'Best Lab Manager Award 2016'

Heather Romine

UNC at Pembroke

"Heather Romine is the first to volunteer to stay late or to come in on weekends when research animals require unexpected experimental steps or when a student’s experiment extends into the night or weekend. Her keen eyes see when a student needs extra training on difficult techniques, including measurements of pathogenic and synaptic markers, cell culture methods, brain dissection, tissue histology, and behavioral paradigms. Besides maintaining the lab, ordering supplies, and managing solution production, Heather goes beyond the standard duties in order to provide the kind of exceptional service that students appreciate, seeing that they are able to develop into independent researchers and can follow meticulous protocols with Heather’s added training for the important projects related to Alzheimer’s disease. Her efforts helped our students to be recognized with NIH RISE Fellowships, NC Space Grant Research Scholar Awards, and PURC Fellowships. Heather also assisted with the mentoring of a high school student as part of the U.S. Army REAP program. In my absence, she did a great job presenting the Bahr Lab data at the 15th Annual Neuroscience Symposium at ECU. She also attended the Jackson Laboratory Seminar at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill to improve our ability to house specialized mice for Alzheimer’s disease research. At the beginning of the year, Heather attended the 9th Annual Lumberton Caregiver Education Conference in to set up a UNCP information table. Recently, Heather presented an hour seminar for the Rotary Club meetings, in one case having a crowd of 400.

- Ben Bahr,  UNC Pembroke

Jerry Stewart

University of Alabama at Birmingham

"Jerry is the best. He does all of the work that no one else wants to do and makes sure that the lab runs smoothly. He is a true Southern gentleman and at the ripe old age of 50 has come into his element in negotiating the best deals for the lab so that we can continue to fight pediatric cancer. He stands by his research and knows everyone on campus, so even if we don't know how to do something, he knows someone who does. He also keeps Reese's cups in a nearby drawer to stave off the hanger (hunger + anger), which makes a world of difference. We want to keep him forever."

-  Laura Stafman, University of Alabama at Birmingham

Martha Reed

Brandeis University

"What can I say? As PI of a relatively large and diverse lab I would be TOAST without Martha. She keeps the lab in pipet tips and enzymes, but she does much, much more than that. Martha takes care of people. She is the one who keeps track of our army of undergrads: hiring the ones who do support work and taking care of the ones who are doing research. When she noticed that one of them who had been in the lab for a while was not getting paid, she advocated for the kid. Martha is also social glue for the lab. She makes sure birthdays, babies and graduations are celebrated in style. The sense of community she fosters make my lab a pretty awesome place to be. On top of all this, Martha is a serious scientist who has her own projects and who is engaged in the scientific life of the both the lab and University. As a lab head, I know how lucky I am to have someone like Martha as my lab manager. This is a position that can define the atmosphere in a lab and it is also a position that gives continuity to a lab. Students come and go, but if you are lucky a person like Martha comes and stays."

- Leslie Griffith, Brandeis University

Mary Skinner

University of Michigan

"Mary is the lab manager of the Lombard Lab in the Department of Pathology at the University of Michigan. She is an outstanding lab manager. I have been a graduate student in the lab for 3 years, while Mary has worked in the lab for approximately 5. She certainly goes beyond her required duties; whether it's organizing the lab freezers or organizing the mouse colony for 8hrs on a Saturday afternoon, Mary seems to be on call 24/7. She is a single parent to a pre-teen, yet the lab is always well-stocked and in OSEH compliance (including conforming to special strict NRC and BSL2+ requirements), despite having to leave at a certain time everyday – a feat unheard of in the research lab. She is also a terrific and selfless lab citizen. She will voluntarily settle to use the old "broken" pipettes because someone else in the lab wants a nicer set and can't wait for another to come in. She is also charged with training undergraduates who assist with the genotyping for around a dozen or so mouse strains. Mary never complains about the typical whining and complaining of grad students and post-docs, rather she acts as arbitrator to try to come to a compromise that will allow everyone to do their research to the best of their ability. She is always open to suggestions on improving the lab, highlighting her flexibility as a manager. Mary also must juggle 5-10 different grants/money sources our PI uses to keep the lab running. Aside from ordering everything for the lab, she is primarily responsible for ensuring all monies are spent according to their respective restrictions – a herculean administrative task she often completes at home. My goal is to have my own research lab with a lab manager as capable and efficient as Mary."

-  William Giblin, University of Michigan

Denise Hegan

Yale University

"Denise has been the lab manager for the Glazer Lab for over 15 years. She has been a friend and mentor to numerous students, postdocs and research associates during this time. She always ensures that the lab is running smoothly, whether it's through ordering supplies, managing animal protocols or keeping licensing up to date. On top of that, she conducts her own experiments, and as a result, has 11 peer reviewed publications. Denise is an amazing individual who truly deserves this award. We could never thank her enough for all of her support and kindness."

-  Raman Bahal, Yale University