Luke Hoffman Associate Professor, Pediatrics and Adjunct, Microbiology December, 2013

1. My experience with the UW CF P30 Or How I learned to stop worrying and love baby stool. Luke HoffmanAssociate Professor, Pediatrics and Adjunct, MicrobiologyDecember, 2013

2. The history: I was an Assistant Professor with an emerging lab. • During the creation of the UW CF P30, an opportunity arose for a gastrointestinal (GI) project. • I (like most CF-minded microbiologists at UW) have been focused on respiratory microbiology. • A great deal of the early morbidity from CF is due to GI dysfunction. • The was ample rationale for a fecal microbiome project, and we have the resources to do it here. • Bonnie and the P30 core directors asked me to consider writing a P30 pilot project focused on the GI tract. The birth of my P30 baby poop pilot

3. The birth of my P30 baby poop pilot • My considerations: The pros • The P30 included people • and resources I had hoped to work with. • Among them were: • Mentors I love working with and for. • Thoughtfully assembled core facilities, representing a great deal of expertise and research capacity • A microbial genomics core (a particular interest of mine) • An inflammation core (turned out to be important) • A clinical core, with statistical resources (very important) • Who couldn’t use more funding?

4. The birth of my P30 baby poop pilot • My considerations: The cons • Every grant has associated bureaucracy, politics, and paperwork. • An important consideration, but it turned out to be minimal. • This was outside the field I was most interested in pursuing at that point. But… • Wise mentors (aka Bonnie) reminded me that academic careers are rarely linear. • In the end, the pros greatly outweighed the cons.

5. How working with the UW CF P30 has benefited my lab • I hired a new, fantastic scientist for this project. • That scientist brought new, vital expertise • The training he got for the P30 project expanded that expertise even further. • I brought in a new collaborator who: • Has worked with me on many projects. • Has become a close friend. • Wrote his own pilot application! (me= hero) • This project, and the cores, have facilitated all of our projects. • This project has generated fascinating new research directions I wouldn’t have imagined.

6. How working with the UW CF P30 has benefited my career • My lab is bigger and better funded. • This work led to: • A new publication • Another on the way; more to come. • A new R01 application (scored, not funded, resubmission planned 2014) • A new, two-year Cystic Fibrosis Foundation grant. • A funded pilot produced preliminary data, rather than having to do this “on the side”. • Productive new collaborations • New research capacity I wouldn’t have had otherwise

7. How working with the UW CF P30 has benefited my career • But most importantly, I gained: • Unparalleled access to superb mentorship.

8. Thinking about a P30 pilot project: The advantages and disadvantages Advantages: This experience has been fantastic for my lab and my career in all of the ways I just described, and more. Disadvantages: I had to forge a new research direction, fitting a narrow description. For me, the pros GREATLY outweighed any cons.

9. UW Pediatrics • Chris Pope • Laura Houston • Dan Wolter • Bonnie Ramsey • Ron Gibson • Margaret Rosenfeld • Jane Burns • Arnie Smith UW Microbiology Core Thanks! • Inflammation Core • Bill Parks • Pete Greenberg • Jane Burns Subjects and Families • Clinical Core • Ron Gibson • Sharon McNamara • Alan Genatossio • Judy Gabrysiak • Sonya Heltshe • Genomics Core • Sam Miller • Laurence Rohmer • Matthew Radey • Hillary Hayden • Mike Jacobs • Elizabeth Sims • Mitch Brittnacher • Consultants • Pat Schloss (U. Michigan) • Kirk Harris (U. Colorado) • Scot Dowd (Mr. DNA, Texas) • Drucy Borowitz (SUNY Buffalo) • Genome sciences • Elhanan Borenstein • Roie Levy