Grad students honor Dr. Kielian as outstanding mentor

Tammy Kielian, Ph.D., Kommineni Professor of Pathology, is the type of mentor whose words stick with you, even years later.

“One funny story is that at a recent meeting, one of my former students told me that while she was working on her poster she heard my voice inside her head saying that the font sizes on her poster didn’t match,” Dr. Kielian said. “But she thanked me for instilling in her attention to detail.”

Dr. Kielian, second from left, with her students, Tyler Scherr, Megan Bosch and Cortney Heim.

It’s that type of meticulousness — but with a personal touch — that made Dr. Kielian the 2015 Distinguished Graduate Student Mentor, awarded by the Graduate Student Association (GSA). She received the award at the May 7 UNMC Graduate Studies Convocation.

“This is one of the most meaningful awards that I have ever received and I look forward to seeing how this excellent group of students paves their futures in science,” she said.

That group gives Dr. Kielian rave reviews.

“I admit I was scared to death entering graduate school, not sure whether I was good enough at science, smart enough to keep up, or able to convey the knowledge learned well enough,” said Cortney Heim, a G4 in pathology and microbiology in Dr. Kielian’s lab. “I was terrified of public speaking and of answering questions from people I knew had knowledge far beyond what I was aware of. However, over the years Dr. Kielian has shown me nothing but support and has had so much confidence in me and my growing abilities that I have learned to be confident myself.”

Added Tyler Scherr, another G4, “I could go on and on with stories of how Tammy helped me reshape a fellowship proposal at the eleventh hour in light of recent data, or how she always gives us the option to present at the weekly lab meeting before an upcoming oral presentation or committee meeting, for extra practice even if it isn’t our turn.”

She encourages career development, but science is paramount: “She brought in an orthopedic surgeon to give a few of us face-to-face instruction on performing a post-arthroplasty implant procedure to ensure my in vivo mouse model would be as clinically relevant as possible,” Scherr said.

What’s it like to work in Dr. Kielian’s lab?

“She loves it when I come up with a crazy mind-boggling project,” said third-year graduate student Megan Bosch. “I feel that this really allows us to cultivate our scientific creativity and keeps us on our toes.”