Breaking Through Spring 2023

The Way Science Should Be: 125 Years of Discovery

SPRING 2023

4 Then & Now: The Search for Regeneration’s Secrets at MDI Bio Lab Tracing the history of regeneration studies over the Laboratory’s 125 years 8 Accomplished Molecular Biologist Joins MDI Bio Lab Faculty Halyna Shcherbata, Ph.D., is describing relationships among microRNAs and proteins associated with degenerative disease 12 This Is Why: Gabriela Johnson A young Mainer launches a scientific career from Salisbury Cove 14 Lab Notes Some of our favorite moments since last issue

Futuristic tools and a historic commitment to basic research MDI Bio Lab today boasts a concentrated array of state-of-the-art bioscience tools: bioinformatics data systems; CRISPR genesequence editing; 3D light-sheet microscopy.

But many of the basic questions remain as when we began, in 1898: How does an embryo develop into an adult? Why do some organisms regenerate when others can’t?

FRONT COVER: An axolotl salamander’s head imaged by the Laboratory’s Marko Pende, Ph.D., using a 3D mesoSPIM light-sheet microscope. More on the technology on page 14.

THIS PAGE: Neurons, nerves, synapses and sight in the larval zebrafish: retinal ganglion neurons project the optic nerve into the fish’s mid-brain, enabling synaptic connections. Retinal neurons (green), optic nerves (magenta) and pre-synapses (cyan), microscopy by Romain Madelaine, Ph.D., and Caroline Halluin.

To learn about a $1 million federal award recently announced for Madelaine’s work go to page 14.

FROM THE PRESIDENT

Celebrating Our Accomplishments In May of 1898, the Tufts Weekly published a flier advertising the opening of the Tufts Summer School of Biology at South Harpswell, Maine. That first summer, undergraduate and graduate students from Tufts and Colby College joined physicians and scientists to establish our durable tradition of collegial research in an inspiring, species-rich coastal setting.

While much has changed over the intervening 125 years (including our name and location), the basic approach to training and discovery has not. MDI Biological Laboratory’s core values remain rooted in the power of scientific inquiry and a deep appreciation of the natural world.

Our campus has always been a gathering place where scientific leaders and students across disciplines exchange ideas, address complex biological problems and foster life-long learning.

This is our enduring legacy.

This issue of Breaking Through illustrates some of the intellectual connectivity between our research today and the discoveries of Bio Lab scientists over the last 125 years. As we celebrate this important milestone, it is an opportunity for us to not only reflect on our history and reassert our core values, but to be intentional as we work together to shape our future. With your continued support and enthusiasm, together we are building robust international research and educational programs, restoring our historic campus and establishing the firm financial foundation that is essential for our ongoing success.

I hope you will join me in taking a moment to reflect on what this unique scientific community means to you, and perhaps reaffirm your commitment to ensuring that our legacy of scientific excellence, collaboration and camaraderie lives on far into the future.

With appreciation and gratitude,

Hermann Haller, M.D. President A WALK THROUGH HISTORY

125 years of discovery on Maine’s coast 2023 marks the 125th anniversary of the MDI Biological Laboratory. Our research has evolved as science and technology have advanced, but always with the wonders of comparative biology and a warm scientific community at heart.

Follow this blue bar to read about some notable people and events in our history.

BREAKING THROUGH SPRING 2023 3

LEFT TO RIGHT: James

Godwin, Ph.D., takes inspiration from intellectual forebears who studied regeneration at the Laboratory going back to its beginnings. Today he’s a leader in bioscience’s new regeneration generation; Godwin’s office library includes favorite authors from his field who’ve made a mark on the Laboratory’s history.

1898–1929 Early leaders: marine organisms & model systems for human physiology 1898 The Tufts Summer School of Biology at Potts Point offers its first season of instruction and research in Harpswell, Maine.

Biologist John S. Kingsley is its founding director.

4 BREAKING THROUGH SPRING 2023

Herbert V. Neal and family live in tents their first two summers in Harpswell. A renowned theorist and teacher of biology, Neal would describe secretory cells in skate fish that become known as Neal Cells.

At the invitation of philanthropist George B. Dorr in 1921, the Laboratory is packed up and shipped on its own boat, the Gaudus, to a new home on Salisbury Cove.

