I really enjoyed getting to chat with Dr. Koeberl about his journey, mine, and science in general. It was nice to “break the ice”, get to know a bit more about him, and get some advice moving forward.
We started off by discussing his journey to where he is today. He began in his home state of Minnesota at Carleton college. He then went on to pursue an MD/PhD degree program at Mayo Clinic School of Medicine. He initially planned to pursue only an MD degree; however, opted for the dual degree after interviewers mentioned it. He completed his program in six years writing his thesis on hemophilia.
Dr. Koeberl then went on to UCSF to complete a residency in pediatrics. He followed this up with several fellowships in Medical Genetics at the University of Washington. After working as a pediatrician for a period of time, he began applying to faculty positions. He opted to take a position at Duke for several reasons. First of all, Duke was a place where many new types of treatments for metabolic conditions were being explore. Duke was also a great place to explore the use cases of then lesser known AAV vectors. These things which aligned with Dr. Koeberl’s research interests prompted him to start his career at Duke.
One thing that Dr. Koeberl likes about being a PI is the agency he has to study his own interests. The flexible nature of the work is also appealing. The biggest challenge that a PI faces is funding. It is something that requires continuous work and could necessitate some difficult decisions should money be tight.
His days can be varied but consist of about 4 broad things. The biggest of these is probably writing. This includes writing papers and grants, which also require lots of reading up on literature. Meetings with colleagues, funders, and others also take up a good bit of time. Some of Dr. Koeberl’s time is also spent in clinic where he sees patients with inherited metabolic conditions and as the medical director for the biochemical genetics lab.
Dr. Koeberl identified several things as being critical for one’s success in science. The first of these is having good people you can rely on. This was part of what helped him be successful in starting and continuing his research career. Dependable and capable people make science work. Another critical component of success in science is good communication. Being able to concisely and effectively communicate in oral and written modes is necessary to do well in science. The recommendations he had for developing those skills involved reading. This includes reading scientific literature about your field and books about scientific writing and grant writing (He acknowledges that they may be dry, but maintains that they are helpful).
On a lighter note, I also asked Dr. Koeberl what his favorite project was. It is a current project that we have going surrounding gene editing using CRISPR/Cas9 to treat a glycogen storage disorder. He is excited by the possibilities this technology has to offer and to see it go to clinical trial.
