Mentorship

To foster a healthy environment for attracting and retaining young talent, the department expects all faculty to be strong mentors. To support that effort, the department provides resources to develop these skills. Hepatobiliary-Pancreatic and Gastrointestinal Surgery Chief William Hawkins, MD, is an exemplary mentor, working with junior faculty, fellows and lab residents. As head of a pancreatic cancer SPORE grant that provides early funding to young faculty, he even has the opportunity to support investigators outside of Washington University. In that capacity, he seeks all forms of diversity, including individuals whose interests extend beyond traditional cancer research. Two of his mentees are Linda Jin, MD, a lab resident who won a national scholar research award, and Ismael Dominguez, MD, a postdoctoral fellow who returned home to Mexico to advance public policy and health care. “If perpetual motion actually exists, it’s found in mentorship,” Hawkins says. “You get back as much or more than you put into it.”