FEATURE N0. 1

Then Now THE SEARCH FOR REGENERATION’S SECRETS

Methods and models may change, but the questions remain the same.

Over the MDI Bio Lab’s 125 years, thousands of investigators have passed through its seaside quarters, creating a kaleidoscope of knowledge about the innermost workings of life.

They’ve focused the lens of comparative biology on dozens of animal models, from albatross to zebrafish. They’ve peered into countless worlds, making significant contributions to marine physiology, developmental biology, toxicology, transport and nephrology.

And there is a detectable throughline of fascination with one field of inquiry that’s coming on strong in biomedical science today: regeneration, and the animals that do it well.

A trio of books in the office library of MDI Bio Lab investigator James Godwin, Ph.D., documents some high points: Thomas Hunt Morgan’s Regeneration of 1901, Richard J. Goss’s Principles of Regeneration of 1969, and Charles E. Dinsmore’s History of Regeneration Research of 1991.

“These are some of the incredible researchers in the field who have actually lived and breathed, shed blood, sweat and tears right here on campus,” Godwin says. “A lot of the concepts, the foundational knowledge on regeneration that we build upon, were established here.”

Morgan spent the summer of 1909 at the Harpswell Laboratory, the first home for what is now MDI Bio Lab. He was already known for cataloguing types of animal regeneration and demonstrating that the mechanics of regeneration are instrumental to understanding embryogenesis and development.

Partners in science and life: Margaret R. and Warren H. Lewis (at left) develop new cell culture and other techniques to reveal basic truths about development, embryology, macrophages, and much more.

Kidney researchers Homer W. Smith, James A. Shannon and Eli K. Marshall each begin a long relationship with the Laboratory, the foundation of its international reputation for discoveries in nephrology. Shannon would go on to serve as Director of the National Institutes of Health from 1955–1968.

“I was helping Dr. Shannon wash glassware… (when) I was absolutely overwhelmed by the totally unexpected arrival in the lab, first of Homer W. Smith and then E. K. Marshall.

For me it was like being in the same room with the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.” ROY FORSTER, LATER HIMSELF A LEADER IN RENAL PHYSIOLOGY, ON AN EARLY ENCOUNTER ON MDI.

BREAKING THROUGH SPRING 2023 5

It’s unclear whether he focused on regeneration in Harpswell — he later won a Nobel Prize for rather different work linking chromosomes and heredity. But Morgan did propose research that led another young biologist of the era, Max Morse, to regeneration studies in Harpswell.

TOP TO BOTTOM:

Morse sampled Casco Bay’s waters for the

Godwin laboratory research assistant Andrew Hart; Godwin and Hart with Ph.D. candidate Gabriela Johnson; Assistant Professor Prayag Murawala, Ph.D.

hydrozoan Tubularia cocea — stalky marine animals that can regenerate whole organisms from severed parts. His 1909 article, Autotomy of the Hydranth of Tubularia found that when a polyp detached from its colony, cells disorganized and proliferated at its base, creating precursor conditions for regeneration.

That opened a long, if fitful, history of discovery in regeneration to be nurtured at the Laboratory, both in Harpswell and Mount Desert Island.

Midcentury Momentum In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Brown University researcher Richard J. Goss spent seven summers on the MDI campus.

Goss was a pioneering investigator, responsible for new insights on the regulation of cell proliferation, the re-patterning

“How does an embryo develop into an organism?

Why do some organisms regenerate when others don’t?”

PRAYAG MURAWALA, PH.D., MDI BIO LAB INVESTIGATOR

of de-differentiated cells, and seminal research on how deer repeatedly regenerate their antlers.

At MDI Bio Lab, a focus on killifish fins led to his finding that regeneration of a lost part almost always requires innervation — that is, communication with a minimum number of nerve fibers.

In 1969, Goss published Principles of Regeneration, now a classic primer for the field. “He was an incredibly generous guy,”

1930 –1959 Seeing deeper: cell development, membranes & transport J. Wendell Burger begins work with spiny dogfish caught from Frenchman Bay; his later discovery of its rectal salt gland would shape some 50 years of research at MDI Bio Lab.

