Schmidt Lab Alumni

Another year comes to a close. I won't lie. It's been a tough year. Funding is tight (currently non-existent for the lab), and while some former alumni continue to have success in their careers, others are casualties of contraction in the biotech economy. Moving forward, the department is about to change dramatically. There are quite a few BCMB faculty who plan to retire soon (not me!). While there will be no direct replacements allowed by UGA Administration, we may hire 1-2 faculty soon, but that won't be enough to keep our workforce from shrinking. When combined with the ever-increasing numbers of the BCMB major and other STEM majors requiring BCMB courses, the natural conclusion is that teaching loads will increase dramatically in the near future. Despite all the gloom, the lab continues its slow march toward new discoveries. Publications will slow, but not stop. I wish each and every one of you health and happiness for the New Year!

Just a quick update. First of all, check out the 40 under 40 class of 2025 (https://alumni.uga.edu/40u40/). You may recognize someone (i.e. Colby). Congratulations Colby on this honorific!! Other than that bit of good news, not much else to report. Nothing has changed on the lab funding front. My last 3 attempts at securing funding were a bust. For this reason, Emily's effort has been cut back to 50% and will likely change to 25% soon. I'm funding her on small pots of $ that I've received outside of my standard salary (e.g., Meigs Professorship supplement of $1k; FYOS teaching supplement of $3.5k, etc.) There is simply no institutional support to help labs maintain even a skeleton staff. Think of this when donating to UGA, and maybe direct your alumni giving with this in mind. Sadly, similar staffing cuts are now happening all over the scientific workplace (academia, industry, government, etc.) and have affected certain Schmidt lab alums. I wish them all well in riding out the storm. I'm submitting a new NIH grant proposal in early Oct (funds would be available July 2026 at the earliest), but funding chances are obviously slim. The best graphic on what is happening to federal science funding is below (stolen from another post; https://yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/p/nih-the-quiet-engine-of-science-is). Sorry for the gloom and doom. I hope to report more positive lab news in the future, but all I can really hope for in the next 6 months is another Natty for UGA! Go Dawgs!!

I hope that everyone is doing well. Feel connect anytime you are in Athens!! I've heard recently from many of you by phone/text/email (Thomas, Sarah, Colby, Betsy, June, Dillon, Chris, Zahilys, Jacob, Grace, Jenny, Ethan, Kareena) and even had visitors (Sayali, Sunny). Everyone seems to be doing great. Congrats to the new additions to several families and the new jobs! Now for some good, bad, and ugly. Starting with BAD. Since the last update, the lab has officially run out of research funds. I was unsuccessful in renewing my NIH grant despite MANY publications during the last 4-year funding period and plenty of exciting new research directions to pursue. My NSF proposal is still under review but unlikely to be funded; NSF requires “Broader Impacts” sections in their proposals and these types of government-funded proposals don’t currently enjoy much political support. My lab’s budgetary issues aren’t isolated, which brings UGLY. UGA’s budget is taking hits from overall reductions in federal grants and lndirect Costs. This means there will likely be a forthcoming combination of increased tuition and fees for students, staff layoffs and/or furloughs, no merit or COLA pay raises, and suspension of new faculty, staff, and graduate student hires. Sadly, there’s also discussion of initiating lab fees for undergraduate research courses since grants typically subsidize these costs. Now GOOD. The lab will weather the storm. We operate very well and cost-effectively with undergraduate researchers, but progress and publication will definitely slow. More GOOD. I was selected to be a Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor. There are a few perks associated with the title, but the one that most might recognize is being honored at halftime of a future football game. Wishing you all continued success!!

And so we arrive at another end of the academic cycle with several lab members graduating: a PhD for Anushka, and BS degrees for Ethan, Jenny, Kareena, and Khushi. ConGRADulations to them all! These graduations come on the heels of another publication being accepted, making it 4 for 2024 so far, with authors ranging from undergrads to grads. The pubs will hopefully help the NIH proposal that I submitted March 5th. The lab has shrunk a lot, but considering that funding is getting tight, this is a good thing. Crossing my fingers for a good score on the NIH proposal, which will let me build the lab back up. This summer will bring trips to meetings and will end my 3-year cycle as Associate Head of BCMB, with the likelihood that I'll throw my name in the hat to continue serving another 3 years. It's been fun (and also frustrating) to see how things operate behind the scenes at UGA. As alumni, I urge you all to complain if you perceive that the administration undercuts faculty and departmental governance. Emily and I continue well, the kiddos are adulting, and lab lunches are still a thing. Hoping that everyone has a good summer!