Director's Message

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Winter greetings from the MBL! Lately it seems there is never a dull moment here, even during this so-called quiet time of year in Woods Hole. I continue to be amazed at the impact the MBL is making on biological science and education, and this issue of LabNotes underscores this role.

We are, of course, still enjoying the afterglow of Osamu Shimomura’s receipt of the Nobel Prize. The honor continues to draw attention to the MBL from the international community and has inspired us to create a commemorative binder for our library honoring the 53 Nobel laureates with MBL affiliations. I hope you will stop in and see the book the next time you are here.

MBL scientists consistently break new ground in other areas as well. For example:

* MBL board member Doug Melton’s diabetes research was the cover story for the February 9 issue of Time magazine;

* the Bay Paul Center’s Irina Arkhipova and Matthew Meselson’s paper on gene transfer in Bdelloid rotifers received accolades from both Discover and Nature magazines for its importance;

* Zoe Cardon, of the Ecosystems Center, was named the first woman president of the Physiological Ecology Section of the Ecological Society of America; and

* Ecosystems Center Senior Research Scientist Ivan Valiela has been named a member of the NOAA Science Advisory Board's Ecosystems Sciences and Management Working Group.

On the educational front, I am pleased to report that we have secured a contract for $10 million in funding from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center and $15 Million from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, both in support of our $28M Loeb Laboratory renovation. While we work to raise the remaining funding needed to complete the project, we are moving forward on preliminary designs and construction, with permitting and roof work scheduled to happen this spring. When finished, the new Loeb Laboratory will serve as an ideal training ground for tomorrow’s scientists.

In other news, the Board of Trustees recently elected four new members: Robert Ament, Patrick Gage, Matthew Mallow, and Patricia Robertson are all now members of the MBL Board of Trustees Class of 2012. Welcome to all.

I am also happy to report that we have finalized the schedule for the Friday Evening Lecture series, which includes Nobel Laureate Martin Chalfie. Thanks to help from Ezra Laderman, we have also booked the Tokyo String Quartet for this year’s summer gala. The dates for these and other upcoming events can be found in the Mark Your Calendar! section of this newsletter.

In closing, if you know of any scientist who may benefit from conducting research at the MBL, I ask that you urge them to apply soon for laboratory space rental. As you know, the MBL is a hothouse for innovative research and collaboration, and our newly renovated Rowe Laboratory facilities offer all of the latest tools of discovery. Limited lab space is still available for the summer of 2009 and the Rowe Laboratory is available not only in the summer, but also year round.

I look forward to sharing more MBL news with you soon and hope to see many of you in the coming months, either here in Woods Hole or in the research and educational circles we share.


With all best wishes,
Gary Borisy, Director and CEO