Arian Abdullah, Biomedical Science Librarian
 

What originally drew you to your field?
I have always loved researching in the library, discovering new information, and reading the literature. Toward the end of my postdoc, I decided that discovering information, reading papers, and connecting users with information tools and resources to support their work really interested me.
 

How does your work relate to the Library’s mission/guiding principles? https://www.hsl.virginia.edu/admin/general/mission.cfm
As the Research Librarian, I will support the library’s mission of knowledge-sharing to support education and research within the University of Virginia Health System. In order to do so, I will consult one-on-one with biomedical researchers on different aspects of the research life-cycle,  and teach workshops that will elevate their skills in discovering biomedical information.
 

What most excites you about your work here?
One aspect that excites me about the work at the Health Sciences Library is that I will be immersed in the research process, the research data, and the scientific literature. In addition, I am looking forward to learning more about the cutting-edge research that our faculty is working on.  I am excited to have the opportunity to teach others how the library is both a crucial component and a partner in their research.
 

What classes/workshops will you lead in the coming year?
As of now, the classes/workshops are not lined up; however, I will most likely teach classes and workshops that introduce patrons to different aspects of the research lifecycle/process, such as: funding tools, research impact measurements, publication analysis, and biomedical databases/tools.
 

Where are you from originally/where did you grow up?
I grew up in Europe, and attended college in the States. I completed my PhD in the biomedical sciences from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, NY and completed a postdoctoral appointment at Yale University in New Haven, CT. I am thrilled to be at UVA, and Charlottesville is a great town with some really great restaurants, shops, bookstores, and lots of outdoor activities to explore.
 

If you could possess one of these super powers, what would it be? (also feel free to name another one): super strength; super healing; super speed; flight; invisibility
Time travel. I think it would be cool to witness major breakthroughs (first moon landing, DNA discovery etc), as they happened.
 

Kate Joshua, Clinical Librarian

What originally drew you to your field?
I was (am?) the obnoxious kid that asks too many questions. How else do you learn that the Goliath frog can be 3ft long and that banging your head into a wall actually does burn calories! After lecturing a friend about tiger shark mating season,* she suggested I become a librarian (and also that I be quiet). It started as an odd desire to stockpile random facts, but once I realized I could help others discover and engage information too, librarianship seemed fitting. I pursued medical librarianship because it’s multifaceted and I figured that it’d be a challenge. Also, I was pretty aimless after college, everyone was sick of hearing me talk, and science is dope.

How does your work relate to the Library’s mission/guiding principles? https://www.hsl.virginia.edu/admin/general/mission.cfm
I think my work directly relates to the mission because it is driven by a commitment to service. I try to listen and respond in a way that makes sense for users, not for me. In a clinical setting, the job is never really done – you listen, respond, try to anticipate, and then repeat. That cycle in clinical communities may directly impact patient care, so if you are not user-centric, it’s nearly impossible to be successful.
 

What most excites you about your work here?
The energy here is bright and I see possibility. There are opportunities to be creative while helping to improve care, and I want to provide information services that are more collaborative with, and accessible to, users. I’m excited to see how I can be of service, but it starts with getting to know the individuals who make up this community.
 

What classes/workshops will you lead in the coming year?
I’d love to lead classes on varying levels of search strategies/techniques, using mobile tools to answer 5 minute clinical questions, and maybe moderate a discussion about digital literacy and healthcare. It’ll depend largely on what users want and need. If someone let me, I’d hold an open forum on zoology and medicine (i.e. sharks and immunotherapy, elephants and dementia, etc) but that’d just be me happily babbling and sharing animal pics for 90 minutes.
 

Where are you from originally/where did you grow up?
I was born on Aquidneck Island, RI, but I grew up mostly overseas, and mostly on islands.
 

If you could vacation in any work of fiction (book, movie, etc), which one would you choose?
Maybe The Busy World of Richard Scarry? I loved the colours. It’s not peak vacation fantasy, but as a kid I identified with the little cat whose best friend was a worm who wore just one Converse sneaker, and drove around in an apple car. Like, a car made out of a hollowed-out apple.  #lifegoals
 

*November-January. Also, did you know they are ovoviviparous?!