Blog editor’s note: This #BlackHistoryMonth, 23andMe employees are celebrating joy and resilience in the Black and African diaspora through events,<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CZ2D0Z6JKWe/"> art</a>, and conversations. We’ve also curated a series of guest blogs about people who embody that joy and resilience – and are harnessing these strengths to uplift their communities and create a better future.
By Imani Mixon
Cherice Harrison-Nelson’s hair is wrapped in a black and wine head scarf with a red feather peeking out from the side. The 62-year-old artist and educator has on medium sized hoop earrings, a black, red, and gold beaded necklace and a festive butterfly brooch. 
Even over Zoom, she looks royal. 
Cherice regularly honors her lineage as a Mardi Gras Indian and a member of the maroon society of self-emancipated Black folks by crafting and wearing intricately handmade traditional suits. Her late father, Donald Harrison, Sr. ushered the family into the Mardi Gras Indian tradition as Big Chief of the Guardian of the Flames, a group he formed to emphasize the importance of Mardi Gras traditions that affirm Blackness.  Cherice continues this work as Big Queen of the Guardian of the Flames and is commonly known as Queen Reesie.
In 1994, she was awarded a Fulbright that allowed her to travel to Ghana and Senegal to further research African cultural traditions. Although our mid-afternoon interview features one of the more tame examples of her unique attire, meeting her feels like a joyful occasion.
“As the Guardians of the Flame, maroon society, I feel like we have emancipated ourselves from all the ideals, both literal and metaphorically that restrict us in ways that we don&#8217;t have to accept. I don&#8217;t want to be tethered to anything except the love for my family and my community. I want to have free will, to dress the way I want,” says Cherice .
It’s no surprise that Cherice ’s audacious attire draws attention, but one day back in 2016 it earned her a new friend. 
<div id="attachment_29523" style="width: 1930px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-29523" class="wp-image-29523 size-full" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/TJT_8186.jpg" alt="" width="1920" height="1080" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/TJT_8186.jpg 1920w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/TJT_8186-300x169.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/TJT_8186-768x432.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/TJT_8186-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/TJT_8186-880x495.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/TJT_8186-1180x664.jpg 1180w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px" /> Photo by Trenity Thomas </div>
<h6>Sisterly Love</h6>
She met Skyla Hearn, a Chicago-based archivist and special collections librarian, while attending a <a href="https://chscsummit.net/">Cultural Heritage and Social Change Summit</a>. Harrison-Nelson was preparing to lead an educational performance about the traditions and history of Mardi Gras Indians and she was wearing a purple lace dress and a matching Nigerian gele. Hearn says she knew Queen Reesie was someone special. 
Hearn and Harrisson-Nelson grew to become sisterfriends — the kind you meet for dinner when they’re in town, the kind who can send texts that would be shockingly probing if they came from someone else, but are received as alarmingly sweet text check-ins instead. 
“Are you being radical in your self-care?”
<div id="attachment_29520" style="width: 1930px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-29520" class="wp-image-29520 size-full" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/TJT_8151.jpg" alt="" width="1920" height="1080" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/TJT_8151.jpg 1920w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/TJT_8151-300x169.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/TJT_8151-768x432.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/TJT_8151-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/TJT_8151-880x495.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/TJT_8151-1180x664.jpg 1180w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px" /> Photo by Trenity Thomas </div>
“Do you need help with that?” 
Hearn knows that the warm accountability of friendship is what has kept folks alive for generations. Cherice knows this too; it isn’t the first time that someone lovingly inquired about her health. 
On June 23, 2011, Cherice recalls being at a Winn Dixie grocery store across the Mississippi River from her downtown neighborhood in New Orleans’ 9th Ward when she received a call from her doctor&#8217;s office. 
“I have the results of your test. Do you want them over the phone or do you want to come in?,” asked the nurse on the other end of the line. 
Cherice agreed to hear her results on the phone, but as soon as the nurse began speaking, her words came out in a muffled garble, it sounded like Charlie Brown’s teacher. 
“Wait, let me call my sister and you tell her, whatever you&#8217;re saying, that sounds like gibberish to me,” Cherice  interjected.
Cherice gave the nurse her younger sister Cara’s number, then Cara relayed the conversation she’d had with the nurse. Her older sister was diagnosed with breast cancer. Cara decided to accompany Cherice  to her preoperative appointments, prepared to take notes and ask relevant questions about what to expect like the risks of medication, complications from treatment, and if her sister’s life expectancy would be impacted.
After a series of demeaning and otherwise unresponsive interactions with doctors and nurses, Cherice  found an old-school doctor, Dr. Myron E. Moorehead, the kind who has tabletop anatomical models of reproductive organs. He showed her exactly what he would do  and told her what she needed to do to prepare for an accompanying procedure.
