Marion Van Horn
BIO
Senior postdoc, neuroscience researcher, mother of three studying developmental neuroplasticity in and outside the lab.
Instagram: @marion_vanhorn
Twitter: @marionVanhorn
Marion Van Horn
“It is often challenging balancing the roles of being a mom while also being a neuroscientist, given the competition for time and attention that both require in order to thrive.”
I am a senior postdoctoral researcher at The Montreal Neuro studying how early-life experiences customize the developing brain. My ever-evolving research is driven by my genuine curiosity as to how the brain and body work.
I am also the mother of three young kids. It is often challenging balancing the roles of being a mom while also being a neuroscientist, given the competition for time and attention that both require in order to thrive. But I lean on the research that tells us that early life experiences are important for shaping the brain and use this as an excuse to slow down, relax and appreciate the time I have with my children.
My love for science and the scientific process goes back to high school and my high school science fair. In grade 9 my best friend and I represented our school at the regional science fair for a project studying the influence of sugar on endurance in young girls and I’ve been hooked on the thrill of discovery ever since!
After high school I studied health sciences, physiology and psychology and completed a PhD in neurophysiology at McGill University. My husband and I decided to stay in Montreal for my postdoc. It made the most sense since we had family and a community of friends in Montreal. Also, Quebec has subsidized childcare ($7/day daycare) so this made it more affordable to continue working. However, staying at the same university – despite changes labs, research projects and institutes – made finding funding much more difficult.
I’ve been lucky to have an extremely supportive advisor who has never made me feel like I needed to choose between work and family, and he has given me a tremendous amount of “scientific freedom” throughout the process. My relationship with my husband has also been very important - we support each other and make sure we both are pushing forward in our careers, even though at times it can feel like we are drowning in the quicksand of parenthood and everything else life throws our way (especially during Covid-19).
The biggest challenge I have faced being a scientist is the lack of funding opportunities for senior postdocs and the lack of job security in academia before you reach the level of tenure professor. In Canada, most granting agencies have a 3-year cut-off from when you finished your PhD, and postdoc contracts are typically signed on a yearly basis, with no guarantees for renewal.
As a result of the pandemic, and my kids being out of school for so many months, a lot of my planned experiments this last year were forced to be put on hold. But my time away from the bench has allowed me to step back and put my research into perspective. I’ve gotten more involved in science communication and I am now the producer and co-host of a science-backed podcast called Curious Neuron, which aims to increase the accessibility of neuroscience-based information for anyone interested in brain development.
That being said, I still get excited with every new experiment and continue to be driven by the thrill of scientific discoveries.