6 BREAKING THROUGH SPRING 2023

David A. Karnofsky brings innovative thinking on chemicals and cancer to MDI; his career would include leading the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Institute’s chemotherapy research center. “All medical oncologists are his intellectual descendants,” one student says.

World War II drives research priorities nationwide; New York University leases the campus for two years to study mustard gas and other war poisons. The work is led by Homer Smith and David Karnofsky.

Homer Smith recruits Bodil SchmidtNielsen to the Laboratory, to pursue kidney research with numerous animal models. She later becomes Laboratory director, its first permanent research scientist and the first female Director of the American Physiological Society.

FEATURE N0. 1

recalls Charles “Chuck” Dinsmore, Ph.D.,

Godwin has questions too: “Where in the

who studied with Goss while he was a Ph.D.

evolutionary tree did regeneration begin to

candidate at Brown University.

fade? Do mammals have latent regenerative

Encouraged by Goss, Dinsmore in the 1970s

abilities that can be recovered or enhanced?”

and 1980s brought his own regeneration

He is designing new biotech tools to carry

studies to MDI.

forward his earlier insights about the

In those “early years of wonder” Dinsmore made some key findings about amphibian regeneration, including important

unexpected roles macrophages and T cells play in regeneration in axolotls and, ultimately, in mammals like us.

differences in how remaining muscle and

In collaboration with scientists at Vanderbilt

skin cells influence a salamander’s

University, Godwin is using macrophage-

replacement of a lost limb, versus a lost tail.

targeted nano-particles to control gene

Powerful New Tools for Discovery Dinsmore published A History of Regeneration Research in 1991. Today, he’s a bit in awe of the biotech tools at the fingertips of MDI Bio Lab’s investigators, such as automated gene-editing, bioinformatics and “multi-omic” cell analysis.

“My direction was micro-anatomy, morphological stuff,” he says. “And then you leap into the 21st century with these guys: molecular genetics and systems biology, the extraordinary technologies for visualizing things.”

Prayag Murawala, Ph.D., is deploying big-data tools and 3D microscopy to take an ever more refined look at the same mechanics Dinsmore scrutinized at the tissue level. He says work with transgenic axolotl salamanders — champions of regeneration — is catching up to advances with mice and zebrafish.

“Axolotl lagged behind,” Murawala says.

“We are refining and improving these tools.”

Thomas Hunt Morgan salamanders • Max Morse tubularia crocea • Margaret Lewis crayfish Early 1950–60s

“These new tools give me the ability to turn

Richard J. Goss

off any gene specifically inside a macrophage,” he says. “Nobody has yet been able to untangle the exact flavor of macrophage that is compatible with regeneration. That is what we are doing right now.”

Godwin adds that his most recent research

eastern newt

killifish, salamander, deer 1980s

Charles E. Dinsmore red-backed salamander 1990s

Hermann Haller

suggests that signature groups of salamander

zebrafish

genes could be used to engineer enhanced

2000s

human macrophages and promote scar-free

Voot Yin

healing.

He says that the MDI Bio Lab’s 125-year commitment to imaginative research using atypical models is a hallmark of its unique value to science — and human health. It’s work he is confident will continue to produce transformative biomedical discoveries, including therapies that will help human beings heal and even regenerate damaged organs and limbs.

“It allows us to tackle all these fundamental

questions remain the same: “How does an

“And that’s a legacy, right? That’s a legacy

embryo develop into an organism?” he asks.

that other places don’t have.”

“I had come to a place where I could do research, learn from other scientists, and be stimulated by casual discussions through the free exchange of ideas, whether on the rocks outside the lab, at the cocktail parties or in the laboratories.”

Early 1900s

Alvin Rieck

questions from different angles,” Godwin says.

others don’t?”

(and some of their models)

transcription and expression in real time.

But Murawala adds that the fundamental

“Why do some organisms regenerate when

A Lineage of Regeneration Researchers

zebrafish

Randall Dahn little skate

Sandra Rieger zebrafish

Vicki Losick fruit fly

James Godwin axolotl

Prayag Murawala axolotl

James Coffman zebrafish

Iain Drummond zebrafish

Romain Madelaine zebrafish

Light blue denotes current MDIBL researchers

Mentored by E.K. Marshall, Thomas H. Maren was recruited to the Laboratory. His basic discoveries about the enzyme carbonic anhydrase lead to the development of valuable diuretics and a powerful treatment for glaucoma.

