Philosophy

We are drawn to science for different reasons. It’s possible that we’ll help discover new tools to fight infectious disease, improve healthcare, or reveal something entirely unexpected that changes the way we think about the natural world. The knowledge that we gain over the years may one day help to improve the quality of life for people around the globe. Those are admirable aspirations, yet at the core of our lab, we find biology to be fascinating, and harbor a deep recognition that there is always something more to learn. Regardless of how lofty or transformative our goals might be, at a fundamental level, “research” is an expression of our desire to figure out how things work. That process takes effort. Science is not easy. It’s not without its stresses, frustrations, and failed experiments. But at the same time, science is a lot of fun, allowing us to chase our curiosity, learn amazing things, and providing avenues for creativity and growth that are hard to find in other walks of life. If we remember why we’re here, maintain a passion for discovery, and work together to support one another, it will be easier to get through the lows and ride the highs.

We strive to support all students, staff, and trainees, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, race, religious beliefs, political background, or socioeconomic class. Diversity makes us better. It is important to not simply assimilate underrepresented individuals into the established white and male academic culture, but rather to change the culture, act as vocal supporters of diversity, and champion ideas for antiracism, women’s rights, gender rights, and equity for all. In our lab, we strive to be supportive and inclusive of underrepresented groups at every level. We encourage involvement in programs that support diversity initiatives, and we do our best to educate ourselves on implicit biases and the disparities that exist in academia. Science can be a space to build great personal and professional relationships. At the same time, it provides opportunities to reflect on and grow from our experiences. The happiness and well-being of lab members and those around us are central to our success. We’re all in this together. So at every chance, we should show respect, empathy, and compassion towards each another.

When performing an experiment, it doesn’t matter what we might want the result to be, we need to let the science be our guide. Our goal is not to “prove” anything. Our experiments can only support or refute a hypothesis. In that vein, reproducibility and rigor are key to any set of experiments. This includes incorporating technical replicates, and more importantly, biological replicates into our experimental designs. As part of the scientific journey, please keep in mind that successful scientists (students, trainees, and mentors) all have some level of tolerance for failure. Before you run an experiment, it’s a good idea to think through the following: “How will I know the steps in my protocol worked?” “What should I do next if this experiment doesn’t work?” and “What if this experiment reveals something unexpected?” Remember that controls are your friends! You won’t need to run every control in every experiment, but it’s important to think through these questions and consider the next step before you do any work at the bench or in silico. In time, you’ll develop an understanding of the “noise” that might be inherent to an experiment and will seek out methods to minimize it. Sometimes we might be convinced of a major result, only to discover later that we were wrong. That’s okay! Of course, we try to avoid making mistakes, but making mistakes and learning from them are essential to growth and development. Trust the process.

One of the things that is both challenging and exhilarating about our line of work is that we’re expected to do many different things at many different times, in a constant swirl of overlapping tasks that sometimes require very different skillsets. All students and trainees are expected to learn the history behind their projects and keep up with the current literature. We do our best to design experiments, operate sophisticated equipment, analyze data, and communicate our work to other scientists (and sometimes the public) in a clear and coherent manner. Senior students and trainees are expected to draft figures, apply for fellowships, write manuscripts, and hopefully publish high-impact papers (with help from others on the team). We’re all expected to attend and participate in group meetings, journal clubs, seminars, and research-in-progress meetings, and once projects have started to mature, we present our work at conferences. To do any of these things at a high level, we need practice, and perhaps most importantly, we need to be resilient. Recognizing that “not knowing” something is okay, and then asking questions to learn from others is an extremely powerful tool for growth. If it’s the squeaky wheel that gets the grease, we want to be squeaky. Passionate, resilient, and squeaky, we are.

The laboratory can be a dangerous place, and so safety must be a priority. We take time to understand and follow laboratory safety precautions, especially for hazardous chemicals, biohazard waste, and “black box” agents, which include potential blood-borne pathogens, replication-competent viruses, and recombinant viral vectors. We take steps to minimize risks of exposure and always wear appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE). Being safe is not a passive exercise. Proper training is essential. And beyond the training we receive in the laboratory and through the office of Environmental Health and Safety, we should continuously look out for the health and safety of each other (and ourselves). There is no greater priority than the mental and physical well-being of our team.

There is a direct correlation between one’s productivity in the lab and the effort that is spent at the bench. That being said, it is critical to get out of the lab and put effort into other things that we enjoy, too! Some of my favorite words of advice come from the late Oliver Smithies, who told many students and mentees of his at UNC (and around the world) that, “in order to live a full life, you need three things: a job you love, a person you love, and a hobby you love.” It can take years to develop those loves, so it’s a good idea to not ignore any one of them for too long. Hard work pays off, but working excessively long hours leads to diminishing returns. We should all use our time wisely and do our best to find balance. Let’s do some good work, make impactful discoveries, and have fun!