“I knew that he cared about me and I felt I could put my life in his hands and it would be okay. Those other doctors, I don&#8217;t think I would have wanted to put my life in their hands,” says Cherice .
It’s been 11 years since her breast cancer diagnosis and 17 years since Hurricane Katrina, which Cherice  refers to as “the August 25, 2005 federal levee failure.” She has survived two life-changing events that have altered her view on both physical and mental health. She understands just how quickly things can change for the better or the worse. 
“It was so hard being here, so hard working here, healthcare would have been at the bottom of my list. For me, survival didn&#8217;t necessarily include health checkups. Being happy enhances your ability to take care of yourself. When you&#8217;re depressed, you know your whole world is kind of turned upside down,” says Cherice.
<h6>A New Wellness Routine</h6>
What was once an after-thought has become a major priority. Now, she spends the first few minutes of each morning envisioning what she wants for her life. Every day, good health tops her list. From moment to moment, Cherice  has gotten into the rhythm of choosing herself. Sometimes that means parking farther from a store entrance to get a few steps in.  Other times it means buying small batch ice cream from a local vendor and slowly eating small scoops in a fancy bowl with a fancy spoon.
“If you take care of your health, then you can do all the things that enhance your life that we need to do as humans to to survive. It&#8217;s just about loving yourself, and loving yourself the most,”  says Cherice .
One of the most recent, more public acts of radical self-care for Cherice  is acknowledging that she will no longer wear her sacred Carnival suits for performances or appearances or participate in Carnival the way she has in the past. Carnival season starts on January 6th and extends through Mardi Gras Day, which is also known as Carnival Day. This will be her last year strolling around the streets of New Orleans in her Carnival suit on Mardi Gras Day. Starting in 2023, you’ll only be able to catch Cherice  in her Carnival suits for her late father’s birthday celebrations — his birthday falls during Carnival season and marks a time of remembrance for the Harrison family. While it was never just a performative gesture, the creation of her Carnival suits have grown even more intimate and laborious over time. By creating boundaries around how she wants to show up as a Mardi Gras Indian, she is relieving herself of the responsibility of automatically inviting others into a tradition that they may not understand or revere. 
“The [suit] I wear on Carnival Day, it really is spiritual. It&#8217;s like putting on me and I don&#8217;t want to use those in that manner anymore,” says Cherice.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-29545" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Cherice-social-embed-twitter.jpg" alt="" width="1080" height="1080" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Cherice-social-embed-twitter.jpg 1080w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Cherice-social-embed-twitter-150x150.jpg 150w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Cherice-social-embed-twitter-300x300.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Cherice-social-embed-twitter-768x768.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Cherice-social-embed-twitter-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Cherice-social-embed-twitter-880x880.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Cherice-social-embed-twitter-271x271.jpg 271w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Cherice-social-embed-twitter-372x372.jpg 372w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Cherice-social-embed-twitter-574x574.jpg 574w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Cherice-social-embed-twitter-980x980.jpg 980w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px" />
Cherice  takes that seriously  — weaving, beading, patching, and feathering to make ceremonial clothing that draws from and oftentimes illustrates the most resonant moments of her life. When the ensemble is as complete as it can be, it becomes an archive of sorts. Her suits are on display at the Donald Harrison, Sr. Museum named after her father that’s just two blocks from her house and on family land. Her suits are also currently on view at The New Orleans African American Museum in Treme, The McKenna Museum of African-American Art, and the Baton Rouge African American Museum.
“It takes a lifetime because everything you put into a suit is the sum total of your life,” says Cherice . 
For this year’s Carnival, she is honoring her ancestors and creating a memorial suit. Cherice  can trace her ancestral line pretty far back. She has a bill of sale regarding her great great grandfather Madison Briscoe, who was born in 1809 and enslaved in 1820 when he was just 11-years-old. Although she can go back for generations, this suit in particular will honor friends, mentors, family members and more recent ancestors. Cherice  has begun collecting and referencing their favorite things &#8211; hobbies, colors, and animals to select the right way to adorn her suit. She will incorporate a horse for her uncle, a butterfly brooch for her mentor, and a lipstick for another friend. 
“He&#8217;ll tell me what I&#8217;m supposed to create for him. The ancestors are really real and they speak to me,” says Cherice .
As Cherice  continues on the path to living life on her own terms, her journey reminds us that the first step to any kind of healing begins with listening.
<hr />
Imani Mixon is a long-form storyteller living in Detroit. You can learn more about her work <a href="https://www.imanimixon.com/">here</a>.

