Lori McMahon, Ph.D., loves a particular phrase coined by the National Institutes of Health鈥檚 Institute of General Medical Sciences: 鈥淐uriosity creates cures.鈥� So as the chief scientific officer for the 石榴视频黄色版 and a basic neuroscience researcher with a 24-year career, she鈥檚 making it her mission to ensure that researchers can follow their curiosity to make discoveries.

鈥淚t鈥檚 really important that we are always curious 鈥� that we are asking why, what if and how does something work under healthy conditions and how it gets changed by disease,鈥� McMahon said.

鈥淐uriosity isn鈥檛 found in just one place or time in biomedical research; it reaches from bench research all the way to physicians at the bedside asking how we can improve patient care. It鈥檚 all research; it鈥檚 new knowledge, and it鈥檚 increasing our capacity to affect people鈥檚 lives.鈥�

McMahon, who was appointed vice president for Research at MUSC in late 2020 and brought her own lab here from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), leads a team of researchers that set a funding record last year, a fact she celebrated. But that鈥檚 not what drives her.

鈥淚 think research funding follows great ideas. Funding follows discoveries. If we can stay focused on what we鈥檙e trying to understand, what we鈥檙e trying to discover, then we increase our competitive edge for the funding needed to support knowledge growth and the next big discoveries so we can ultimately improve patient care. Thinking about funding first, instead of focusing on biomedical science鈥檚 biggest problems, can often squash curiosity,鈥� McMahon said.

 

鈥淚鈥檓 not saying that we shouldn't be aware of the strategic research priorities of the National Institutes of Health and other funding agencies. That鈥檚 important. But so is following the science and letting curiosity guide us. And that鈥檚 where the sense of discovery and the passion for the work comes in. When there鈥檚 passion for the work and investigators are excited, impact happens. It鈥檚 easier to write a grant proposal about a new idea or some science that you鈥檙e passionate about or even about a new finding in the laboratory that you didn鈥檛 expect or predict.鈥�

McMahon also emphasized the importance of collaboration. Last year, she created the in partnership with chief innovation officer Jesse Goodwin, Ph.D., to reward the big ideas of research teams working together across colleges.

鈥淚 really think that our next big discoveries in biomedical research will occur at the interface of disciplines. It鈥檚 important for us as researchers to know one another and to bump into one another getting coffee, in the hallway, in the elevator or walking across campus in addition to having events where we gather and have people share what they鈥檙e working on.鈥�

During a recent event, researchers used an open mic format to describe their work, leading to six new collaborations. 鈥淚 want to incentivize collaboration and provide opportunities for those interactions, those collisions, that help people to think big and solve big problems. To do transformational work, we need to expand MUSC鈥檚 connectedness and collaborative spirit to get us to the next level of discovery,鈥� McMahon said.

鈥淭hat simply doesn鈥檛 exist in many places like it does here. It鈥檚 our culture, and for that I鈥檓 grateful. It鈥檚 also important for us to align our clinical strengths with our research strengths more fully for better outcomes for patients, now and in the future.鈥�

 

Fostering that kind of teamwork is key, McMahon said, whether it involves working on a project or looking at the bigger picture. 鈥淲e just launched a strategic planning group for research across the enterprise. The group includes basic scientists and clinical researchers from all levels of faculty, brand-new assistant professors to seasoned tenured professors, coming together to think hard about what our strengths are and where we have opportunities.鈥�

That type of collaborative spirit has served to strengthen an important area of focus for McMahon. 鈥淥ne question we are asking is where do we have emerging strengths that need investment so that we can go from basic, fundamental discovery all the way through clinical studies and into practice?鈥�

One such area involves precision health, McMahon said. 鈥淭丑别 In Our DNA SC community health research project will analyze the DNA of 100,000 South Carolinians, providing a very rich data set that we will be able to use to try to understand how genes are impacting health. What鈥檚 exciting is that our clinicians are going to be able to use these data to gain insights into their patients鈥� health and their care.鈥�

The data will also help basic and fundamental scientists, including McMahon. 鈥淲e can take the variations in a gene and use our to make a mouse model where we put that human gene mutation in a mouse so that we can understand disease process.鈥�

That line of inquiry could lead to important findings, McMahon said. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 always know when big discoveries are going to happen. Many research discoveries have been serendipitous throughout the last 100 years, such as the discoveries of penicillin and insulin. That鈥檚 why staying curious, not having blinders on and doing our best to stay unbiased as we approach science will help us to stumble on those discoveries that we didn鈥檛 expect but could have the power to change lives.鈥