Dr. Lori Pile - Words of wisdom
Dr. Lori Pile obtained her BS in Biology degree from our department. She is currently Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Wayne State University. She is also Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies of College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Wayne State. We thank Dr. Pile takes time from her busy schedule to share her experiences and insights with our current students. You can find more about Dr. Pile's work on her website.
Dear UT friends, student, faculty, staff and alumni,
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share a bit of my science story that began while I was an undergraduate college student at the University of Toledo. Like many of today’s students, I am a first-generation college graduate. I attended my hometown university of the University of Toledo. I worked my way through college by working retail at JC Penney’s. Since I lived at home for most of my undergraduate schooling, I was excited to have the opportunity to participate in a Study Abroad program. I spent my junior year attending Salford University outside of Manchester, England. I loved my year in England and while there spent time traveling through Europe. I was very excited to have had the opportunity to return to UT Spring 2024 to attend the 40th Anniversary Celebration of the UT-University of Salford Exchange Program. How fantastic that students today have this same opportunity to experience education and culture both inside and outside of the US.
My love of science began in earnest when I participated in an Undergraduate Research Experience sponsored by the US Department of Energy. For four months of my senior year, I conducted research at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, California. I loved the rich scientific environment of seminars, lab meetings and journal clubs. It was through this experience that I decided that a career in scientific research was the one for me. And I am thankful that UT allowed me to earn credit for this experience and supported my participation. When I started college, I didn’t plan to study abroad and do an internship. But I seized the opportunities that I was presented. And my undergraduate experience was richer because of those choices.
After obtaining my BSc in Biology at UT, I joined the PhD program in Molecular Genetics, Biochemistry and Microbiology at the University of Cincinnati Medical School, Cincinnati, Ohio. I joined the group of Dr. Iain Cartwright and began a career-long interest into investigating mechanisms of gene regulation. Following my graduate studies, I moved to Bethesda, Maryland and conducted five years of post-doctoral research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), first at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and then for one year at the National Cancer Institute.
In January of 2004, I moved to the Detroit area and joined the faculty in the Department of Biological Sciences at Wayne State University. The focus of my teaching responsibilities for both undergraduate and graduate courses is Molecular Biology. I truly enjoy getting young people excited about this topic and how it impacts their lives. I am also the head of a research laboratory. The objective of the research in the Pile laboratory is to understand how genes are turned on and off in different cell types and how this process affects cellular functions. Research in my laboratory has been funded by the American Cancer Society and the National Institutes of Health, historically two of the major funders of scientific research in the US.
One of the best parts of my career is mentoring the next generation of scientists. I have mentored PhD, masters, undergraduate and high school students. This current time is one of uncertainty for the scientific enterprise in the US. Scientific expertise is being called into question and traditional sources of research funding are no longer so reliable. Yet, I continue to encourage students to pursue careers in science and medicine. I am optimistic that appreciation of the benefits of science to human health and society will endure and strengthen over time.
When I started college at UT, I wasn’t at all sure what my career would look like. Reflecting on that time, it’s now clear to me that those college experiences were instrumental to my career development and set me on the path of seeking knowledge and sharing my interest in science with the broader community. I am grateful to my professors and mentors at UT and those all along my professional journey. I encourage you to seize opportunities and take some unexpected turns on your road to success.