Imani Mixon

Practicing Radical Self Care with Cherice Harrison-Nelson

Blog editor’s note: This #BlackHistoryMonth, 23andMe employees are celebrating joy and resilience in the Black and African diaspora through events, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CZ2D0Z6JKWe/">art</a>, and conversations. We’ve also curated a series of guest blogs about people who embody that joy and resilience – and are harnessing these strengths to uplift their communities and create a better future. Today, we’re highlighting Nyema Clarks work in building a urban farm to build a community around wellness and connections to the land.
By Gennette Cordova
Tucked away in the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Seattle is <a href="https://www.nurturingrootsfarm.org/">Nurturing Roots</a>, a community farm  founded by  Nyema Clark in 2016 as part of a movement to reclaim her people’s history and relationship with agriculture.
“I feel like, as a Black woman, all I hear about is ‘roots’—that&#8217;s our engagement with agriculture,” says Nyema. “I wanted to find an alternative way to visit, to view, to think about agriculture.”
Growing up in the urban, multicultural community of Seattle’s South End, Nyema’s exposure to different cultures informed her view of the world and food, in particular.
“My neighborhood was very diverse,” she says. And that diversity extended to the kitchen. &#8221; At my kitchen table I was eating just about everything. My friend across the street might be making lumpia; I could get a soul food meal from grandma; or I was able to get authentic chicken soup from my Vietnamese neighbors.”
Nyema grew up in an environment that emphasized  all aspects of “growing.” Her mother, a florist, instilled in her the vital importance of growing professionally, mentally and emotionally. Her father, who was interested in landscaping and carpentry, exposed her to the practice of building with her hands.
&nbsp;

 <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-style-default"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="576" src="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/23ANDME_01_15_2022_0598_2-1024x576.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-29526" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/23ANDME_01_15_2022_0598_2-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/23ANDME_01_15_2022_0598_2-300x169.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/23ANDME_01_15_2022_0598_2-768x432.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/23ANDME_01_15_2022_0598_2-880x495.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/23ANDME_01_15_2022_0598_2-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/23ANDME_01_15_2022_0598_2.jpg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>
 
<h6>Addressing Disparities</h6>
“It’s always intrigued me. I always wanted to learn more, (about) Black folks in farming,” says Nyema. “Learning about George Washington Carver, the crazy land swaps and land grabs that happened. Identifying how structurally things are all messed up, I just dove head first into the agricultural side.”
In Seattle, like many cities around the country, health disparities such as higher instances of asthma among Black and Hispanic children can be attributed, in large part, to environmental racism. 
The evidence of racism and income inequality were evident throughout her childhood. “I don&#8217;t want to say it was a typical urban environment, because it was very unique. It was beautiful but also sucked knowing that a lot of my friends had asthma. And now I know why.”
Still, it was this environment that cultivated Nyema’s mind for business. Her entrepreneurial inclinations began with grade-school lemonade stands. That eventually led to the formation of her company, Avenue South, a small specialty seasonings shop at Seattle landmark Pike Place Market. While she enjoyed the exploration of value-added products, she became deeply invested in the idea of feeding her community with no monetary value attached. 
Nurturing Roots was the logical expansion of this investment.  The nonprofit has flourished, tended to by her commitment to “Robin Hood the system.” In this moment, where racial and social justice is under a magnifying glass, Nyema is intentional about addressing systematic oppression with an emphasis on food and environmental justice.
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 <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-style-default"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="576" src="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/23ANDME_01_15_2022_0475-1024x576.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-29525" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/23ANDME_01_15_2022_0475-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/23ANDME_01_15_2022_0475-300x169.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/23ANDME_01_15_2022_0475-768x432.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/23ANDME_01_15_2022_0475-880x495.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/23ANDME_01_15_2022_0475-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/23ANDME_01_15_2022_0475.jpg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>
 
<h6>Claiming Her 40 Acres</h6>
“A lot of my trauma was associated with realizing we were brought here in servitude,” she says. For many Black Americans, especially those of us who grew up in cities, we naturally connect Blackness and farm work to the hundreds of years of barbaric, American chattel slavery, that confined our ancestors to coffee, tobacco, cocoa, sugar, and cotton plantations. 
Nyema is resolved to reclaim farming as a means to reconnect with  history and healcommunities. To further this vision, she has turned her focus to land ownership. She recently received funding to purchase the commercial space that currently houses Nurturing Roots, and she’s close to sealing a land transfer deal with the Seattle Parks Department to obtain 38 acres called Red Barn Ranch in a suburb of Seattle. 
“My plan for Red Barn Ranch is to create a self-sustaining ecosystem that includes Black farmers, Black healers and young people,” she says. “I wanted to be able to start a fire under the city’s ass to get them moving.” adding “You guys have land and you&#8217;re not doing anything with it? We&#8217;re paying taxes on it and the community could use it? What are you doing?” 
For Black Americans, there’s a symbolism in coming into possession of nearly 40 acres—the amount of land, along with a mule, famously promised and then denied to former slaves. 
“That&#8217;s why I tell everybody it’s all of ours,” she says. “We all are about to get our 40 acres finally.”
In acquiring this space, she aims to attain financial security, freedom to carry out her purpose and conjure a spiritual remedy for a time when our ancestors could own nothing, not even themselves. 
“Personally, I&#8217;ve seen a lot of land taken from not only our community but my family. We had a house in the [city’s historically Black] Central District, it was foreclosed,” says Nyema, touching on a shared experience for many Black people in Seattle. 
“My model encompasses everyone being able to own a piece of land even though this document says Nurturing Roots on it,” she says. “We don’t have individual plots at Nurturing Roots. Someone asked me before, ‘can I come and grow my garlic there?’ And it&#8217;s like, ‘yeah, but it&#8217;s gonna be amongst all the other garlic and then anybody who comes can pick it. Are you okay with that?’” 
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 <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-style-default"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="576" src="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/23ANDME_01_15_2022_0357-1024x576.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-29524" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/23ANDME_01_15_2022_0357-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/23ANDME_01_15_2022_0357-300x169.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/23ANDME_01_15_2022_0357-768x432.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/23ANDME_01_15_2022_0357-880x495.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/23ANDME_01_15_2022_0357-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/23ANDME_01_15_2022_0357.jpg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>
 
