Outlook Magazine

Decades ago, during my fellowship, I worked in the lab of a world-renowned investigator who put me on a project that everyone in the lab thought would fail. I think this mentor knew that I needed the deep dive into complex cell biology the project would entail, but he likely also understood that challenge and failure are the building blocks of the courage every scientist needs to succeed. That assignment led directly to my first independent research question; one I’m still working to answer decades later.