Q&A with Dr. Tim Le Cras

Q: What is at the top of your to-do list as associate dean for graduate education?

Le Cras: My goal is to continue this great legacy, help the programs get even better and deal with the challenges of today’s science, finances and career opportunities for our trainees. At the top of my to-do list is to work with the graduate programs to help them recruit the best possible students from around the country and overseas. I’ve worked a lot on recruitment in the MD-PhD program and also the Molecular and Developmental Biology graduate program. We did that by showing potential students what a great collaborative culture we have here, a supportive culture where training is really integrated between medicine and science. That’s really unique. I think we have a great opportunity here to both continue this legacy and help the graduate programs evolve and develop to meet the unique needs of science, industry and provide great career opportunities for our students.

Q: What opportunities do you see for our graduate programs?

Le Cras: I think there are several opportunities we need to embrace and develop. One is to encourage more of our students to write and apply for their own research grants, like NIH F Awards. We have students who done that already, but it’s a great opportunity for all of our students to learn essential grant writing skills and obtain their own funding early on. Even in industry they will be writing proposals. We’re already been doing this, we just need to do it more and work with the students to help them be successful.

Secondly, we need to tap into philanthropic opportunities, partner with community organizations, national patient advocacy groups and even companies to promote the science that our grad students are doing and gain their support. We need to find philanthropic support for students in the form of named fellowships and industry support. Our students are doing great things and we need to promote that using the internet and having students give more talks to outside organizations.

We also need to recognize how science is evolving and changing and help our students recognize where the opportunities are that will lead them to long-term careers. They need to be able to adapt as the needs in this country and world change. A year ago we didn’t know there would be this need for research into the coronavirus. Throughout their career, students are probably going to have to reinvent themselves.

We can continually train our students in interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research. That’s one of the reasons that has encouraged students to come here. They recognize we work at the interface between science and medicine. We need to work with them to collaborate with other groups here and utilize all the expertise. It makes them more broadly trained and enables them to be ready to reach out and utilize expertise from other people and other institutions, and to collaborate across the world.

Q: What attracted you to this position?

Le Cras: All the students in our MD-PhD program are outstanding. What attracted them here was what attracted me, this collaborative culture. This unique collaboration between Children’s and the medical school. The MD-PhD program has really taught me that we can attract outstanding students here because of this great culture we have of collaboration both in pediatric and adult medicine. I don’t think you can find a better situation than we have here in terms of the richness of the culture, support and the expertise and the collaborative nature of the faculty.

This is the only medical center in the country where you have jointly supported graduate programs. Three of our PhD programs are embedded in pediatrics. That is unique. Having graduate education that offers research opportunities in pediatric and adult diseases is a testament to what a fantastic medical center this is.

Q: How does it feel to be taking over for Dr. Cartwright?

Le Cras: Well, we’re both from the United Kingdom. I must mention he’s an Oxford man and I’m a Cambridge man. As you know, there’s quite a rivalry between Oxford and Cambridge around racing boats on the River Thames. We definitely have some common backgrounds. I really enjoy his personality and I really appreciate his leadership and his insights into the position. I’m really excited to continue his legacy and build on it. There’s nothing to knock down, there’s everything to build on. He’s done some transformative things. He always has the students in the forefront of his decisions. He always thinks of what’s best for the students first and that’s the culture we need to have: what’s best for our students because ultimately that’s the best for our medical center and programs.

Q: What has impressed you about the graduate programs?

Le Cras: I appreciate and highly value the efforts to include diversity and training women scientists in our programs. We are moving in a great direction and I look forward to partnering with the programs and diversity advocates to advocate for women in science, to continually improve recruiting and retention of underrepresented minorities, socioeconomically disadvantaged students, first generation students and female students into our programs because that enriches all our programs and our medical center. I think we’ve done a great job with that. Our MD-PhD program for example is over 50% female. We have a lot of female physician scientists in leadership roles and we need to continue promoting that and helping young women develop into these careers and leadership roles. I’m very excited we have another female chair of pediatrics joining us. We have an inclusive culture here and I think that’s very enriching. These students bring such a wealth of thought and energy and motivation.

Q: How will these new responsibilities impact your current activities?

Le Cras: I’m going to continue my research lab here at children’s. Our research is going very well. It’s important for me to be actively involved in research because that’s what our students are doing. I will spend less time with the MD-PhD program but will continue supporting them.

Q: What is your background?

Le Cras: I’m originally from the island of Guernsey in the English Channel. I had great PhD training at the University of Cambridge in a clinical department (pathology) where I was exposed as a graduate student to physicians and pathologists as well as scientists working in that collaborative culture. So in my graduate training I was working side by side with physicians and scientists and exposed to translational research. I then went to the University of Virginia to do a postdoc fellowship and was there for four years, again in a clinical department (anesthesiology). Then I went to the University of Colorado and became an assistant professor working in pediatrics with a fantastic group of physicians and scientists on pediatric pulmonary hypertension. The common thread here is the different institutions I’ve been at have always been at this interface of science and medicine.