URI_Research _Magazine_Momentum_Spring_2020_Melissa-McCarthy

weeks talking to at least three different professors and testing the waters. Looking back on his own journey, DeBoef attributes his interest in academia to his undergraduate years, which is why he served as director of SURF for the IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (RI-INBRE) before moving to the Graduate School. Without exposure to a similar program during his undergraduate years — learning from mentored, hands-on research — DeBoef says he would not be where he is today. “I crafted my lab out of my experiences,” he says. “As a postdoc at Columbia University, I ran many of the day-to-day operations of a research lab, which prepared me for doing this. When students needed help, they came to me. It was a good training ground.” In his 14th year teaching and running a lab at URI, DeBoef has mentored 29 graduate students, most of whom have gone onto work in the biotech industry. Two entered academia and one started his own company. One former gradraduate student, who earned his Ph.D. in May 2019, is now a postdoc with the Army Corps of Engineers.

URI chemistry major Paul Cesana ‘19

“He emailed me today and wants to collaborate with us,” DeBoef says, grinning as he contemplates a former student now becoming a peer. “That’s the most satisfying part — getting them all of the way through.”

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