Whitehead Culture

Considering that researchers at Whitehead Institute devote their working hours to probing the mysteries of the biological world, it’s no surprise that many scientists and staff are also animal lovers.

Genome Technology Core Director Tom Volkert arrived at Whitehead Institute Member Richard Young’s lab in 1999 during a transitional time for biological research.

For over 30 years, Whitehead Institute has fielded a softball team in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Community Summer Softball league. Created in 1986, just four years after the Institute itself, the Biohazards have helped link past and former Institute personnel and provided a way for people to enjoy themselves outside the lab.

Glasswashing Core Supervisor Uma Tejaswi says that most of her team clocks in long before sunrise. Arriving at Whitehead Institute at 4 A.M. or earlier lets the glasswashing group make sure that the hallway shelves are stocked with sterile glassware by the time that researchers arrive to begin their days. 

Whitehead Institute is known primarily for biology — but there’s a little geology going on behind the scenes, too.

Eric Spooner knows his way around a protein. “I started in this field before proteomics became a word,” he says. 

Elizabeth Boydston is a postdoc in Whitehead Institute Member Sebastian Lourido’s lab investigating the pathogen Toxoplasmsa gondii. We sat down with Boydston to learn more about her and her experiences in and out of the lab.

On the 4th floor of Whitehead Institute, scientists have found a unique way to cope with the rainy period of early spring — a competition where teams of eight try to exercise the most minutes.

The challenges of completing a research project are often compared to a marathon. But it’s not just a metaphor: many biologists are distance runners. Whitehead Institute researchers often look to several miles along the Charles to sort out how to solve a problem—or just to take a break and get out in nature.

Light Microscopy Specialist Wendy Salmon sometimes finds herself looking into microscopy images like shapes in the clouds. “I’ll say, ‘Look, there’s a snowman!’” she says. The habit comes a deep familiarity with the odd shapes found in microscopy, she says.