the foundation of her career, and, with colleagues, led the 昀椀rst-ever lupus prevention trial funded by the NIH. James recognizes that her childhood interests have had a signi昀椀cant impact on her career. “I am a pianist and an organist. I began taking lessons at a young age. My mother played the piano in the church and I would go sit at the church piano after she would play, maybe at age 4 or 5 and started taking lessons at 5 or 6, and was really, really passionate about piano. And I think piano and math skills go hand-in- hand and those math skills go hand-in-hand with science. I also see music as a creative outlet, and that creative outlet in many ways helps us to think about the creative part of science, which is how do you ask new questions and how do you make those new discoveries that are going to improve patients’ lives.” James and Glen Wood were married in Pond Creek in 1994. Just a few years later they welcomed Becca. The family of three makes time to travel—a favorite pastime. From the Grand Canyon to Riding the Ducks in Branson and Disney World, the memories made are treasured. Following in her mother’s footsteps, Becca is blazing her own trail as a graduate student at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. 23