If you’re wondering what it takes to train and to mentor young talented researchers, you’ll get a wealth of great perspective and knowledge from this episode’s guest.
We get to hear how this is done in this episode of the Leading Life Science Radio Podcast, with today’s guest, Dr. Joe Italiano. He’s a Harvard Medical School Associate Professor at Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston.
I’m super excited to introduce Joe. He’s an amazing and charming investigator who’s been creating a unique learning environment for his trainees for almost 2 decades.
His lab focuses on new megakaryocyte and platelet biology. The lab’s research focuses primarily on how blood platelets, which function as the band-aids of the bloodstream, are produced from megakaryocyte precursor cells.
I’ve known him for awhile now, and he was gracious enough to come on to the show to share his journey. I’m sure you’ll learn a lot.
I encourage you to give feedback and to let us know what you like, or don’t like about the episode. Your constructive feedback will help to improve future episodes. We’re looking to deliver great lessons and information to young future scientific leaders, like you.
Leadership may feel like a lonely journey, but each of our stories tell more familiar one.
I encourage you to give feedback and to let us know what you like, or don’t like about the episode. Your constructive feedback will help to improve future episodes. We’re looking to deliver great lessons and information to young future scientific leaders, like you.
Leadership may feel like a lonely journey, but each of our stories tell more familiar one.
So, let’s listen in on this one:
Today’s show we ask Joe some of the following questions that has helped him to lead such an amazingly successful research lab:
- You say little things matter. What little things matter?
- How do you work with introverted personalities?
- Who were your inspirational leaders in science?
- What strategy do you use to manage your team?
- How do you recruit the best students?
- Where do you find the right postdocs?
- How do you manage your time?
- How do you sell your science?
SOME OF WHAT WE LEARN IN THIS EPISODE:
- Smaller labs are more comfortable to focus.
- Retreats help to strengthen the lab vision and relationships.
- Use your lab as a way to make your scientific concepts stronger.
- Seeing your people accomplish more than you becomes your main accomplishment.
- Smaller conferences are better for meeting talents.
- It’s all about your relationships.
- A strong personality can disrupt the make-up of the lab.
- Training from ground zero, as oppose to running the risk of bringing in bad techniques into the lab.
- Pursue 2 types of projects in training and funding; The “low hanging fruit,” and the “holy grail”.
- Smart students don’t want to go to larger labs.
- Turning off technology helps to manage.
Thanks to Dr. Joseph Italiano for joining us today to talk about his journey to lead a team of dedicated scientists to unraveling the mysteries behind metabolic related diseases.
Also, thank you for listening and contributing. If you like the show, please leave a comment below and subscribe.
If there’s a great mentor or leader that has helped you in your career in the life sciences, please let us know. We’d love to share their story with the rest of the community so that we may all learn.