3rd Annual Heussler Lecture Brings Alumni Back to MCB

On September 19^th, MCB welcomed back Dr. Andrew Bridges to present the 3^rd Annual Gary Heussler Alumni Lecture.  Drew earned his PhD in 2017 from the Gladfelter Lab in the Department of Biological Sciences at Dartmouth, completed his postdoctoral training in Bonnie Bassler's lab at Princeton University, and is now an Assistant Professor at Carnegie Mellon University. Drew's talk, titled "Decoding Bacterial Gene Function from Brightfield Videos," described work in his lab to use label-free imaging and artificial intelligence to screen phenotypes in bacteria. You can find more about the Bridges Lab here.

The lecture was followed by a panel discussion with alumni and then a reception for current students and alumni. This presented an opportunity for current students to see the wide variety of careers MCBers find themselves in and to discuss what trajectories from MCB to those positions might look like. Returning alumni hold careers in industry, science writing and editing, venture capital, and various sectors of academia. Current MCB students can see more about alumni careers and contact information for alumni mentors on the MCB Intranet. Previous Heussler Lecture speakers were Dr. Kurt Dahlstrom (O'Toole '16) in 2023 and Dr. Kiah (Sanders) Butler (Bzik '15) in 2024. Stay tuned to MCB events for plans in Fall 2026.

The Heussler Alumni Lecture was established to honor the memory of Dr. Gary Heussler who graduated in 2016 from the O'Toole Lab in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. Gary was a social pillar in MCB, so it is a fitting tribute that alumni gather to catch up with each other and meet new MCBers annually around this lecture. If you are struggling or know someone who is, you are not alone and there are resources available for you.