Life is so friggin' weird

As some of you might know, I have been engaged in research of the disease that killed my son in 1998. In 2007, I published a paper in a medical journal, detailing a new model of the disease pathology. Now, for some reason, I'm getting requests to evaluate research proposals for some really big research organizations in the field, as well as other requests to submit papers for journals, etc.

I am so totally out of my league here. I know only about the science; nothing about how any of this other stuff is done. And I'm NOT a doctor, but people write to me as one. It is so strange to be in this kind of position.

Sometimes, I feel like just jumping in, headfirst, and going with the flow. Other times, I feel like hiding out from everything in that world, as if I'm some sort of imposter. I know that honesty is the best policy, but in the scientific world, if you don't have credentials, you just aren't taken seriously, and damnit, I do good work, and it should be taken seriously. It IS being taken seriously, but they don't know I'm just a woman from Texas who has no degrees in the subject they are asking me to be an expert in. I spent 13 years researching that disease and I can add to the body of scientific knowledge. I just don't know how to do that, at this point, without pretending to be something that I'm not.

13 years of study -- self directed or not -- as well as a research breakthrough certainly justify your ongoing contibutions.

Have you considered writing a book about your experiences? Please do.

It would be like a "Lorenzo's Oil" redux, though, without the happy ending, I'm afraid. And, to tell you the truth, I feel like nothing more than a failure, because I could not save my own son. And, yeah, I know all of the reasons why I shouldn't feel like that, but I think that it would hurt much more than it is worth to write a book about the experience. I'd much rather my science stand on it's own. It's good work, and if there's one thing about science that I love, it is that, there, as in no other field, you can actually find an objective truth. That's the only thing that will save the children who suffer from that disease; and it's the only thing that I care about.

what Mother wouldn't? Your transformation into a successful researcher was spurred by your love and intense desire to help him.

I'm sorry about your boy.

Be upfront about your credentials. Your paper must have been quite good to garner so much attention.
And can I tell you, sometimes its not about credentials in the scientific community..sometimes its about "reputation" and you obviously have a good one.
Do whatever you feel comfortable doing, if you don't feel like you are up to it, send a polite denial...

Thanks.