SPOTLIGHT ON THE DEPARTMENT CHAIR

“Natalia’s door is always open,” Murner said. “I’m a secondyear graduate student, so I make mistakes. But I’m never afraid to tell my boss.”

After a long separation during COVID-19 restrictions, the door to her home was open, too. The team celebrated their reunion with pizza and volleyball, happy to be able to gather together again.

A mentor can also make sure you get what you need to grow as a scientist. Zamakhaeva said that Dr. Korotkova allows time for them to seek professional development opportunities, such as conferences. With funding for conferences, graduate students can present their work while networking with scientists who may someday become colleagues.

Asked how faculty can become good mentors, Dr. Korotkova remembers her postdoctoral training in the lab of Dr. Mary Lidstrom, a professor of microbiology at the University of Washington.

“I learned from my own mentor how to be a mentor,” Dr. Korotkova said. “She created a friendly, positive environment where people could be excited about research.

“And students are the heart of it all.”

Ilhem Messaoudi, PhD, came from the University of California-Irvine to chair the UK College of Medicine Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology and a member of the Board of Scientific Counselors to the CDC deputy director of infectious disease. She brought with her a large portfolio of research on immunity.

Dr. Messaoudi’s research explores variations in individual responses to disease. The overall goals of her program are to investigate the effects of alcohol abuse, obesity, microbiome, and age on immunity. Moreover, her laboratory is uncovering how the maternal immune system achieves the delicate balancing act of fetal tolerance while battling microbes that might endanger both mother and child.

Dr. Messaoudi’s research indicates that this immunological “sweet spot” may be compromised by pre-pregnancy obesity and COVID-19. Finally, the Messaoudi lab is also engaged in studying how emerging pathogens (such as SARS-CoV-2 and monkeypox) cause disease and evaluating new vaccines against them.

Recent outbreaks of COVID-19, polio, and monkeypox have reminded the world that infectious diseases don’t respect geographic borders. Dr. Messaoudi believes that public outreach is a key step in combatting infectious diseases and has participated in several interviews on KET’s “Kentucky Tonight”, and other media outlets to discuss how various emerging and re-emerging diseases are spread and how we can protect ourselves.

LGBTQ+ Mentorship Program Builds Supportive Community

At times, learners need specific mentoring to face particular challenges—maybe help with a dissertation, a research project, or studying for an exam. But a more general approach to mentoring, one that focuses on the whole person, can also make a crucial difference in student success.

Last year the College of Medicine LGBTQ+ Advisory Committee launched its own mentoring program to support LGBTQ+ students as they make their way as learners in health care. “Navigating the workplace as an LGBTQ+ community member is tough no matter what field you’re in,” says Brian Hamilton, MEd, director of diversity, equity, and inclusion. “But we recognize there are particular challenges for LGBTQ+ physicians and scientists.”

Brittany Bissell, PharmD, PhD, who practices in the pulmonary/medical intensive care unit at UK HealthCare and teaches in the College of Pharmacy, volunteered to be one of the first mentors in the program.

A mentor in health care for six years, Dr. Bissell remembers signing up for the LGBTQ+ Mentorship Program as an easy process. “You just fill out a form on your background and interests, and then answer some simple questions about the role you’re interested in playing, and what your motivation for mentorship is.”

Her mentee, third-year medical student Taylor Bradley, who was herself a mentor to younger students in college, points out that they have much in common. “We both enjoy staying busy,” said Bradley of Dr. Bissell. “We’re peopleoriented.”

Every mentor-mentee bond involves offering advice, some of it personal. But the LGBTQ+ Mentorship Program was designed to address specific needs which DEI director Hamilton characterizes as “not formally tied to academic and professional success.”

Bradley specifies some of the challenges LGBTQ+ mentors and mentees discuss. “You talk about things that are difficult to bring up. How to navigate being out during medical education. How to be comfortable with people you’re working with.”

The results of such mentoring can be lifechanging. “I’ve seen the impact,” Dr. Bissell said. “We as a society do better when we support each other and provide relationships that support, uplift, and provide a pathway.”

This year, Bradley is taking on the important responsibility of the LGBTQ+ mentor-mentee matching process. To potential mentors, she says, “Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. Remember the more transparent you are about difficulties you’ve faced, the more helpful you can be.” To mentees, Bradley says “Reach out. People are happy to help. Don’t be afraid.”

Kristin Miller is Paying it Forward Leading the WIMS Mentoring Program

Kristin Miller, a UK College of Medicine graduate student in toxicology and cancer biology, is leading the effort to expand mentorship opportunities for women through Women in Medicine and Science (WIMS).

Founded in 2019, the WIMS Mentoring Program facilitates opportunities for women’s career advancement in the fields of medicine and science. All College of Medicine female faculty, medical students, PhD students, postdoctoral trainees, residents, and fellows are members of WIMS, and all are encouraged to come to bimonthly meetings and participate on committees. WIMS honors its mentors and mentees each year, and the group also sponsors an event every fall featuring lectures and workshops led by a nationally renowned visiting professor.

Miller has been involved in WIMS for three years, and now she is directing the WIMS Mentoring Program, an essential part of the group’s mission.

“It’s a process,” Miller explained. “At the beginning of the year, we send out a survey where you can note what your research interests are, whether you’re interested in personal or professional mentoring. Both sides—mentors and mentees—fill that out. It takes a few weeks to work out the matches. And that’s the starting point.”

Miller’s own experience has taught her that mentorship can open doors for students. “I’m from Appalachian Kentucky—Metcalfe County. And when I was in high school, I knew I loved science, but I didn’t know that research was a career option.”

When Miller arrived at the University of Kentucky as an undergraduate, she connected with Appalachian Career Training in Oncology (ACTION), a program of the Markey Cancer Center, and was matched with mentor Jessica Blackburn, PhD, in the molecular and cellular biochemistry department.

Now Miller is a PhD student looking forward to a future in research.

“I’m an example of why mentorship is important,” she said. “I wouldn’t be where I am now without a mentor, and so I value the importance of helping others to find a mentor to guide them.”