BODIL SCHMIDT-NIELSEN

BREAKING THROUGH SPRING 2023 7

LEFT TO RIGHT:

Drosophila melanogaster cleared for microscopy

by Marko Pende, Ph.D. (see QR code); Halyna Shcherbata.

1960 –1999 Physiology & its context: toxins, tissues & environment Laboratory Director David H. Evans wins a National Institute for Environmental Health Studies award of $850K for the Laboratory’s Center for Membrane Toxicity Studies and the Comparative Toxicogenomics Database, catalyzing infrastructure investments and recruitment of new investigators.

8 BREAKING THROUGH SPRING 2023

James L. Boyer validates dogfish and skate livers as useful models for human physiology and mechanisms that contribute to liver disease. He would lead the toxicity center for more than two decades, lead liver research at Yale and elsewhere, and create lifesaving techniques for liver surgery and after-care.

In 1978 work on oil ingestion in herring gulls by William B. Kinter and others featured in Science.

FEATURE N0. 2

Accomplished Molecular Biologist Joins MDI Bio Lab Faculty Halyna Shcherbata reveals molecular mechanisms of normal and disrupted gene activity Halyna Shcherbata, Ph.D., will lead a new

“We are honored to welcome Dr. Shcherbata

research group at MDI Biological Laboratory,

to MDI Biological Laboratory,” says

in the Kathryn W. Davis Center for

President Hermann Haller, M.D. “She is

Regenerative Biology and Aging. She is

doing important, original work on gene

already developing new facilities for

expression and degenerative disease

Drosophila melanogaster fruit flies on

that will complement our faculty’s parallel

campus, returning an esteemed stand-in for

investigations of nature’s secrets. And

human physiology to the Laboratory’s

we all look forward to learning from her

roster of animal models.

acknowledged mastery using Drosophila as a model for human physiology.”

2000 –PRESENT Year-round research: new models for aging & regeneration “Leave your institutional baggage at the airport or the state line and prepare yourself for a place of rich history, lofty minds, biological camaraderie, and unaffected research in a cove for science named Salsbury.”

KLAUS W. BEYENBACH, RENAL PHYSIOLOGIST

State and federal funding allied with giving campaigns spark an era of winterization, renovation and construction. Efforts include a conference center, dormitory and dining facilities, and culminate in the construction of a 12,500 sq. ft. laboratory building named for philanthropists Wistar and Martha Morris.

The National Institutes of Health awards $5.5M to the Laboratory to lead what became the Maine INBRE, a statewide network of research and education institutions sharing expertise and infrastructure. Courses and conferences boom on campus.

BREAKING THROUGH SPRING 2023 9

“What is unusual about the laboratory is this scholarly atmosphere; there are many amazing people who are genuinely interested in science ...

I love this… it kind of frees your mind. Makes it free to think.”

HALYNA SHCHERBATA, PH.D., MDI BIO LAB INVESTIGATOR

Related research has deepened Shcherbata’s interest in the roles that miRNAs and

ABOVE:

A scientist sorting Drosophilia melanogaster under the microscope.

hormones play in the maintenance,

Shcherbata says that her initial work

proliferation, and differentiation of stem

at MDI Bio Lab will focus on a protein called

cells and their niches. And she studies how

“Rbfox1,” which is conserved in Drosophila

miRNAs are involved in stress response in

and humans. She’s already shown that

muscle and neuronal cells — relationships

Rbfox1 can promote cell survival upon stress

that affect the development of muscular

and is active during the rapid formation

dystrophies and brain abnormalities.

A collegial context for an international career Fruit flies and microRNA Shcherbata has spent much of her career teasing out the delicate and varied functions performed by microRNA (miRNA), a type of short “non-coding” RNA that is not translated into protein, but instead supports and fine tunes the activities of messenger RNA in gene expression.

All along the way she’s focused on Drosophila melanogaster, pioneering powerful new methodologies and laboratory tools for deploying the fruit fly as a model for human disorders.

