February 2004, Vol. 13, No. 2 | Return to Table of Contents


MBL Welcomes First Students in the Brown-MBL Graduate Program in Biological and Environmental Science


"Science is people," says Dr. Stephen Hajduk, head of the MBL's Global Infectious Disease (GID) Laboratory. "We need to be bringing in the best people.' Two of the people at a bench in Hajduk's lab, Justin Widener and April Shiflett, are great examples of how the MBL is already making strides in this direction. Widener and Shiflett are the first students to enroll in the Brown-MBL Graduate Program in Biological and Environmental Science, a program recently established under the MBL's strategic plan to extend its educational programs for graduate students beyond the summer courses.

If enthusiasm is any indication, Widener and Shiflett are proof that the plan is working. Both students transferred to Brown University to follow Hajduk when he left a tenured position at University of Alabama at Birmingham Medical School in early 2003 to come to the MBL. Even during an icy Cape-Cod winter, where temperatures hover well below freezing, Widener and Shiflett emit warm feelings about Brown, the MBL, Hajduk, and living and working in Woods Hole.

Shiflett, a third-year graduate student, says the transition to Brown and the MBL has been a smooth one. "It was a great opportunity to go to a school like Brown," she says, "and logistically it will be much easier." She also says she has learned a great deal from working in Hajduk's lab. "He and I have figured out how to focus, plan, and carry out a scientific project," says Shiflett. "What's great about him is that he tailors the work to meet the needs of each student."

Widener, now in his second year, says Hajduk's open approach to communication and the structure of the GID lab which is staffed by post docs, researchers, and, in the summer, local high school students is what sets it apart from other labs. "You sometimes hear stories about how labs are boring places," says Widener, "but that's not the Hajduk lab. The integration of the lab helps with the flow of ideas."

Widener and Shiflett, who work across the bench from each other on the third floor of Lillie, are focused on different aspects of Hajduk's study of trypanosomes, tiny ribbon-shaped parasites that cause African sleeping sickness. The students, who often help each other solve research problems, have much more in common than the workspace they share. When seeking a graduate program, both students enrolled at the University of Alabama expressly to work with Hajduk. And now that they're in the Brown-MBL program, they participate in a journal club together and make regular trips to Brown University to hear lectures and interact with students working in similar disciplines.

By the time they earn their PhDs, Widener and Shiflett will have paid their dues on the lab bench, developed good research skills, taken courses at Brown, and published their findings in "at least three" papers, a process that generally takes four to six years. "Grad students generally produce publishable data in their last two years of work," says Hajduk. "They are overly optimistic about what they can accomplish. They are learning the difficulties of science and discovery," he says.

To help students like Widener and Shiflett through the tough spots, Hajduk has structured his lab so everyone can help each other. "It's important to have a range of students and post docs with different levels of experience," he says. "And everyone needs patience and willingness to teach."

Hajduk speaks from experience. To date, he has graduated 22 or 23 PhDs, and mentoring up-and-coming scientists is one of his trademarks. In fact, he credits the Brown-MBL program for helping to lure him to the MBL. "I couldn't have come without a mechanism for students," he says.

So far, Brown seems to be the ideal partner. "I don't think there could've been a better partner if you went down the list of eligible schools," says Hajduk. "Brown is clearly a quality institution with a good academic reputation."

Brown appears equally enthusiastic. Widener and Shiflett say the Pathobiology Department at Brown has been "extremely welcoming." And Hajduk has felt a strong camaraderie with faculty and researchers. "We've been fully encouraged to participate in course training and graduate student training," he says. "And a lot of us have noticed that there have been many more opportunities as far as research and writing grants together."

In fact, Hajduk recently co-wrote and submitted a Gates Foundation proposal with Dr. Susan Gerbi, chair of Brown's Biochemistry Department and director of the Graduate Program in Cell and Molecular Biology. This semester he will give guest lectures in two different Brown science courses. And he is currently working to develop joint training programs he hopes will attract funding from the National Institute of Health and the National Science Foundation.

The Brown-MBL Graduate Program offers other institutional benefits as well. "Historically the MBL has been focused on post docs, who are seeking more long-term stability," says Hajduk. "Grad students who generally turn over every four years or so create a more dynamic environment that will expand MBL's scientific contacts. The institution is strengthened by the [PhD] who leaves and becomes a faculty member at a college or university. It lends stature to our institution," he says.

Hajduk also predicts that grad students may someday change the face of the MBL. "If the program attracts six or so students a year," he says, "it will become a considerably younger population than we have now. And as the students interact with faculty and others, the mere presence of the students will change the overall flavor of the institution."

For their part, Widener and Shiflett are just beginning to see how doing graduate work at the MBL is affecting them. "I'm happy with it," says Widener. "I wish it were going faster but you can only take in so much. And in this lab everyone is willing to help and that's helped me get to where I want to be."

"This has been the best year so far in my graduate career," says Shiflett. "Everything changed. I’m in a totally different environment. I've been able to meet so many people in the field. It could be overwhelming for me but it's been so charged, so exciting. It's been outstanding."