Postdoctoral scholars shape academic life, bolster innovation and collaboration
Postdoctoral trainees share their experiences working in WashU’s Department of Biomedical Engineering
Completing the PhD is a step on the path toward mastering not only independent inquiry but also the tools to generate new knowledge. The training process often imbues newly minted PhDs with passion and excitement for a journey of research, discovery, and scholarship. For these graduates, a period of postdoctoral training promises time for independent discovery, technological innovation, and continued command of the scientific process. Over the years, the Department of Biomedical Engineering in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis has built a dynamic and supportive environment for postdoctoral scholars to both dive deep into research and explore broad areas of continued learning.
“In my lab at WashU, I am able to contribute my expertise in microfabrication while studying how microenvironment modulates where cardiac tissues grow,” says Ganesh Malayath, a second-year postdoctoral research associate who joined the laboratory of Nathaniel Huebsch, associate professor of biomedical engineering, after earning a doctorate in mechanical engineering. Motivated by his father’s cardiomyopathy, Malayath said he has gained valuable knowledge of stem cell biology and tissue engineering, disciplines previously unknown to him.
Malayath is one of more than 20 postdoctoral researchers in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at WashU who drive the creative research enterprise and are a backbone of academic life. Adrienne Scott, a third-year postdoctoral research associate, described how her WashU research expanded beyond her prior work with in vitro and animal models: “Being able to start and complete a clinical study to predict complications that lead to stillbirth has been the most rewarding experience of my time as a postdoctoral researcher at WashU,” an experience that she cites will prepare her for next steps as a tenure-track professor.
A consistent theme of the BME postdoctoral experience is the unique, multidisciplinary nature of the work performed within BME labs, often combining engineering approaches with physics, chemistry, applied mathematics, biology, and computing.
“Postdocs make us ‘One WashU,’” said Rohit Pappu, the Gene K. Beare Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering, who mentors six postdoctoral researchers, “because they are the people who drive our research across disciplines, thus bringing together the primary lab with those of others from different disciplines.”
Indeed, WashU hosts numerous National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded programs that unite postdoctoral trainees around interdisciplinary scientific themes. For example, Scott receives specialized training in the Center for Regenerative Medicine program, and former postdoc Samantha Zambuto was admitted into a training program that focuses on women's health/clinical outcomes. Zambuto worked alongside physicians to learn “more about the ‘medical’ side of biomedical engineering,” which has helped her transition to a faculty position at University of Kentucky this January. The associated support for scientific writing and crafting research proposals in the training program can be a bonus to those postdoctoral trainees eager to advance their own research ideas.
Postdoctoral researchers are often seasoned investigators upon arrival at WashU Biomedical Engineering. Take Heather Struckman, a postdoctoral researcher in the laboratory of Jon Silva. Struckman brought a wealth of microscopy experience to the Silva lab’s study of cardiac electrophysiology. Struckman described the training period as “supporting my independence toward developing my own work focusing on stress granules formation and its impact on cardiac electrophysiology.” First supported by an NIH training grant in the Center for Cardiovascular Research, Struckman has received a fellowship from the American Heart Association to continue this independent work. Meanwhile, her skills complement ongoing research in the Silva lab: “The collaboration with Heather has been really beneficial, allowing us to ask new questions with the microscopy methods that she brings. It is also helpful to the lab to have new ways of thinking coming in,” Silva said.
Life as a postdoc can blend research scholarship with additional professional development, including workshops on student mentorship, community engagement and scientific consulting. Bryce Stottlemire, who is in his second year as a NIH-supported trainee in the Center for Regenerative Medicine, engineers microdevices to study how sensory neurons interact with inflammation in specialized sites in the body. But Stottlemire also engages with the Biotechnology and Life Science Advising Group (BALSA) Group, Office of Technology Management Ventures, BioGenerator, and local biotech events to foster mentoring, outreach and collaboration.
“My postdoctoral training has expanded my scientific horizons and refined my expertise,” said Stottlemire, “offering numerous opportunities to bridge science and innovation.”
Most postdoctoral trainees take advantage of the many supplementary opportunities at WashU, ranging from outreach events with high school students to science policy or leadership workshops offered across the university.
At the heart of the postdoctoral experience lies the opportunity to immerse oneself in specific research niches and sculpt an identity as an independent thinker and innovator. Min Kyung Shinn brought expertise from her doctorate in biophysics to studies on biomolecular condensates in the laboratory of Pappu. Upon serendipitous discovery that often accompanies deep research dives, she began to independently explore the molecular mechanisms behind the formation of nuclear speckles that can regulate gene expression. Shinn then generated preliminary data that inspired novel hypotheses, which she proposed to test using biophysical and cellular engineering approaches. This led to an NIH Pathway to Independence Award to support her future transition to independent investigator.
According to Shinn, engineering has “opened her eyes” to methods not found in biophysics and biochemistry. In her research, she has collaborated with colleagues beyond those in the Pappu Lab and learned a plethora of new skills: biochemistry and cell biology with Michael Vahey, cutting-edge microscopy in the lab of Yifan Dai, and super-resolution imaging with Matthew Lew in the Preston M. Green Department of Electrical & Systems Engineering. “My work, which cuts across disciplines, could only have been possible in an engineering setting, and this is further fueled by the interdisciplinary center for biomolecular condensates in McKelvey Engineering at WashU,” Shinn said.
A period of postdoctoral training promotes depth in one’s research interests while supporting interdisciplinary science and engineering innovation. Whether bringing their curiosity to an unanswered question or a new perspective to a stubborn problem, postdocs at WashU Biomedical Engineering are the engine of creativity and novelty that make their way into electives taught by faculty, undergraduate research projects, and new patents that support our ultimate goal to advance human health.
Alexandra Davis is a graduate student in the Department of Biomedical Engineering.