<h6>Physical, Mental and Spiritual Wellness</h6>
Community is prioritized at Nurturing Roots, along with self-sufficiency and food empowerment. In South Seattle, the area’s lower income and higher unemployment predictably correlates with the sparseness of grocery stores, compared to other parts of the city. Beyond providing a much needed additional source for fresh produce, addressing a wide range of health issues from the expansion of access to nutrition-based education and fitness training to more ambitious goals like “taking control of our own sovereignty when it comes to healthcare” are on Nyema’s agenda.
<div id="attachment_29527" style="width: 250px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-29527" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/23ANDME_01_15_2022_0607-240x300.jpg" alt="" width="240" height="300" class="size-medium wp-image-29527" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/23ANDME_01_15_2022_0607-240x300.jpg 240w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/23ANDME_01_15_2022_0607-768x960.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/23ANDME_01_15_2022_0607-819x1024.jpg 819w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/23ANDME_01_15_2022_0607-704x880.jpg 704w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/23ANDME_01_15_2022_0607-944x1180.jpg 944w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/23ANDME_01_15_2022_0607.jpg 1080w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 240px) 100vw, 240px" /> Photo by Meron Menghistab </div>
Understanding how isolating many corporate spaces can be for Black workers, she sees Nurturing Roots as an opportunity to give her loved ones an alternative to more traditional working environments. So far, she’s been able to staff her operation entirely with people who are dear to her, some who she’s enjoyed decades-long friendships with. Nyema envisions a communal system with currency based on bartering, exchanging labor on the farm or some other offering, with the hope that the community she creates can detach their sense of self-worth from a dollar amount. 
With Nurturing Roots, she is intentional about centering healing and health, not just through nourishment of the body but nourishing the mind and spirit, as well. After years of feeling constantly undervalued in professional settings, with her farming project she felt her identity—as a Black person, a woman, a South Seattle native—being celebrated in a way that she’d never experienced before.
“Spiritually, it&#8217;s like I&#8217;ve been restored doing this work—almost like a baptism,” she continues, moved to tears. “Now, I couldn&#8217;t go back and work for someone if I wanted to. I needed to value myself. I needed to explore being a strong woman and have it not look like something else. It was tough to find in these artificial spaces.”
With the region boasting a wide range of agricultural products and a growing emphasis on sustainability, Nyema hopes her work will plant seeds in the minds and imaginations of her peers and younger people in the city. 
“People need to see us doing it,” she says “People need to be able to see themselves engaging in this practice.”
<hr />
Gennette Cordova is a writer and organizer currently based in Brooklyn. Originally from Seattle, she has written many times about the struggles and successes of Black women.

