The Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology welcomed two new faculty members this summer: Karen Adelman, newly arrived from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in North Carolina, and Sloan Devlin (AB ’06), returning to the Harvard community after postdoctoral research at the University of California, San Francisco.
As Adelman and Devlin settled in on the Quad, HM News got the inside scoop on what they’ll be investigating and who they’re looking forward to working with—plus when they knew they wanted to become scientists and what they like to do outside the lab.
Karen Adelman
Professor of biological chemistry and molecular pharmacology
Research focus: One of the most fascinating questions in biology to me is how all our cells have the same DNA and yet each cell type knows to do something different with that blueprint. We conduct a very basic level of research trying to understand how a cell establishes that preference during development and either maintains it over an organism’s lifespan or alters it in response to environmental cues.
If we can learn how cells define their identities, then we will know more about our existence as complex, multicellular beings, and we can also try to prevent cells from taking on the wrong identities, which instigates diseases such as cancer.
Why HMS: What’s beautiful about this environment is there are a lot of researchers who study fundamental mechanisms and we’re surrounded by some of the most interesting clinical problems in the world. The synergy is amazing. I’m here because I want to establish new systems where our tools can give insights into basic mechanisms and how they go wrong in different diseases. On this campus, I can throw a stone in any direction and hit a fabulous model system.
Collaborations: I’m looking for more exposures to interesting biologies, like focusing on developmental questions or diseases where there is a clear role for dysregulated gene expression. We have a considerable toolkit for studying gene expression and chromatin regulation, and we have a desire to apply them to a variety of systems. We’re interested in the commonalities across systems, because that can help us uncover unifying principles of gene expression, and we’re also interested in the “weird” aspects particular to this or that disease, because that can lead to targeted therapeutics.
One piece at a time: Even though the questions in biology are huge, if we all just focus on contributing our piece of the puzzle, then I think individuals can feel part of something bigger. We all hope that ultimately we’ll meet the people who have the puzzle piece next to ours, and then we’ll put them together and a picture will start to come into view.
Where no biologist has gone before: My earliest recollection is wanting to be an astronaut, but then as I learned more about biology, I decided I wanted to stay here on Earth and figure out how people, instead of planets, worked. I think there’s nothing more interesting to figure out than the human body.
Outside the lab: I love travel—being outdoors, hiking. And I love photography. But my great passion for the past eight years has been my two sons. They are part of the driving principle of my life now and my greatest hobby. They motivate me even more to keep putting information into the pipeline to make the future better and healthier.
Sloan Devlin
Assistant professor of biological chemistry and molecular pharmacology
Research focus: I’m trying to bring a chemical understanding to the human microbiome. A lot of foundational work has linked changes in the human microbiome to disease, but you have a bit of a chicken and egg problem: Did the disease cause the change in the microbiome, or did the microbiome contribute to the disease? The overarching goal of my lab is to move from correlation to causation, and to understand the molecular mechanisms that control the interaction between bacteria and the host—us—and between bacteria and other bacteria.
Why HMS: One of the reasons I’ve been excited to come here is that HMS has an excellent reputation for its core facilities. I’m looking forward to collaborating with the Gnotobiotics, Microbiology and Metagenomics core on some in vivo mouse studies. In a larger sense, the Boston area, and Harvard in particular, is leading the way in human microbiome research, and I’m excited to join that community.
Collaborations: I’m looking especially for people who are investigating models of gastrointestinal diseases. That could be irritable bowel disease, colon cancer or obesity. I’m also hiring students and postdocs and am hoping to draw from different areas of expertise: people who specialize in biochemistry and molecular biology, microbiology and organic chemistry, and then interfacing with people who do immunology.
Mentor and mentee: I was a high-strung Harvard undergrad, and I was partnered with a postdoc who was both an excellent scientist and a calming influence. When things didn’t go well, he’d say, “It’s okay, Sloan, we’ll try again tomorrow.” That combination was the reason I applied to grad school. Now I’m in a position to be a mentor. That ability to guide people one on one in your lab every day, helping them along, is important to me.
From model building to organic chemistry: Growing up, I always liked doing projects, like painting a picture or building a model of the Parthenon. That has continued. That’s what science is, and that’s what drew me to organic chemistry. I really like setting up and running reactions. You can do everything—creating science just from chemicals. I like that it’s hard. I like that it’s really detail-oriented and that you start with something simple and build up complexity from there.
On the water: I was a competitive sailor growing up and in college. I don’t sail anymore as much as I would like; it takes too much time. But I started swimming in grad school and I love that alternative way of being in the water, of practicing and competing and having team camaraderie. I hope to continue that here in Boston.
