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I have been a faculty member in Biochemistry since 1970 and I've never had such a good time as I am having now. As you can see from this site, I have a group of very special people in my lab, and the very good fortune of working with some great collaborators. NIH has been good to us in the past several years, and with some hard work - and a lot of good luck - we should be doing just fine for several more to come. Life is good, no question about it!! I'll get to my philosophy of education and all that in a moment, but I have to tell you that what happens to me when I'm NOT in the lab is really more important. The best way to let you know why is show you some pics....
Now, most of you won't know who any of these people are (except me by way of comparison to the photo on the index page of our site), but the lady in the center - and who appears in two other pictures (in disguise in one of them!) is my best pal, Gabi. Dr. Gabriela Popescu, as her professional colleagues know her, currently is working with Dr. Tony Auerbach using patch-clamping to measure single-molecule kinetics in the acetylcholine receptor. Three of the pics were taken at our "Ranch" out in Middle Park in Colorado (guess which ones!!). In one, you can meet my sister, Sue, and Gabi's (and now mine) kids, Ioana and Andrei. Our dancing friends, John and Nancy have joined us at a Masquerade Ball where Gabi won the Raffle - a free trip for two to Paris (!) - and in one picture, you see me lounging on the Quai des And you wondered why I was having such a good time!!! I couldn't let you go without showing off our garden at 22 Garden Court. As you can see, it doesn't snow in Buffalo ALL of the time; in fact, we have beautiful, comfortable summers, simply perfect for fresh and healthy gardens!!! Okay, about my approach to science and science education. To be a decent scientist, one has to be curious about how things are and how they work. The fancy words for this is "structure" (are) and "function" (how). I was trained as a chemist and so the chemical details of the biologic system are really what intrigue me. At NIH, they call how I think, "mechanism-based." Also, my approach is what we call "system-focused" rather than technique-driven. That is, I want to know how a cellular metabolic pathway works, and will use whatever technique is available if appropriate to achieve a particular end result. Lastly, I strongly believe in collaboration with other scientists whose help can promote insight into my favorite system. Collaboration is efficient, it's intellectually stimulating, and it's just plain fun. Students who work in my lab are responsible for their projects. I expect for them to know more about what they are doing - and why - than I do. I figure that if it were not this way, it would be easier for me to do it myself. When they finish their dissertation, I expect my students to be well on their way to becoming independent scientists. I want to know that they can succeed on their own. And most of my students do make this transition from "being in school" to "being a scientist." That's what getting a Ph.D. is all about, what distinguishes a BA or MS from a doctoral degree. Curious, knowledgeable, imaginative, thorough, intellectually honest: these are the qualities that I hope to help my students develop in the four or five years that they are in my lab. |
