Today we’d like to introduce you to Rina M. Mbofung.
Rina, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Hi I am Rina. I am a research scientist. I am also a model, creative director and self portrait photographer. Both of my parents are scientists; My mom a plant pathologist and my dad a medical doctor. So I’d say I have always had a curiosity and incline towards science. During my undergraduate studies at Iowa State University, I took an immunology class and became fascinated with the immune system. So when I graduated, I decided to pursue a PhD in immunology, specifically cancer immunology. My dissertation focused on improving immunotherapy treatments for cancer patients. I am currently a scientist at a biotech company in La Jolla working on cancer immunotherapy research. I have always also had an interest in fashion. Putting outfits together and styling myself. But it took quite a while for me to be comfortable in front of the camera.
As I grew older, I also took an interest in photography and makeup. I began by seeing a picture on Instagram and then trying to recreate it. Once I moved to California, the beautiful landscape inspired me to get out and take more pictures. I would direct my cousins on how to take pictures of me, I kind of stumbled into self-portraits. My cousins weren’t always available to take my pictures so I had to figure out how to capture them myself. So I did some research, then got a remote and a tripod and now I can capture my own self-portraits. Since moving to San Diego, I have met quite a few photographers and have been able to model for them. My biggest project I have worked on is called Wrap November. Sydney Prather, one of the photographers I have modeled for, encouraged me to do it when she saw my collection of headwraps. Wrap November is a collection of self-portraits where I style a different headwrap for everyday in November. I can say I really enjoy the creative process of styling myself, figuring out hair and makeup, creating the set, capturing the picture and finally editing it. In conclusion, I like to say I am a scientist by day and also a model, creative director and self portrait photographer by day also.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has definitely not been an easy road. Pursuing a PhD is already tough. It’s endless hours in the lab. Sometimes experimental procedures work and other times they don’t. And sometimes you don’t get the answer you hoped for. So your hypothesis is null. So it is constant reading and refining the process until you come to an answer. One of the difficulties I faced in graduate school was racial stereotyping and prejudice. Some of my professors expected very little from me because I am black. One of them, even after seeing how hard I was working, gave me a poor review. He said ‘ Rina has potential but she doesn’t really apply herself.’ This was demoralizing but I’m happy there were other black graduate students that encouraged me to focus on the positives and the people that invested in me. I did and I made it through. As far as my creative side, it’s always just been me stepping up and just doing it. There was a lot of self-doubt when I first started doing self-portraits. But as I overcame my fears and continued to put myself out there, I got better.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am both a scientist and an artist. Scientist: I studied immunology in graduate school. Particularly cancer immunology. My dissertation focused on improving immunotherapy treatments for cancer patients. One of my projects focused on combining targeted therapies and immunotherapy. Targeted therapies are therapies that focus on a specific protein in the cancer cell. This protein is usually one that contributes to the cancer progression. While immunotherapy focuses on harnessing the immune system to fight cancer. And so combining both therapies can provide better treatment options for cancer patients. I was fortunate to be part of a collaborative lab environment. In addition to working on my projects, I got to collaborate with other scientists in my lab and other labs. As a result I am a published author with a first authored publication in Nature Communications and several co-author publications in other prestigious science journals. I am very proud of this. I am also proud of the fact that the therapies I have worked on and currently work on benefit cancer patients and also advance our scientific knowledge. Artist: As an artist, I model and I also capture self-portraits of myself. I do enjoy the creative process of seeing a vision in my head and then bringing it to life in a photo. One thing that sets me apart in the creative space is that I incorporate African fabrics as much as I can either by styling my headwraps or African print outfits. I am mostly proud of my Wrap November project which is live on Instagram. I style a different headwrap for everyday in November. That’s 30 days of headwraps! It was definitely a lot of work putting the outfits together and sometimes even building the set, shooting and editing. I’m glad I stuck with it and completed the project.
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
I believe in risk taking. Going to graduate school was a risk. Modeling way later in life is a risk. Sometimes we don’t know if we will succeed at the task at hand but that shouldn’t stop us. One of the reasons we don’t take risks is comparison. We compare ourselves to other people without knowing the process/everything it took to get them to where they are. If anything we can use them as inspiration for where we are going. I also think sometimes we don’t take risks because we believe that everything has to be perfect on the first try. The reality is that it usually is not. If we approached whatever it is as a process, I believe we would take more risks. It’s all a process. You learn as you go and you also get better. One of my favorite sayings is an excerpt from ‘The Alchemist’: ‘It was my fear of failure that first kept me from attempting the Master Work. Now, I’m beginning what I could have started ten years ago. But I’m happy at least that I didn’t wait twenty years.’ It is never too late. Take that risk, do the thing!
Contact Info:
- Email: rinamakebeh@gmail.com
- Website: rinamakebeh.myportfolio.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/rinamakebeh
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/rinamakebeh
