Pratt School Professor Recognized for Mentoring Skill

There's nothing simple about being a good mentor, but biomedical engineer Ashutosh Chilkoti says there is one easy rule: "Learn the individual."

"There is no one mode of success, but I have found that the first three months of a fellowship are the most critical," said Chilkoti. "During that time I try to get to know the postdoc and figure out what barriers are standing in the way of that person's success."

Chilkoti, associate professor of biomedical engineering at the Pratt School of Engineering, was named a Top Principal Investigator in a Science magazine Science Careers section survey, published in October 2004. The goal of the survey was to determine what characteristics postdocs value most in the researchers they work for and to identify the investigators who best embody those characteristics.

Chilkoti said the issues he helps postdocs with range from lacking specific laboratory skills to struggling with language comprehension and culture shock if the postdoc is from another country.

Solving such problems sometimes requires creative approaches, he said. For example, in one instance, Chilkoti paired up a foreign-born postdoc with a particular graduate student who needed to learn the postdocs' specialized laboratory skills. In exchange, the postdoc gained a guide to help him navigate the cultural complexities of life in the United States. The result was a strong working relationship that developed into a lifelong friendship, Chilkoti said.

As a graduate student and postdoc, Chilkoti said he benefited from friendship and advice from others scientists. "I had wonderful mentors, and I try to replicate my positive experiences in my own lab," he said. He has mentored 15 postdocs including both men and women and U.S. and foreign citizens.

Chilkoti's lab uses an interdisciplinary research approach involving biology, engineering and materials science. While his graduate students are primarily engineering students, Chilkoti views postdoc appointments as opportunities to bring new, specialized skills to his group. He typically hires postdocs from disciplines outside engineering, such as pharmaceutical science, polymer chemistry or molecular and cell biology.

Chilkoti said he wants postdocs to try out new research methods and tools and help him explore ideas for new avenues of research. The work tends to encompass daring projects that wouldn't be suitable for graduate students who are still learning the ropes of how to conduct research.

Fully funded for the duration of their time in Chilkoti's lab, postdocs are able create a niche of expertise, publish widely, and then move on to their next job after a few years. "By the time the postdoc is ready to leave, he or she is telling me what needs to be done next to advance the research," said Chilkoti.

Molecular biologist and biochemist Li Liu worked for Chilkoti as a postdoc from 2001 to 2002. She describes him as "very kind and available."

"We could always contact him to discuss our research, and he was always on top of every project going on in the lab," Liu said. She appreciated his weekly laboratory meetings, and that he helped his students and postdocs prepare for meeting presentations by holding dry runs.

"Working with Tosh was a really valuable experience and is the key to my success right now," said Liu, who now works at Neose Technologies in Horsham, Pa.

Chilkoti is adamant about encouraging his postdocs and graduate students not to sacrifice family for the sake of their research. "Life is too short to live that way," he said.

A father of two children himself, Chilkoti is no stranger to balancing work with caring for kids. Some of his postdocs have gone through major life-changing events such as losing a family member or having a child. "They didn't have to worry about their projects being reassigned," Chilkoti said. "I tell them to take the time they need and come back when they are ready."

Like many other research institutions, Duke recognizes the invaluable contributions of postdocs and graduate students. A Dean's Award for Excellence in Mentoring, established last year by Graduate School Dean Lewis Siegel, was awarded to biomedical engineering professor Lori Setton, Salvatore Pizzo of pathology and John Aldrich of political science.

Other schools across the university are also underscoring the importance of mentoring, prompted in part by the recent Women's Initiative, which cited mentoring as a key issue for students, faculty and staff.

More than 900 present and past postdoctoral fellows took part in the Science Careers survey, conducted in March 2004.

By Deborah Hill