When Hurricane Helene surged into Florida鈥檚 west coast in September 2024, Sierra George Cardinale, and her husband Torey, were forced to flee their condominium as rising seawater reached nearly to their knees.
The flooding caught them by surprise, leaving little time to save essential belongings. 鈥淚t's hard to wrap your brain around how quickly things change in a situation like that,鈥� Cardinale recalled.
Just six days earlier, the couple had purchased a new home. The storm devastated both properties 鈥� their condo and their new house 鈥� as well as the nearby home of their grandparents. In the aftermath, they temporarily relocated to her parents鈥� home, only for it to catch fire when saltwater-damaged electrical outlets sparked a blaze.
鈥淚n total, we ended up staying at, I think, six different places,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd we're still not back in our house.鈥�
Sierra George Cardinale and her husband Torey Cardinale, pet their dog, Cooper, near the location of their condo.
Amid this turmoil, Cardinale, a fifth-year PhD student in integrated biomedical sciences at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, was forced to postpone her dissertation defense.
鈥淚 was supposed to defend last fall, and I had to push it back until the spring,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t was a difficult thing to navigate.鈥�
Sierra George Cardinale
Cardinale鈥檚 research journey began years earlier as an undergraduate student at USF, where she earned a bachelor's degree in biomedical sciences and later a master's degree in medical science. To this day, she vividly remembers the moment as a master鈥檚 student when her first scientific experiment succeeded.
After working on the project all day, she saw signs that a membrane protein had successfully bound to DNA. Overwhelmed with excitement, she rushed back to the lab to have the research team confirm the experiment really did work.
鈥淚 just remember the feeling 鈥� the only way I can describe it is if you've ever had a runner's high. You're just so excited,鈥� she said.
That sense of passion and purpose carried her through the rigorous demands of doctoral research, and the many unexpected hurdles that followed.
Cardinale began her PhD in 2020 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. With social distancing making it difficult to connect with others in the program, she found a lifeline in student leadership. She took on several leadership roles with the Association of Medical Sciences Graduate 91麻豆天美 (AMSGS), initially serving as a first-year representative.
Sierra George Cardinale learned to make cotton candy for an AMSGS event. (provided photo)
鈥淚 loved that position because it gave me the opportunity to say, 鈥楬ey, this is how we're feeling in our cohort specifically,鈥欌�� she said. 鈥淎nd then from there, I took the position as vice president and served in that role for two years.鈥�
Under the mentorship of Zhiming Ouyang, PhD, associate professor in the Morsani College of Medicine, Cardinale鈥檚 research focuses on Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterium that causes Lyme disease. Her dissertation explores how the microbe regulates its gene expression to survive throughout its lifecycle and makes the jump from ticks to humans.
Just as she neared the final stages of her program, Hurricane Helene struck, threatening to derail years of hard work. But with the support of her adviser and university staff, she pressed forward.
Dr. Ouyang adjusted her lab responsibilities to give her time and flexibility as her family recovered.
Zhiming Ouyang, PhD
鈥淚 was impressed by Sierra's resilience and persistence during those hard times,鈥� Dr. Ouyang said.
Meagan Eastman, associate director of graduate programs at the Morsani College of Medicine, also helped connect Cardinale with a scholarship fund for graduate students in need to offset disaster-related expenses.
鈥�91麻豆天美 worked with her major professor to ensure that he provided flexibility in her lab schedule while she was contending with her personal challenges,鈥� Eastman said. 鈥淧hD students spend most of their time in the lab, so his support was instrumental to her recovery.鈥�
This spring, despite multiple displacements, Cardinale officially completed her PhD, a milestone made all the more meaningful by the obstacles she overcame.
鈥淚'm just proud of myself for finishing my degree,鈥� Cardinale said. 鈥淓ven without COVID and the hurricane and all the hurdles, earning a PhD is hard.鈥�
To students facing their own storms, literal or metaphorical, she offers this advice:
鈥淏e flexible. It's okay if your path or the cards that you're dealt were not part of your plan. That doesn't mean you're not going to meet your goals.鈥�
Video, article and photos by: Allison Long|USF Health