“I am using Drosophila to understand the molecular mechanisms of stress, aging, and neuromuscular disorders at the very, very precise level of molecules,” she says. “We still know so little about the involvement of RNA in disease development.”

Kathryn W. Davis Center for Regenerative Biology and Aging established in honor of the long-time benefactor, signaling a new research emphasis for the 21st-century.

10 BREAKING THROUGH SPRING 2023

A multi-tasking protein’s role in multiple diseases

of membrane-less subcellular assemblies of RNA and proteins called ribonucleoprotein (RNP) granules, and of amyloid-like fibers.

A native of Ukraine, Shcherbata earned her Ph.D. at the Lviv National University of Ivan Franko in 1996. Since then, she’s held positions at the University of Washington, the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen, and most recently at Hannover Medical School.

Shcherbata spent three weeks on campus in 2022 as a visiting scientist. She says she experienced a valuable kind of collegiality that reminded her of earlier visits to Cold Spring Harbor.

“What is unusual about the laboratory is this scholarly atmosphere; there are many amazing people who are genuinely interested in science,” she says. “I had the feeling there that this is not really work. And I love this… it kind of frees your mind. Makes it free to think.”

Laboratory President Kevin Strange leads effort to win $13 million NIH award to designate the Laboratory as a Center for Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE), supporting four new, year-round research groups in the Davis Center and bringing the total to 12.

New investigators leverage non-marine models for comparative biology that are easily adapted to transgenic modification, bioinformatic analysis and light sheet microscopy: C. elegans roundworms, zebrafish, killifish and axolotl salamanders.

FEATURE N0. 2

That earlier work flowed from an examination

“The Rbfox1 protein is even more complicated

of the gatekeeping role a microRNA called

than we thought, and for me it’s mind-

miR-980 plays in the control of Rbfox1 levels —

blowing that one protein can be so versatile,”

a gate that’s released when cells are subjected

Shcherbata says. The new work will

to stresses such as starvation. It’s known

investigate a multiplicity of roles that the

that dysfunctions of human RBFOX1 proteins

protein may play in the functionality of

are associated with a wide range of medical

various nuclear and cytoplasmic RNP

conditions, such as developmental delay,

granules.

attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism, and diabetes.

The sheer number of RBFOX1-associated diseases suggests that RBFOX1 alterations

LEARN MORE To read some of Shcherbata’s key research, go to MDIBL.org/faculty

“All this stuff is totally new,” Shcherbata says.

“I am very excited about this.”

So is the entire MDI Bio Lab community.

could have a more general regulating effect on gene expression, so a better understanding of the miRNA/Rbfox1 cascade could lead to new therapeutic targets.

Shcherbata plans continued work on Rbfox1 with her longtime colleague, Travis Carney, Ph.D., who has taken a full-time Senior Scientist position at MDI Bio Lab.

LEFT TO RIGHT:

Senior Research Scientist Travis Carney, Ph.D., P.I. Halyna Shcherbata, Ph.D., and Research Assistant Ian Davis.

INTO THE FUTURE

Aric N. Rogers and Jarod A. Rollins demonstrate dietary methods to increase C. elegans roundworm lifespan by 500%; Iain A. Drummond and Hermann Haller adapt zebrafish kidney tubules for organoid development; Prayag Murawala and James W. Godwin discover new pathways for limb and organ regeneration.

Long-time summer investigator Hermann Haller takes the reins as President. He focuses on collaboration and enterprise, cultivating new partnerships with research institutions in Maine and abroad.

Mark the moment and take it forward As we continue to celebrate the Laboratory’s 125th anniversary, an online timeline and exhibit are in the works. Tell us about your favorite people, accomplishments and milestones! Go to: https://mdibl.org/ memories or scan the code at right.

BREAKING THROUGH SPRING 2023 11

YOUR support ensures that this tradition of hands-on mentoring continues to thrive, providing our scientists and students with the tools they need to succeed.

Learn more about how your generosity can sustain the people and programs at the heart of the Bio Lab at mdibl.org/support

12 BREAKING THROUGH SPRING 2023

THIS IS WHY YOUR GIFT MATTERS

Gabriela Johnson

Launching a Career of Discovery at MDI Bio Lab Maine native Gabriela Johnson knew she wanted to study amphibian regeneration: now she’s working side-by side with world-class scientists to design state-of-the-art tools for research in axolotl salamanders.

