Julie Huang

What is the significance of the object you brought with you to the photo shoot?
This is a handwritten thank-you note from a laboratory research assistant in my department before he departed for graduate school. It's easy to tell if some aspects of the department are running smoothly, such as lab equipment or a seminar series, but it's often more difficult to gauge what members of your community are experiencing or how they are doing on a personal level. This person wrote about the impact I had on him and that he felt that I had helped make our department supportive, welcoming, and appreciative of everyone - something I've worked very hard to foster and model over the years. It was very touching to read--I get teary just thinking about it!

What inspires or motivates you in your role at HMS/HSDM?
I care very deeply about HMS and its dedication to education and research, and I want to help make this an amazing place to get trained and do outstanding science. Having been a graduate student and a postdoctoral fellow at HMS, I remember acutely both the joys and challenges of doing bench research. Research is really hard--you are trying to discover, develop, or understand something that no one else has before. A lot of experiments fail or don't reveal anything informative, and a lot of serendipity is involved. My role is to ensure that my team and I do whatever we can to make the hard work easier and the research environment supportive and encouraging. We try to provide as much administrative, technical, and moral support as we can, along with excellent lab space, to all research assistants, grad students, postdocs, staff scientists, and faculty, so they can focus on their research and have a positive experience during their time here.