Huck Leadership Fellows

Serving as a Huck Leadership Fellow has been a transformative experience. I gained invaluable insight into the challenges and opportunities that come with leading cross-cutting, interdisciplinary research initiatives. I learned how to lead strategic co-hires and coordinate multi-PI research efforts. Broadly, this fellowship taught me how to leverage interdisciplinarity into a strategic advantage for launching transformative new research directions.

I also developed the ability to build effective leadership teams and work within shared governance structures to shape strategic plans for large, multidisciplinary units. Through this role, and my service on the executive committee, I came to better understand Penn State’s research enterprise and expand my network across campus. I now have a deeper understanding of how to manage center-level budgets, plan for risk, and leverage university resources to support complex, large-scale funding proposals.

Serving as a Huck Leadership Fellow allowed me to have a birds eye view of all the research taking place at Penn State. I was asked for strategic input into how resources could best be utilized to synergistically expand our existing interdisciplinary research programs while also developing new initiatives. I believe that this experience will serve me exceptionally well as I begin my role of Vice-Chair of Research for the Department of Surgery in the College of Medicine.

The Huck Leadership Fellowship has been a truly eye-opening experience. It gave me the opportunity to engage directly with university leadership, participate in strategic planning conversations, and better understand the inner workings of interdisciplinary research administration. I especially appreciated the chance to learn from and collaborate with colleagues across Huck from the Colleges of Science, Medicine, Engineering, and IST, where AI and life sciences intersect in exciting ways.

This fellowship not only deepened my appreciation for the scale and reach of Penn State’s research enterprise but also strengthened my commitment to fostering cross-disciplinary collaboration. Looking ahead, I’m excited to continue building bridges between foundational AI research and its transformative applications in life sciences and medicine. It was a privilege to be part of a community that is actively shaping the future of research, innovation, and leadership.

My experience as a Huck Leadership Fellow was truly tremendous. The most beneficial part was gaining a complete picture of the operational aspects of generating new ideas for interdisciplinary research. I thoroughly enjoyed being part of the executive committee, brainstorming solutions to various challenges, and learning how to navigate them effectively. Additionally, my specific project to bring single-molecule capabilities to Penn State's core facilities was a significant success, further enriching this remarkable journey.

As part of my Huck Leadership Fellow project, I led the effort to enhance technology capabilities at Penn State by brainstorming innovative ideas, identifying single-molecule equipment as a priority, and forming a collaborative team of fifteen faculty members from various colleges. I successfully arranged for an equipment lease, oversaw its installation, and facilitated the collection of preliminary data for the team of interested scientists. These efforts culminated in the submission of a competitive NIH S10 equipment grant, which received an excellent score in the fundable range. This experience significantly contributed to my professional growth by encouraging me to think outside the box, explore new research areas beyond my primary expertise, and build an exceptional interdisciplinary team that earned national-level recognition. With this "lease-to-preliminary-data-to-grant-to-ownership" model now established as a viable approach for procuring high-end instrumentation, we aim for Huck core facilities to remain at the forefront of state-of-the-art technology, creating a significant impact on research at Penn State and staying ahead of the competition.

"Serving as a Huck Leadership Fellow was an incredible opportunity to promote important strategic initiatives and planning efforts for the Huck Institutes and Penn State. My work as a Fellow focused on how we can shape graduate education to meet the current values and priorities of biotech, pharma, and consulting organizations that increasingly hire our graduates.

The experience helped prepare me to serve in expanded capacities both at Penn State and in my profession. I was recently tapped to be Penn State’s faculty representative to the Federal Demonstration Partnership, a federal committee focused on streamlining the administration of sponsored research."

"I appreciated the opportunity, as a newcomer to Penn State, to learn more about how the University operates, and specifically to learn more about Huck. I have continued to work, along with colleagues across campus, on Open Science initiatives. We have held workshops and bootcamps, and are engaged now in community building as well. On a more personal front, I now routinely integrate topics around statistical reform, Open Science, and research transparency and replicability into my teaching, and I am working on a proposal for a book on these same issues. In July 2024, I stepped into the role of Department Head of Statistics."

"I led several diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives during my fellowship. This fellowship truly enabled the capacity to jump start these initiatives both within the Huck and University-wide. It is my sincere hope that my work during the fellowship will open the door for Penn State to join SeaChange - a nationally recognized initiative in this arena."