Growing up in rural Dover-Foxcroft, Maine, Gabriela Johnson never imagined her fascination with the axolotl, a salamander with amazing regenerative abilities, would lead her to a science career in Bar Harbor.

Now a graduate student in the lab of MDI Bio Lab scientist James Godwin, Ph.D., Johnson is working to develop regenerative therapies that may one day benefit humans.

Since its beginning 125 years ago, the MDI Bio Lab has been rooted in a spirit of collaboration and mentorship. This unique scientific community provides an ideal environment where young scientists

LEARN MORE Hear from Johnson in her own words about how she went on to become a University of Maine Ph.D. candidate based at MDI Bio Lab, and her groundbreaking research with axolotl.

like Johnson can flourish.

“I love that MDI Bio Lab is a small community. You can share ideas, get a lot of feedback and learn about different aspects of regeneration and aging. Everyone is very accessible and open. It’s one benefit of being a small organization. Even as we’re expanding, we remain a tight-knit community.”

If you are interested in learning more about how you can support students like Gabriela, email jeri@mdibl.org for more information.

TOP TO BOTTOM: Gabriela Johnson, a Ph.D. student who is creating new laboratory tools for exploring the axolotl salamander’s unequaled regenerative abilities; juvenile axolotls.

“I didn’t even think there would be axolotl research going on in Maine. It’s like the stars aligned.” – GABRIELA JOHNSON, GRADUATE STUDENT

BREAKING THROUGH SPRING 2023 13

LabNotes

Community news about the developments and scientists that are shaping the future of the MDI Bio Lab. For the latest news, visit mdibl.org/news

Maine’s Oldest Bioscience Forum Turns 50 Some 200 people attended the 50th edition of Maine’s oldest gathering of biomedical scientists: the Maine Biological and Medical Sciences Symposium (MBMSS) held at MDI Bio Lab in late April. Since 1973 the symposium has brought together participants in Maine’s scientific community from all corners of the state. Old hands, new researchers and the rising generation of budding scientists took advantage of the unique opportunity for cross-pollination of ideas across institutions and scientific disciplines.

Learn more at mdibl.org/mbmss-turns-50

INBRE Supports Research Experiences with State-of-the-Art Biotech Resources Over the winter and spring, fifty-five students attended six INBRE courses, studying topics such as Microscopy and CRISPR-Genome Engineering, Biotechnology and Bioentrepreneurship: From the Laboratory to the Market, and Molecular Mechanisms of Human Disease.

Maine’s federally funded IDeA Network of Research Excellence now includes 14 biomedical research and education institutions in the state who share infrastructure and expertise.

Learn more at mdibl.org/biotech-entrepreneurs

Congress Votes Funding for MDI Bioscience In December, Congress appropriated $600,000 for the Laboratory’s new division,

TOP TO BOTTOM: Dr. Hermann Haller, M.D., received two major honors last fall: the German Nephrology Society’s Franz Volhard Medal and induction into the German National Academy of Sciences — both in recognition of his long career of scientific achievement, photo: Aey Congresse GmbH; Romain Madelaine, Ph.D.

MDI Bioscience. The enterprise is developing new methodologies to deploy non-traditional animals such as zebrafish and roundworms

cellular levels contributes to muscle aging

for fast, efficient discovery and screening

and degeneration.

of new medications and therapies. MDI

Learn more at mdibl.org/umaine-partnership

Bioscience is using the allotment to finance structure into a secure, state-of-the-art facility

State-of-the-Art 3D Microscope is in Business

for drug discovery and high-throughput

In the last issue of Breaking Through we

molecular analysis.

