Finally, after more than two years, submission to six journals, three editorial rejections and six rounds of peer-review, I am proud to report that Shannon’s first author paper, her magnum opus, the diamond in her PhD crown, was published in PLOS Genetics!

I would be proud no matter what, but I’m extra proud because Shannon had the guts to stick with this story, continue to add and refine data in the face of multiple rejections and aim for publication in a high impact journal. Meanwhile the grant proposals based on this project, both Shannon’s NRSA and my R01 (and the R01-A1, and the subsequent R01), were not even discussed, let alone funded.

Throughout the entire process, Shannon remained in high spirits. The rest of the lab came together to contribute supporting data that kicked the impact up a notch. We found two great collaborators with expertise in assays requested by the reviewers.

I hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed working on it.