Gennette Cordova

Growing Community through Community Farming

If there’s a sweet spot between discovery and medicine — between answering the big scientific questions of the day, and administering the small but personal care required of the best physicians — then John Matthews is there.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/HUmans_23andME_me-1-36-1-576x1024.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="711" class="alignright wp-image-29473" />
That has a lot to do with his unique background and experience.
 Born in Malawi to a dad who was an agricultural scientist with a Ph.D., and a mom who worked as a hospital nurse, John grew up curious about both science and medicine. (His parents met in Rhodesia while John’s father was flying in a helicopter over farms and spotted his future wife in a red dress having a picnic among the white of a cotton field.) One of John’s uncles was also a doctor, and John developed a natural affinity toward helping people, even performing first aid on the playground in grade school.
“I learned various solutions to deal with simple problems like how to manage nettle stings or remove grit from the eye, washing grazed knees, bee stings, etc.,” he said. “I was very curious about how the body worked, and why it didn’t.”
Now the senior clinical development fellow on 23andMe’s Therapeutics team, John is still wrestling with those questions. He is both a physician who trained in pulmonary medicine and a scientist with a Ph.D. from the National Heart and Lung Institute at Imperial College in the UK. He worked directly with patients in an intensive care unit at a hospital in London, and after leaving clinical practice he spent years working at companies developing medicines meant to treat people with the kind of serious illness he often attended to on the ward.
And he still draws on his early years as a doctor for inspiration. John points to a handful of patients who he said fundamentally changed him and continue to motivate him. One, in particular, was a dying man with HIV who struggled simply to swallow food. Although there were new anti-retroviral treatments, those treatments didn’t become widely available for patients for another ten years. And those lifesaving drugs weren’t available to help this patient. For John, who cared for this patient as he died, it cemented the need to develop medicines faster.
“It was hard to be in a situation where novel therapeutics were so desperately needed and this patient is a constant reminder of the urgency to find new medicines for severe unmet needs,” John said. 
That’s a central mission for <a href="https://www.23andme.com/therapeutics/">23andMe’s Therapeutics</a> efforts and part of what drew John to work here.
On a day-to-day basis, John focuses on refining 23andMe drug discovery. Some of that involves developing plans for good clinical practice for such things as safety and data management. But he also brings understanding from those early days on the ward caring for people who were sick or dying. He has been instrumental in 23andMe’s efforts studying rare diseases for instance and explaining the science to patient advocacy groups.
We sat down with John to talk about his career, why he came to 23andMe, and what drives him as a scientist and physician.
<h6>You were born in Malawi, can you tell us a little bit about that, and about where you grew up?</h6>
John: “My parents were living in Malawi — Dad started working as an entomologist at Imperial College, in 1967 and through a UK government grant was based in the newly independent country Malawi to study cotton pests. Mum was working for a hospital as a nurse and Dad was doing his Ph.D. 
We left when I was almost five. But I went back just before I qualified as a doctor, visiting Zimbabwe and Malawi, working on a project comparing asthma in urban and rural areas. 
I visited the Makoka research station and the house I grew up in. I trekked out to the countryside and with various guides and contacts found the man who had taken care of me as a child. I went back daily for a few days buying fertilizer and new wellington boots for him — feeling guilty the whole time. He can’t speak English but he had a photo of me in his kitchen. I feel bad that (our family) didn’t do enough for him. My effort now is to regularly fund Kiva loans for Malawians (<a href="http://www.kiva.org">www.kiva.org</a>) and support various efforts in Malawi  — but it always feels like a drop in the ocean.”  
<h6>You trained in medicine and practiced for a while. Why did you go into medicine?</h6>
John: “My mum was a nurse and my uncle Seamus was a pathologist in Dublin. Between my mum and my uncle “medicine” was referred to a lot. I grew up knowing that medicine was a responsibility to care for anyone in need. When I was at school (aged 7-to-10) kids used to come to me in the playground with injuries – and I learned various solutions to deal with simple problems – like how to manage nettle stings or remove grit from the eye, washing grazed knees, bee stings, etc. I was very curious about how the body worked and why it didn’t.”
<h6>You’ve said before that you’re interested in physiology, body metabolism, and aging. Why is that?</h6>
John: &#8220;I did an extra year at medical school to study physiology. I wanted to go deeper into science. Physiology seemed to be the best way to actually look into how the body worked and it seemed a lot more fun than learning more anatomy or biochemistry. The physiology faculty at my medical school were always the best lecturers. The experiments to make discoveries were also more accessible than imagining what was happening in a chemical reaction. I even took part in <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1400059/">human physiology experiments</a> as a subject. 
I was encouraged to study areas with little scientific consensus, such as the control mechanisms of the exercise ventilatory response. I worked in an intensive care unit in London called the Mead ward. It was set up by Professor Ron Bradley, the first full-time intensive care clinician in the UK. He also ran the ICU at St Thomas’ Hospital, London. When I was on the ward, Ron, who had retired, still came in every week to give us tutorials. He had developed a way to estimate cardiac output through his work deriving simple equations that he had developed with quantitative data from human experiments. 
Without going into too much detail, the takeaway for me was that a close physical examination of the patient can give quantitative data on the circulatory state of the patient. The challenge is the ability to capture clinical information and lump or split patients in ways that can help us get to a molecular understanding of disease. 23andMe has pioneered capturing self-report data from the patient, but we haven’t yet mastered capturing the reports of the doctors and nurses that look after them.” 
<h6>What are your hopes for the work you are doing?</h6>
John: “My hope is to see our work yield significant new medicines in the shortest time frame possible.
I’m also very interested in what 23andMe can do around rare diseases. I hope we can communicate the potential of 23andMe to make genetic findings for a large number of rare diseases for which there is very little known currently. 
We’ve recently finished <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.06.09.21258643v1">a paper</a> illustrating that potential. There are more than 7,000 rare diseases. Being able to find a genetic basis for some of these conditions could offer valuable insights into diagnosis and treatment. We have the potential to do that for many conditions if we are able to find enough individuals with these conditions to participate in our research.”  
&nbsp;

