Mary Ellen Lane: Dean of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences

Some people arrive at their dream career by happenstance, while others embark on a thoughtful process built on years of intentional decisions. The road to the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences for its new dean Mary Ellen Lane, PhD, followed the latter course.

Dr. Lane’s pursuit of a career in academic leadership was gradual, but purposeful and deliberate. Her professional objective has been clear: to facilitate student and faculty success in their educational goals.

Lane, who was appointed dean in April of 2018, believes the role of educators is to commit to lifelong learning and knowledge creation, to inspire learners through example, and to foster mastery. An educational leader should support students and faculty in the pursuit of excellence, she said.

Throughout her education—as an undergraduate at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York; a doctoral student at Columbia University in New York City; and her early career as a basic science researcher— Lane maintained a strong interest in helping develop programs to support faculty in their academic work and lead graduate students toward their own careers in science. While an assistant professor of biochemistry and cell biology at Rice University in Houston, Lane researched the control of cell proliferation and organ size in zebrafish embryonic development. Her work was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.

and participated in service in the areas of curriculum, assessment and residential life. She strove for innovation in her classroom teaching in order to create learning experiences that aligned with the scientific inquiry process. After recognizing the need to adjust teaching methods so that they translated to enduring learning and greater understanding of science, she developed a problem-based undergraduate course in developmental biology that emphasized the experimental foundations of contemporary biological research.

In addition to training and mentoring doctoral students and undergraduates in her lab, Lane advised undergraduates,

In 2009, Lane made the difficult decision to close her lab and concentrate fully on advancing biomedical science education. She accepted a position as assistant dean for admissions at MD Anderson Cancer Center University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in Houston.

“During my career as an assistant professor and PI, I noticed that I was drawing most of my energy from interacting with students. I enjoyed mentoring my grad students and developing my teaching skills to promote critical thinking, analytical skills and argumentation,” she said. “Surprisingly, I also enjoyed those aspects of institutional service that exposed me to enterprise-level thinking and challenged me to consider how individual faculty members and departments can support the overall mission of the university. So when I hit an unexpected roadblock in my research career that would require me to disengage from meaningful educational and service activities, I made a career change that would allow me to align my time and effort more closely with my personal values.”

In 2011, Lane joined UMMS as assistant dean for GSBS curriculum and academic affairs. In 2013, she was appointed associate professor in the Department of Neurobiology, and her role in the GSBS was elevated to associate dean. In 2018, she was selected to succeed retiring GSBS Dean Anthony Carruthers, PhD, who held the position for 15 years.

While assistant dean, Lane created the Office of Academic Affairs within the GSBS; led a team of faculty in remodeling the first-year student experience in the Basic Biomedical Sciences program and in implementing the new curriculum; created and convened the Academic Advancement Committee; and implemented structural improvements to the Pathways to Graduate Study program.

As dean, Lane is charged with developing and implementing a strategic vision for the GSBS. In addition to a focus on all aspects of educational programming, a personal goal is to better inform the greater academic and professional scientific community of the

progress being made in the labs by faculty and students.

She has worked to increase faculty visibility at national conferences, build partnerships with other academic institutions as well as industry, and continue to advance the skills of students to keep them competitive after graduate school. She is also working to make it easier for GSBS students and faculty to apply for training funds and to create more incentives for doing so.

She also wants to better inform the scientific community outside of UMMS about the role graduate students play in the medical school’s success. She hears from alumni working as postdocs in academia and industry about how far ahead UMMS is in terms of student support and professional development.

“It’s well known now that our faculty are among the most impactful, productive and innovative scientists in the world. It’s less well known that GSBS students often play significant roles in driving the research, and that our faculty are excellent mentors and educators,” she said.

@UMASSMED MAGAZINE |

PROFILE