On this page and throughout this website, "the lab" means our research group.
Dhillon Lab Mission
To produce high quality nutrition research in an uncompromising and highly transparent manner. We strive to work on interdisciplinary nutrition problems using rigorous methods and like to disseminate our work as it occurs and have a strong focus on publishing preprints in addition to the traditional peer review process.
We also innovate methods, borrowing and adapting approaches from other fields that are less used in clinical nutrition research and applying them to our clinical studies, laboratory analyses, and computational work. This takes a particular mindset: openness to experimentation, persistence through failure, and willingness to keep evolving an approach until it works.
Mentorship
The most important thing I can do is give people the resources to accomplish what they want to accomplish in the lab, and make sure what they're doing is setting them up to grow for the position they want next. The kinetics of this is more determined by their personal desires for what they want to do in their career.
Specifically, I aim to
- Keep the lab well-funded to provide access to supplies, resources, and facilities.
- Provide access to training, resources, networking, collaboration, and presentation opportunities to facilitate lab members' research and career goals.
- Be engaged with the latest science and current status of all lab projects to enable proper guidance.
- Give my lab members ample amounts of my time both around the lab and one-on-one.
- Maintain a safe work environment both physically and mentally.
Projects and the lab's mission
Every project in the lab is part of our shared research program. Lab members' work advances the lab's research goals, and that shared direction is what allows us to fund projects, build on each other's studies and methods, and grow together. Projects are shaped together so that they develop each person's own interests and skills within that program. New ideas are welcome, and those that fit the lab's research vision and resources are developed together; ideas outside that vision are not pursued within the lab. Outside projects and collaborations are discussed with me first so that they fit with lab members' work here.
Lab Expectations
Ownership
Lab members are the biggest drivers of their own academic careers. They develop their knowledge and skills, make steady progress on their projects, and speak up when they need help or find themselves going down an undesired path.
Documentation
We document all of our work, including protocols, troubleshooting, and development, and keep it readily available to the rest of the lab.
Science communication
Lab members present their research at group meetings and represent the lab at conferences. We rely on feedback from group meetings and practice talks to make our science accessible to a variety of communities.
Teamwork
We follow lab policies, adapt as they evolve, and treat fellow members with respect. When we communicate, we empower rather than belittle people for their mistakes; we are all learning and growing.
Self-reliance
Self-reliance is important to develop, so we try to solve problems on our own first. We also ask fellow lab members for guidance, knowing that everyone's time gets busier as they take on more.
Cross-training
Our research spans clinical studies, laboratory analyses, and computational work, and lab members build expertise in at least two of these areas, if not all three.
Working Together
Communication
In addition to weekly lab meetings, each lab member meets with me one-on-one every week or two to talk about current progress and issues, with an agenda shared in advance. Between meetings, the lab communicates on Slack.
Project management
We keep our work organized. Projects and tasks are tracked using project management tools, deadlines for each phase of a project are agreed on together, and lab calendars are kept up to date so that study visits and meetings are easy to schedule. Drafts of papers, proposals, and abstracts come to me well ahead of their deadlines so there is time for feedback.
Funding
For all science career paths, being able to explain one's work and its value is an invaluable skill. Funding our research is vital to keeping the lab running, and my lab members and I collaborate to write grants and proposals for fellowships, lab research and equipment, and use of scientific facilities. I encourage lab members to apply for every opportunity they are eligible for.
Conferences
We talk about our work openly and share early. Conferences are great ways to communicate our results, get other people excited about our work, build networks, and develop science communication skills, and I encourage every lab member to present at a conference each year.
Feedback
We're all growing, we're all trying to live up to our core values, and essential to this is an emphasis on feedback. Lab members receive honest feedback from me often, in one-on-one meetings, on drafts, and through practice talks, and I hold them to high standards because my feedback always comes from a desire to see them succeed. Lab members are responsive to advice and constructive criticism from me, their colleagues, and their committees. In turn, I am always open to feedback on how the lab and I can function better.
Is this lab a good fit?
The lab may not be the right fit for someone who:
- prefers to work alone rather than as part of a team
- wants to do the minimum needed and stop there
- is not open to spending time on experimentation, trying new approaches, and learning from failure
- is not proactive about communicating, asking for help, and following through on commitments
- is not open to feedback and constructive criticism
- is not interested in building expertise across clinical, laboratory, and computational work
- is looking for a strictly 9-to-5 research role
Because feedback is frequent, concerns about progress or fit are raised early and openly, along with clear steps to address them. If challenges keep someone from thriving in the lab and they cannot be resolved, I support that person in finding a path where they can succeed elsewhere.
Career Development
Career preferences evolve over time, so career development in the lab is a constant conversation. I think about "what's next" as being such an important part of mentorship because how lab members see their work in the lab feeding into their longer term career goals allows me to tailor training, networking, conferences, and even aspects of their projects around what would be most beneficial for their goals.
Each lab member develops a strategic plan on joining the lab, and we update it every semester in a focused meeting. People who have been very focused on this have been well motivated, and it becomes easy to recognize when to cut losses on a project or when to wrap things up and publish.
Resilience and Work-Life Fulfillment
We are all here to grow as scientists, leaders, and people by pursuing ambitious research goals. Research is not a 9-to-5 job: clinical studies bring early-morning and weekend participant visits, and grant, conference, and publication deadlines bring busy stretches. These pressures are cyclical. Some seasons call for long hours, and others are quieter. What is not sustainable is chronic stress, and success should never come at the cost of well-being. Lab members' mental and physical health are by far the most important consideration in all that they do in our lab.
What keeps each person resilient, and what prevents burnout, is different for everyone. Protecting time for interests and relationships outside the lab, planning ahead for known busy seasons, and recovering when a season ends are all part of it. Managing motivation and work habits while integrating interests and commitments outside of work is a key self-leadership skill that serves people well throughout their careers, and I work with each lab member to find what works for them.
This page was guided by the compacts and philosophies of several labs: Matreyek Lab, Syed Lab, Heemstra Lab, UW-Madison ICTR mentoring resources, Moghe Lab, and Fraser Lab. Also adapted from NewPI Slack group members with permission.