23andMe Blog

23andMe Blog Team

Patients Inspire Therapeutics Scientist

By Melinda King, 23andMe&#8217;s Director of Diversity, Equity &amp; Inclusion 
Black History Month is meant to celebrate our contributions and acknowledge how far we&#8217;ve come, but for me, all that has happened in the last two years only reminds me how far we still have to go. 
I will never be able to think of this time without being reminded of the murder of George Floyd.   
As a Black woman, a mother of two sons, his brutal murder at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer shook me. It led me to move across the country for a new job and double down on my commitment to change the world where a Black man could have the life choked out of him under the color of law. 
<h6>Addressing Inequality and Injustice</h6>
I thought perhaps it also would be a moment that genuinely shook our country from its indifference to structural racism. But, a year and a half on, I’m not so sure. I fear the momentum to change is wafting away. I feel that is especially true here in Silicon Valley where so many companies make public commitments to take action to address racial inequality and injustice.
My job, the thing I get paid to do, is in part to remind, cajole and argue for inclusion in the workplace. I’m doing this work in Silicon Valley, which has its own diversity problem. There is a lot to be encouraged by but even with espoused commitments to change, it can be a lonely job. Even as I walk the streets of San Jose, I am constantly reminded of who I am and who I’m not. I’m reminded when I walk outside of my overpriced new apartment building only to be asked by the white woman crossing the street with me if it’s a low-income building. That’s because there is sometimes a disconnect between people who see and are shocked by the deaths of George Floyd, or <a href="https://www.runnersworld.com/runners-stories/a32883923/ahmaud-arbery-death-running-and-racism/">Ahmaud Arbery</a>, or <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/article/breonna-taylor-police.html">Breonna Taylor</a>, but can’t see what’s right in front of them. They can’t see how what caused those deaths connects to the structural racism that has excluded people like George or Ahmaud or Breonna, from the broader opportunities of our society. They struggle to connect all the dots that lead to Black people being in life or death situations regularly. 
<h6>The Potential for Positive Change</h6>
That’s why I came here. It’s because Silicon Valley is at the hub of innovation and opportunity.  Failing to embrace diversity here has both a moral and a business cost. We’ve witnessed the power of tech companies to profoundly transform society, both for the good and the bad. Fixing the diversity problem here could have an outsized and positive impact on the rest of the world. However, that requires real commitment. It requires making room for more diversity at the table and listening to those new voices. 
I am not naive to the complexity and history of race problems. I know what it means to be Black in America. I still remember sitting in a segregated doctor’s office as a little girl in rural Alabama. I remember having a hard conversation with my young son after someone called him the “n-word” in his grade school classroom.
<h6>It&#8217;s Everyone&#8217;s Job</h6>
But we don’t have to accept the way things are.
To quote<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/05/us/politics/05text-obama.html"> President Barack Obama</a>, “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we&#8217;ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”
Diversity, equity, and inclusion is my job, but it’s also your job. It’s everyone’s job. It requires each of us to be “the change we seek.”
It means more than words. It means actions. I say that even though it was words that brought me here. I heard the CEO and Co-Founder of 23andMe, Anne Wojcicki, <a href="https://www.23andme.com/black-lives-matter">call out her own company</a> for its failings on inclusion. She was willing to say her company, in the heart of Silicon Valley, was part of the problem. I reached out to her and asked if I could assist in making a change. That’s how I came to work at 23andMe.
Although it was Anne’s words that first drew me here, it’s my commitment to this community, the 23andMe employees, and this work that keeps me going. Since coming here we have brought diversity to our board, added new leaders, and continue to commit to adding more diversity to our organization. We continue to improve our product to make it more inclusive and have created employee groups to support people with different affinities, abilities, and ethnicities. 
<h6>Let&#8217;s Do More</h6>
But it’s not enough. There is so much more for us and other companies to do. We all have to do better. Leaders need to step outside their current network and develop relationships with people of different backgrounds. If you think that can’t happen, know that Black people have had to do that for generations in order to survive in corporate America. Challenge others when you see them sharing a narrative of “we are all the same.” While it’s a lovely sentiment, it’s not true. 
That brings me back to George Floyd, and my moment of clarity. It wasn’t that it reminded me of what I already know, it simply prompted me to focus on doing more to change the world that allows for something like that to happen. Tapping that resolve is what will help us keep our commitment, to do more than just talk about diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Let’s move away from all the things we say we will do and focus on actually doing the work that has an impact for the communities who have been left behind in the past.

Melinda King

The Change We Seek

23andMe will host a virtual research and development day next week to discuss announcements that include taking our first wholly-owned drug into a <a href="https://investors.23andme.com/news-releases/news-release-details/23andme-initiates-phase-1-clinical-trial-first-wholly-owned">phase 1 clinical trial</a>, as well as a new <a href="https://investors.23andme.com/news-releases/news-release-details/23andme-receives-fda-clearance-direct-consumer-genetic-test">FDA authorization</a> to report on genetic health risks for hereditary prostate cancer.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-drug-discovery">Drug Discovery</h2>



Speakers for the virtual event include CEO and Co-Founder Anne Wojcicki and Kenneth Hillian, Head of 23andMe Therapeutics. 



Along with them will be a presentation by Adam Auton, Vice President for Human Genetics, where he will explain in more detail how the Therapeutics team uses genetic and phenotypic data in the drug discovery process. Also on hand from the Therapeutics team will be Jennifer Low, Head of Therapeutics Development, and Joe Aaron, Chief Scientific Officer.  



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-consumer-product">Consumer Product</h2>



Beyond the presentations on drug discovery, the event will also include discussions on consumer product development, with comments from Paul Johnson, the Vice President and General Manager of the company&#8217;s consumer division. 