previewed MDI Bio Lab’s initiative to establish

Learn more at mdibl.org/congress-votes

a 3D mesoSPIM light sheet microscope on

MDI Bio Lab Partners With UMaine for NIH Award of $11.4 Million

Scientists such as Marko Pende, Ph.D., and Prayag Murawala, Ph.D., are working

The National Institutes of Health awarded a

with Light Microscopy Facility Director

Center of Biomedical Research Excellence

Frederic Bonnet, Ph.D., to produce images of

(COBRE) award to support interdisciplinary

unprecedented scientific value (not to mention

biomedical research at UMaine and MDI

jaw-dropping beauty). The technology is

Bio Lab in April. More than $1 million goes

evolving fast, though, thanks to continued

the renovation and retrofit of a historic campus

campus. Now it’s constructed and in action.

to the laboratory of MDI Bio Lab’s Romain

innovation by the technology’s creator,

Madelaine, Ph.D. The funding will support

Fabian Voigt, Ph.D. Upgrades are expected

his group’s work to better understand

when Voigt returns to the Lab this summer

biological processes that underlie muscle

as a visiting scientist.

tissue’s regenerative capacity, and how

Learn more at mdibl.org/3d-microscope

impairment at the genetic, molecular and

ABOUT US

We aim to improve human health by discovering novel mechanisms of tissue repair, aging and regeneration, translating our discoveries for the benefit of medicine and society and developing the next generation of scientific leaders.

BOARD OF TRUSTEES Alan W. Kornberg, Esq., Chairman

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP

Edward J. Benz Jr., M.D., Vice Chairman Dana Farber Cancer Institute

Thomas A. Boyd, Ph.D., Treasurer Anthology BioDevelopment LLC

Janis L. Coates, Ph.D., Secretary Island Readers and Writers

Hermann Haller, M.D., ex officio

MDI Biological Laboratory, President

James L. Boyer, M.D., Honorary Trustee Yale University

Phoebe C. Boyer

The Children’s Aid Society

Terence C. Boylan The River Press

Ruth Cserr Sigmar H. Gabriel

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

Noah Lind Finds a True Science Community

John A. Hays Christie’s

Anne H. Lehmann Alan B. Miller, Esq. I. Wistar Morris III Margaret Myers, M.D. Dennis L. Shubert, M.D., Ph.D. Christopher P. Sighinolfi Bruce A. Stanton, Ph.D.

Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth

Clare Stone Daphne W. Trotter, Esq.

McDermott Will & Emery LLP

Robert Taft Whitman Published by the Office of Development and Public Affairs Writing, Editing + Research Jeri Bowers, Fred Bever, Anna Farrell Design + Art Direction Cushman Creative Photography Kevin Bennett, Anna Farrell, Romain Madelaine, Marko Pende, Rogier van Bakel Special Thanks David H. Evans, Ph.D., author of Marine Physiology Down East: The Story of the Mt. Desert Island Biological Laboratory MDI Biological Laboratory PO Box 35, Salisbury Cove, ME 04672 Website: mdibl.org Email: breakingthrough@mdibl.org

Noah Lind first heard of MDI Biological Laboratory when his high school AP teacher mentioned that a former student had enjoyed a summer fellowship here.

Drawn by a desire to integrate with a true science community, Noah enrolled.

“It gave me a realistic lab experience; a chance to see what it is like to be a scientist on a daily basis,” he says. “Students walk away with a great representation of what a science career feels like.”

Noah has since earned a B.S. from the University of Vermont and he’s now a Research Assistant back at the Laboratory.

Graduate school is next, where he plans work on the efficiency of biomedical research systems.

Noah says the Laboratory’s unique environment was critical to his early growth as a scientist.

“Even if the Bio Lab doubles or triples in size, the way it started remains at its heart,” he says. “It’s a sense that we’re all in this together, that we learn from each other. No other institution does that as well as MDI Bio Lab.” To learn more about how to leave your legacy at MDIBL, please contact Jeri Bowers, Director of Development, at jeri@mdibl.org or 207-288-3147.

MDI Biological Laboratory PO Box 35 Salisbury Cove, ME 04672 mdibl.org

It’s MDI Bio Lab’s 125th year

Come celebrate the milestone with us!

JULY 12, 2023

Annual Family Science Night

JULY 24–28, 2023

Alumni Homecoming Days

JULY 27, 2023

MDI Bio Lab’s 125th Annual Meeting

Enjoy hands-on fun and a

View all events

Highlighted by President

community birthday party.

and register by

Hermann Haller’s remarks on

using this code.

big plans for what comes next.

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