Scholar Profile

Nicole Bell

Voted Most Likely To:
I wasn't voted most likely to do anything, unfortunately.

Graduated:
Xavier University of Louisiana, Class of 2006
Louisiana State University, Master of Science - Analytical Chemistry
Louisiana State University, Master of Science - Analytical Chemistry

Currently Working As:
Bioresearch Monitoring Reviewer, US Food and Drug Administration

What do you love about your job?
My career has afforded me the opportunity to travel the world in service to others. As an investigator & currently a reviewer for the FDA, my work has been instrumental in making medical products available to Americans who need it most. As an officer in the US Public Health Service, I have deployed in service to New Yorkers in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, unaccompanied minors from Central America in the midst of an immigration crisis, and people of West Africa during the Ebola outbreak.

What has been the most exciting part of your career so far?
That’s a difficult question! During my deployment to Liberia, I was fortunate to meet Dr. Jerry Brown, the Liberian surgeon who turned the chapel of Eternal Love Winning Africa Hospital in Monrovia, Liberia into an Ebola treatment. He was featured as TIME Magazine’s 2014 Person of the Year issue. I brought several copies of the magazine to Liberia and the day I met him, I asked him to sign a copy. He didn’t understand why, but reluctantly he did. It's one of my most treasured possessions.

What would you tell yourself at age 18?
Do what it is you’re afraid to do. Now the time to make your mistakes, so live daringly.

How has ACS Scholars impacted your life and career?
Being an ACS Scholar allowed me to focus on my studies (and not how school would be paid for), to conduct summer research which helped me get into graduate school, and to travel to ACS conferences to connect and interact with other future scientists. These opportunities fostered my undergraduate experience and have been instrumental in my success as a public health professional.