By Abiba Biao
To nominate an FAS faculty member to be featured in this series, please email fas.dean@yale.edu.
While some professors line the walls of their offices with numerous plaques and certificates, Wendy Gilbert showcases just one. It dates to 1980 and is a certificate of distinction from her second-grade teacher, Mrs. Peppie Hayes. It praises Gilbert’s persistence and reads “may this honor remain with you throughout your life.”
In 2024 persistence continues to shape Gilbert’s work—not only in the lab, but in her efforts to advance belonging in science.
Persistence in the face of scientific challenges
Gilbert is a Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. She studies mRNA. While the introduction of COVID-19 vaccines has increased public awareness of mRNA technology, Gilbert has been studying mRNA since 2008. Her determined pursuit of new ways to harness mRNA has vast implications for human health.
Gilbert’s research addresses inequitable vaccine distribution by increasing the potency of mRNA vaccine formulas.
When you get an mRNA vaccine shot, mRNA sends a signal prompting your ribosomes to synthesize protein, triggering an immune response. The potency of the vaccine is determined by the quantity of spike protein produced by ribosomes, which, in turn dictates the strength of your immune response.
Gilbert’s lab focuses on improving this process. Working at the molecular level, they are developing technology that would raise the level of efficiency of low doses of vaccine. In essence, a bottle of mRNA vaccine that can currently vaccinate 100 people could hypothetically be enough to vaccinate 1000 people.
This work not only requires long hours in the lab, but also the willingness, determination, and imagination to pursue new questions about the nature of genetics.
Advancing belonging in science
Gilbert’s path to science was influenced by her mother, who was a professor in North Carolina in the 1970’s, a time when few women held positions of authority in academia. Gilbert’s mother inspired her to pursue her intellectual pursuits and take up space in a male-dominated field.
“She was a wonderful model for me of being passionate about fighting for equity, but not failing to enjoy your life,” Gilbert said.
Motivated by this family history, Gilbert promotes belonging by working to ensure that students from underrepresented backgrounds find pathways into science. Gilbert explained that this work extends beyond recruiting talented applicants to Yale’s science programs. It involves supporting students throughout their time at the university, ensuring they have the resources to succeed, and creating an inclusive culture where all students feel welcome. In 2023, she was awarded the FAS Dean’s Award for Inclusion and Belonging in recognition of this work.
“One of the hard things about this work,” Gilbert said, “is that it goes really slowly and when you’re battling a system as opposed to battling a villain, then it’s much more complicated.”
Despite these challenges, Gilbert praised her colleagues, in particular Dean Darin Latimore of the Yale School of Medicine, who have helped advance inclusive practices in Yale’s science programs.
Wendy Gilbert talking to graduate student Kyrillos Abdallah
Gilbert and other faculty and staff from across the university meet regularly to explore ways to improve the culture for the benefit of all students. “We spend most of our time together on constructive projects, trying to think about how we can borrow things that different departments have done so that the process across Yale is better,” she said.
Gilbert explained that this work is challenging and requires long-term commitment. “Things that are worth doing and that are complicated can take a long time, and I’m not a very patient person,” she admitted. While impatience may seem to run contrary to Gilbert’s value of persistence, it actually fuels it, as she is driven to see things through no matter how long they take.
For Gilbert, belonging is also a focus in her own lab, where she makes it a priority to foster a community-oriented environment.
“Some places where people are very intellectually ambitious, they’re also kind of cutthroat and competitive,” she said, “And I think part of the key to having people that are ambitious, but also people that are very supportive is to be really intentional about what you have people working on at the same time so that there’s opportunities for synergy, but everybody has their own space.”
She traced her approach as a mentor to the influence of her late mentor and famed UCSF geneticist Dr. Christine Guthrie, whom she dubbed as “the most important teacher that I ever had in my career.” Through her experiences Gilbert hopes to pass the torch of scientific investigation in an equitable and just manner for her students, for whom her affection extends far beyond the walls of her lab.
“I love the snot out of them,” she said with a laugh.