IAN SCOTT MOGEN ALUMNUS, MOGEN PROFESSOR AND GRAD STUDENT CO-COORDINATOR
I first came to MoGen (or whatever it was called back then) in September of 1994, a bright-eyed biochemist keen to hang out in cold rooms and run things through columns. The beauty of the rotation system soon became evident to me. While my undergrad at Queen's had given me very limited exposure to developmental biology, a fortuitous rotation in the Rossant lab convinced me that I did not want to hang out in cold rooms, but instead became entranced with the beauty of the developing embryo. Upon announcing this decision to Janet, she kindly steered me to the lab of the new guy across the hall, Jay Cross. I'm sure Janet felt her lab was already "stacked" enough, and wanted to give everyone else a fighting chance...
I was Jay's first graduate student, and it was a great graduate experience. Jay put a lot of effort into mentoring me on all the critical aspects of science - experimental design, oral and written communication, etc. I still find myself using some of his advice on my trainees. It was a level of effort on his part I remain very grateful for. Being a grad student at the Lunenfeld in the mid- to late-90s was incredibly exciting. Mouse ES cell technology was coming to the forefront, and in many ways the 8th floor was an epicentre for this. There was an incredible group of grad students and postdocs in the developmental biology labs, including many who are now faculty members in our Department (Brian Ciruna, Peter Roy, Gary Bader) and elsewhere. A few key things remain strong memories:
1. It was a pleasure to be in the lab. We often worked punishingly long hours, but people were always around to discuss science and other things. The cold room was often stocked with beer, which also helped. Rugby and the opportunity to hit things/blow off steam was also a good relief valve.
2. The Collaborative Developmental Biology program had just been started by Janet, and I was fortunate enough to be in (I think) the first class. The journal club was very active and U of T-wide. The weekly Howard-Derek sparring was well worth the early mornings (as were the free bagels!). The actual graduate class was amazing - discussions of classic and more modern dev bio papers with a faculty that included Janet, Derek, Rick Elinson (a very kind and knowledgeable embryologist) and Peter McCourt (the token plant guy, who actually had a lot to add). We even (a theme is developing here) had beer at some of the classes. Derek's contrarian questioning was always fun and taught me a lot.
3. My reclass was extremely intimidating. I had Jack Greenblatt asking me questions about transcriptional mechanisms, which was terrifying. Jay threw me a softball question at the end, but I was so exhausted that I completely pooched it. I can still see the blood draining from his face. It's the main reason I never ask my trainees questions at reclass/thesis defenses. An added bonus is that my PhD proposal was published on NCBI immediately after my reclass exam. Beer to the rescue!
4. After finally leaving Toronto, I learned that the training I had received was truly 1st class. At UCSF, contrary to my expectations, it was simple to plug into my new lab and scientific environment. I certainly owe a lot of this success to Jay and MoGen.
It's been great to be back again on the "other side" as a PI in MoGen for almost 15 (!?!$*&) years now, and more recently as one of the Graduate Coordinators as well. While we can't store beer in the cold rooms any more, this Department remains a special place.
