Mentoring
Authors: Inder M. Verma
Journal: Molecular Therapy (2004)

We must be good ancestors.—jonas Salk Legend has it that before sailing for the Trojan War, Odysseus entrusted the education of his son Telemachus to his friend Mentor, from whom is derived the word mentoring. Mentoring is defined as a sustained relationship between a youth and an adult through continued involvement. The adult offers support, guidance, and assistance to a young person as he or she faces challenges or works to solve problems. In the world of science, I see three stages where mentoring is critical: graduate training, postdoctoral training, and the launching of an independent scientific career. In a statement on mentoring, Bruce Alberts, President of the National Academy of Sciences said, “An academic experience in science and engineering is a challenging and exciting intellectual pursuit. It can also be fraught with intense pressures and frustrations, such as how to handle a heavy workload with family responsibilities, what research avenue to pursue, and what career path to follow. Young scientists and engineers need strong creative mentors to provide them with wise guidance as well as with friendship. The future of science and engineering, so important to the health and prosperity of the world, depends on the skillful mentoring of each new generation by the one that precedes it.” There are perhaps two types of mentoring. Natural mentoring is a continuum through friendship, teaching, and coaching, often given by personal example. In contrast, planned mentoring requires more structured programs, involving some sort of formal selection and matching of participants and mentors. Most of us are perhaps more familiar with the former, which involves a continuous mentorship starting from a lab rotation to the completion of a thesis project. During this time, the thesis advisor—the formal mentor—advises during the selection and development of a project, and provides appropriate support and facilities. The advisor fosters an atmosphere of collegiality, provides encouragement, tempers the enthusiasm generated from a single experiment, and exhorts the necessity of controls and critical evaluation and presentation of the data. There are other situations when a mentor may be called upon, such as to deal with the isolation experienced by a foreign student or the uncertainty over the future. I call this continuous mentoring. for which there are no set guidelines for the mentor, just past experience. Biology has undergone a revolution in the last 25 years. We are not only now generating massive amounts of knowledge, but the manner in which science is practiced has changed. The tremendous expense of today's science, the increased competition for resources, the pressure to do more translational research, the lure of biotech riches, and the increased media interest can be formidable challenges for a new independent investigator. More established faculty are often too busy to offer meaningful help to investigators in the crucial initial stage of his or her career. Therefore, I believe that at this stage a more structured mentoring program could be beneficial. It would be valuable to have a set of guidelines that encourages the mentor and participant to meet on a regular basis. Ideally, the participant would have the freedom to select his or her mentor and to establish the agenda, rather than the other way around. Mentoring can be very satisfying, but it is a delicate balance. One wishes to encourage youthful irreverence and the desire to succeed, while offering discreet suggestions as to how to run a laboratory, manage personnel, and to remain within a budget. The most important aspect of mentoring is the sustained relationship, instilling trust, friendship, and loyalty. It is very satisfying to see a young colleague succeed, make discoveries, garner recognition, and eventually become a good mentor.