The event is scheduled for 8:00 a.m. to 11:30 am Pacific Time on Tuesday, January 18, 2022. The webcast event can be accessed on the day of the event at<a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/Tracker?data=GXNpg_k0JQckfDpOgmeKh3sWgYZdCjpezwzXMm-ILINYJ7-uL4frfpttjMY3FYjFWTypoBIQJVqdRXNMqP7nFYCBchdZXRsJNtieuHuLljXHbdT94HM9nsh_9fYlYYdCY1gjJDLd4Dc7ufbJXKJoS0aTBrpGP295Cg6c-cZAgz3b8ALua2hEbfgq6LEmGCk1UAbO8Re_ITZefE9CqzgDXQ=="> https://investors.23andme.com/news-events/events-presentations</a>. A webcast replay will be available at the same address for a limited time within 24 hours after the event.



&nbsp;

23andMe Hosts Virtual R&D Day

Whether it’s by choice or necessity, many of us are particular about what we eat.
Some of that could be related to genetics — a dislike of cilantro, for instance, lactose intolerance, or having a bitter taste aversion that has us skipping Brussel sprouts. And in other cases, it might be someone just being a picky eater.
But whatever factors into a person’s food preference, it adds a little underlying stress for both host and guest during annual holiday meals. What happens when a vegetarian or gluten-free guest sits down at a host table filled with meat and wheat?
<h6>Holiday Stress</h6>
We wanted to know, so we went out and asked.
In a recent “United Plates” of America survey,* 23andMe asked both guests and hosts how they handle these delicate dietary demands.
One thing we learned is that holiday dinner planning ramps up tensions, with 64 percent of those surveyed saying it had them stressed out. This was particularly true in southern states that include Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee, where more than 80 percent of those surveyed said they were stressed by holiday dinner plans. 
<h6></h6>

 <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-style-default"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="669" height="467" src="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Stressed-about-Holiday-Meal-Planning.png" alt="" class="wp-image-29412" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Stressed-about-Holiday-Meal-Planning.png 669w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Stressed-about-Holiday-Meal-Planning-300x209.png 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 669px) 100vw, 669px" /></figure>
 
<h6>Making Accommodations</h6>
But we were surprised to learn that more people than you’d expect had options that could accommodate a gluten-free or vegetarian guest — in some parts of the US close to half of the respondents had that covered. Interestingly, the highest percentages of hosts who said they had food for gluten-free or vegetarians was not just out west, but also in the southern states of Georgia, the Carolinas, Virginia, and Florida.
More than half of those surveyed nationwide, 55 percent, said they could accommodate guests with food allergies, sensitivities, or preferences. But almost half of those surveyed, 49 percent, said if they had a food allergy or sensitivity, they wouldn&#8217;t ask a host to make special accommodations for them. About one in four said they didn’t want to offend the cook.
<h6></h6>

 <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-style-default"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="660" height="490" src="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/GF-or-Veg-Options.png" alt="" class="wp-image-29413" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/GF-or-Veg-Options.png 660w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/GF-or-Veg-Options-300x223.png 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px" /></figure>
 
<h6>Taste Preference and Genetics</h6>
What’s also interesting from the survey is that most people in the United States don’t know that our food preferences and aversions are influenced by genetics. Only about a quarter of those surveyed, 24 percent, said they&#8217;d ever been told that your DNA played a role in dietary aversions or preferences.
Why is that so fundamentally important?
It seems obvious but what it tells us is that — as John Hayes, a scientist at Penn State, told The Guardian recently — genetics fundamentally alters how we perceive taste. We experience taste differently because of it. And it doesn’t just impact taste but how our bodies respond to food as well, just ask anyone who is lactose intolerant. Hayes’ made this point in talking about how different people react to the taste of cilantro, one of the most commonly used herbs in the world. Those who love it and those who hate it, are actually experiencing the taste in the same way. And yes,<a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/cilantro-love-hate-genetic-trait/"> genetics plays a big part</a> in whether we like it or not.
In a place as diverse as the United States, understanding and respecting that our differences in taste preference and aversions could go a long way toward understanding other kinds of differences as well. Happy Holidays!
*23andMe collaborated with SurveyMonkey for this United Plates of America Survey. Conducted between November 30 and December 1, 2021, the online survey included 1,050 nationally representative Americans ages 18+. It has a margin of error of +/- 3 percent.

United Plates of America

This week, 23andMe&#8217;s CEO and Co-Founder Anne Wojcicki was included on a list of the best CEOs based on employee reviews.

