Panepinto Finds Mentoring Award Very Meaningful

By Dirk Hoffman

Established in 2012, the award is given annually to faculty members who have demonstrated truly outstanding and sustained support and development of graduate students from course completion through research and subsequent career placement.

“When I started my career, I thought that the most meaningful aspect would be the science,” Panepinto says. “I quickly realized the immense responsibility that comes with mentoring students, and it became clear that mentorship was the most meaningful aspect of the work.”

“To be recognized for the work of mentorship reinforces for me its importance, and how we as faculty can have lasting impact on the lives of students.”

Panepinto started mentoring when he was a PhD student, beginning with summer students and more junior graduate students in the lab.

“I’ve been at UB since 2008, and graduate students are responsible for the majority of the science we have done!” he says.

Panepinto’s nominators praised his ability to mentor the whole student and tailor his mentorship style to the needs and career goals of each individual.

Panepinto says his approach to mentoring is “to meet the trainee where they are and to take the journey together.”

“Every student needs a different mentor, and so I try to be as flexible as I can be to meet their needs, and also to hold them accountable to meeting academic and professional milestones.”

When asked how he measures his success as a mentor, Panepinto notes “each trainee must achieve a core set of learning outcomes to be awarded a PhD.”

“Beyond that, I believe successful mentorship is facilitating the self-discovery that each student must undertake to figure out who they are as a scientist, what their aspirations are, and how they can achieve them,” he says. “Success, then, is a robust scientific identity in a student such that they know the path they want to take, and are equipped to take it.”

Panepinto has mentored nine students to the PhD, six MS students to degree completion, numerous undergraduate researchers, summer research interns, and high school students.

He currently has five additional PhD students-in-training.

James D. Bangs, PhD, Grant T. Fisher Professor and Chair of microbiology and immunology at the Jacobs School, noted in his award nomination letter: “Dr. Panepinto is an exemplary mentor of graduate students.”

“All of John’s former trainees have maintained career trajectories in research or health care fields,” he says. “It is abundantly clear from the letters provided by his trainees that John mentors the whole student, and tailors his mentorship style to the needs and career goals of each student.”

Murat Can Kalem, PhD, is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of California, San Francisco, who studied under Panepinto in the doctoral program in microbiology and immunology.

“Dr. Panepinto is a dedicated mentor who invests significant time and effort into ensuring that his trainees reach their full potential,” Kalem says. “He customizes his approach for each individual in his lab, displaying a deep commitment to being the best mentor he can be.”

Panepinto is the only Jacobs School faculty member who studies fungal pathogens of humans.

Despite this niche, Bangs notes that Panepinto has no difficulty attracting students to his laboratory.

Corey Knowles, PhD, the most recent graduate of Panepinto’s trainees, began a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Institutes of Health last fall.

“When we begin the process of rotating through labs, we are constantly told to ‘pick the people, not the project’ while trying to match with prospective labs,” Knowles says.

“John’s lab didn’t end up at the top of my rotation list because of my love for pathogenic fungi, but because of John’s reputation as a mentor, his enthusiasm for science, and his obvious dedication to the betterment of the systems that we operate within as students and scientists.”

Panepinto’s faculty colleagues are equally effusive in their praise of his mentorship abilities.

“He has demonstrated a remarkable dedication to mentoring not only the graduate students that are part of his research group, but literally ALL the graduate students in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences,” says Jennifer A. Surtees, PhD, professor of biochemistry and associate dean for undergraduate education and STEM outreach.

“His commitment to promoting excellence in research and teaching and training the next generation of diverse biomedical scientists is unparalleled.”

Laurie K. Read, PhD, professor emeritus of microbiology and immunology, adds: “It is difficult to imagine any faculty member caring more about their students, and demonstrating this on a daily basis, than John Panepinto.”

“In my almost 30 years at UB, I have never met anyone so committed to graduate education, and so willing to spend their time and effort on its improvement.”