Mentorship Philosophy

As a researcher, striving for excellence in mentoring is a priority. What I value most about mentoring and teaching is the privilege to contribute to guiding the next generation of scientists—fostering their intellectual growth, pursuits, career development, and innovation. I believe that mentoring is a powerful tool for empowering students to push the boundaries of knowledge, strive towards excellence, achieve their career goals, and ultimately thrive during their scientific journey. In order to achieve these goals, my mentoring emphasizes developing interdisciplinary knowledge, empowerment, and professional development of my students and trainees.

Regarding development of interdisciplinary skills, anyone new to neuroscience may find it difficult to grasp the plethora of new terms, concepts, and computational approaches. Mentees often benefit from a combination of explanation and engagement of the skill, followed by exploration, elaboration, and evaluation. To ensure that mentees in my laboratory gain this valuable experience, I provide guided readings and discussions based on the literature. Additionally, some students may opt to complete a literature review to build theoretical knowledge. Engaging in hands-on research is also important in learning to bridge theoretical and applied scientific knowledge, particularly related to translational neuroscience research. For instance, learning to conduct neuroimaging analyses, then mapping activation patterns to specific brain regions or networks and interpreting findings in terms of cognitive processes are important aspects of training for linking theoretical and experimental components of research. To develop science communication skills, I also provide mentees with opportunities to engage in presentations in the laboratory, department, and/or research conferences. Engaging in research presentations serves to build students’ proficiency with communicating findings in a clear and concise manner to colleagues, peers, and community partners and participants.

Regarding empowerment, mentoring should promote the self-efficacy of mentees to ensure achievement of their career goals. To achieve this, I support mentees in pursuing independent research from the conception of the project aims to conducting analyses and manuscript preparation. As a proponent of experiential and participatory learning, my mentoring integrates reciprocal learning approaches. Related to this, mentees are paired with junior colleagues to develop their own mentoring skills as future scientists and leaders. I also strive to serve the needs of all students and trainees regardless of background or identity, support their engagement in the class or laboratory, and ensure all voices are heard and all students have a chance to participate fully in the learning process. Along these lines, my mentoring embraces Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) in all aspects of research, mentoring, and engagement with community participants. To further support these goals, mentees have opportunities and are highly encouraged to attend regular DEIB workshops within the laboratory as well as the Child Study Center. Several areas of priority related to our lab values, mission, and DEIB are also available by visiting the lab website.

In addition to fostering scientific knowledge, my approach to mentoring also places emphasis on training in professional development, which is essential to foster leadership and communication skills. Mentoring in professional development includes providing mentees with guidance on career planning, grant and manuscript writing, publishing, presenting, networking, and navigating the job market. My overall goal is for mentees to be equipped with the foundational skills and knowledge to succeed in their career paths.

As a researcher and mentor, my goal is to cultivate the next generation of scientists capable of producing cutting-edge, innovative, and transformative research. My mentoring emphasizes a well-rounded approach to nurturing the scientific and professional development of mentees as future leaders that embraces DEIB in all aspects of our work. I am dedicated to guiding my mentees on their individual career paths in the pursuit of intellectual excellence. My hope is that students and trainees will employ their knowledge, ideas, and innovations to benefit humanity, advance scientific discovery, and enhance patient care for child and adolescent mental health.