 <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-style-default"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="853" src="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/best-ceo-2021-large-1024x853.png" alt="" class="wp-image-29398" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/best-ceo-2021-large-1024x853.png 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/best-ceo-2021-large-300x250.png 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/best-ceo-2021-large-768x640.png 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/best-ceo-2021-large-880x733.png 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/best-ceo-2021-large-1180x983.png 1180w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/best-ceo-2021-large.png 1220w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>
 
Released this week by <a href="https://www.comparably.com/awards/winners/best-ceo-2021-large">Comparably</a>, the list is of the top 25 CEOs among large companies, meaning companies of 500 or more employees. It was compiled through ratings from employees on Comparably.com over 12 months.
It&#8217;s not a bad way to finish out an exciting year. Along with steering 23andMe through its transition to a <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/articles/news-23andme-on-nasdaq">publicly-traded company</a>, this year Anne guided our acquisition of the telemedicine and digital pharmacy company, <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/news/23andme-to-acquire-lemonaid-health/">Lemonaid Health</a>. She did that while cultivating a work culture that embraces innovation, inclusion, and diversity.
As one employee said, &#8220;Anne is a really cool and down-to-earth CEO.&#8221;

Best CEO

Whether you plan to gather again virtually or celebrate Thanksgiving in person this year, the holiday offers a chance to bond with family and take action regarding your health.



And it&#8217;s all as simple as <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/articles/four-tips-for-talking-to-relatives-about-medical-history">asking a few questions of those you love</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-family-health-history-day">Family Health History Day</h2>



The third Thursday in November marks Thanksgiving in the United States, but it&#8217;s also <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/genomics/famhistory/knowing_not_enough.htm">National Family Health History Day</a>, a time to assess the conditions that run in your family.



Knowing your family&#8217;s health history may be invaluable for you and your family. The history you share with your family includes stories that connect you to your past and information that you can use now and in the future.



Many of us don&#8217;t know what health issues our grandparents or great aunts and uncles dealt with in their lives, but understanding that may help you and future generations. Preventing illness is often about knowing your risks, including risks for conditions like diabetes, heart disease, or cancer. A family health history is often a cornerstone of one&#8217;s medical record, offering you and your healthcare provider information you can use.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-make-a-record">Make a Record</h2>



A family health history records your biological relatives&#8217; diseases and health conditions over generations. Along with a shared history, you also share DNA with your biological relatives, and that shared genetics influences your health. Knowing that shared history raises awareness of what to look out for in the future. In addition, it gives you and your healthcare provider another layer of information to help keep you well.



Several tools can also help you track this information. The Centers for Disease Control offers a tool called the <a href="https://cbiit.github.io/FHH/html/index.html">Family Health Portrait</a> to help you document and then save this information. For instance, 23andMe&#8217;s Family Health History Tree for Health + Ancestry Service customers also record and preserve that history.



Much like any family tree, this one visually represents how you connect to different relatives. But this tree adds the ability to include medical conditions, offering you a visual record of current and past health issues for you and your close relatives. 23andMe&#8217;s Family Health History Tree lets you record information you and your healthcare provider can use to help you manage your health.



Check it out <a href="https://you.23andme.com/family/tree/#health">here</a>. Not yet a customer? Find out more <a href="https://www.23andme.com/dna-health-ancestry?fhht=v1">here</a>.

For Your Future Ask About Your Past And Document Your Family Health History

We’re excited to share our refreshed <a href="https://www.23andme.com/about/consent/">Research Consent document</a> that governs how 23andMe conducts Research. Although we have not changed our research program or how we use participants&#8217; data, we reorganized the content of the Research Consent and greatly simplified the language. We made these updates for two reasons:
<h6>To be in compliance with updated research regulations: <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/cropped-23ANDME-LOGO.jpg" alt="" class="alignright wp-image-28236 size-medium" width="300" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/cropped-23ANDME-LOGO.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/cropped-23ANDME-LOGO.jpg 150w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/cropped-23ANDME-LOGO.jpg 270w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/cropped-23ANDME-LOGO.jpg 192w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/cropped-23ANDME-LOGO.jpg 180w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/cropped-23ANDME-LOGO.jpg 32w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/cropped-23ANDME-LOGO.jpg 512w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></h6>
Our revisions align with updates to a federal regulation known as the Common Rule, which governs how human subjects research is conducted in the United States. The updated Common Rule aims to make consents more clear and easier to read, and to better help people make decisions about research participation. Our revised Research Consent is in compliance with the current version of the Common Rule.
<h6>To respond to customer feedback:</h6>
We recently asked our customers for feedback on our Research Consent. Based on their feedback we made the following changes:
<ol>
<li aria-level="1">We shortened the Key Information Summary at the top of the document.</li>
<li aria-level="1">We highlighted topics most important to our customers in the Key Information Summary&nbsp;</li>
<li aria-level="1">We simplified the language throughout the Research Consent.&nbsp;</li>
<li aria-level="1">We added detailed information about how participant data contributes to 23andMe Research.</li>
</ol>
If you look at the new consent, you may notice the updated Key Information Summary, the more concise and simple language, and the real-world examples of research discoveries made possible by participants who shared their information. We believe that the new version will enable our customers to more easily find information that may help them decide whether or not to participate in 23andMe Research.
We hope you see these changes as improvements and can find within the document the answers to your questions about 23andMe Research.
If you have questions about these revisions you can contact the 23andMe Research Team at <a href="mailto:hpa@23andMe.com">hpa@23andMe.com</a>.

News — Page 6