The University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine
What is your hometown?
San Francisco, California
When did you join the University of Iowa faculty?
2001
How/when did you become interested in science and medicine?
I became interested during my sophomore year at Stanford, when I was a volunteer in an insect neurobiology lab. My job was to collect eggs from the grasshopper cages.
What interested you to pursue a career in Anatomy and Cell Biology?
There are interesting biological questions at different scales, from the atomic scale to the level of populations. For me, the most interesting questions are at the scale of the cell and of the whole animal.
Is there a teacher or mentor who helped shaper you career?
My mom was a high school English teacher and my dad a professor of civil engineering. Each inspired in me a love of intellectual pursuits.
How or why did you choose the University of Iowa?
Great job, great town!
The University of Iowa’s faculty members are united to provide exceptional patient care while advancing innovations in research and medical education. How does your work help translate new discoveries into patient centered care and education?
Although we conduct our experiments in zebrafish embryos, all of the projects in my laboratory are related to the field of genetics and human disease.
What kinds of professional opportunities or advantages does being a faculty member at an academic medical center provide?
It is a privilege to be in a work environment where collaboration is encouraged and it is expected that data will be shared before publication.
Please describe your professional interests.
During early development, embryonic cells regularly face existential decisions where they must choose one developmental pathway or another. I am interested in which genes govern these decisions, and how disruption of these genes results in birth defects.
What led to your research interest in developmental genes during embryonic development?
I became interested because my brother Eric was already studying physics.
How does working in a collaborative and comprehensive academic medical center benefit your work?
Discussing experiments with colleagues and hearing about their research stimulates one to make connections that one might otherwise miss.
What are some of your outside interests?
My kids, bridge and ultimate frisbee.
Do you have an insight or philosophy that guides you in your professional work?
Success in science requires perseverance, passion, and regular exercise.
If you could change one thing about the world (or the world of medicine), what would it be?
There is a persistent elitism in the scientific community, which unfairly benefits students who have had access to a handful of top schools. In my utopia, all of the brightest and most committed students from around the country and the world would be recognized, recruited to a career in science, and fabulously well-funded.
What is the biggest change you've experienced in your field since you were a student?
The availability of the whole genome sequence of humans and many model organisms.
What one piece of advice would you give to today's students?
Go to meetings and make an effort to meet the people whose work you admire.
What do you see as "the future" of medicine?
Gene therapy will be a reality one day.
In what ways are you engaged with the greater Iowa public (i.e. population based research, mentoring high school students, sharing your leadership/expertise with organizations or causes, speaking engagements off campus, etc.)?
Because there are excellent students at lots of small colleges in the Midwest, I occasionally give lectures at these colleges to try to recruit graduate students to the University of Iowa. I also run a chess club for elementary school kids.