20 questions with Dr. Grant Brown
Interview by Kate Jiang
In this new series of Transcripts, we challenge the professors in the biochemistry department with 20 rapid-fire questions, a parody of the 73-question shows with the number of questions corresponding to the number of amino acids. The first installment of the series features Dr. Grant Brown from the Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology.
Growing up in Alberta, Grant received his BSc in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in the University of British Columbia and completed his PhD with Dr. Dan Ray at University of California – Los Angeles. He then did his postdoctoral fellowship at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine with Dr. Tom Kelly before coming to the University of Toronto to establish his own research group. His research interest focuses on DNA replication, repair, and mutagenesis using both the budding yeast and mammalian cell culture as model systems. I had the fortune to interview Grant—who also happens to be my own supervisor—and learned more about his graduate school days, his love for the indie rock supergroup Boygenius, and his life as a PI.
So, how is your day going?
Pretty good.
Tell us the strangest thing about where you are from.
The strangest thing about where I am from? Hmm…Well, maybe I’ll answer for Calgary. And what is the strangest thing about Calgary…That the entire downtown is a ghost town? There’s no life at all?
What’s an unforgettable story from your grad school days?
One time one of my colleagues in the lab was launching pipette can rockets off of the top of the Molecular Biology Institute, and almost got arrested by state police.
That’s quite wild. What do you miss about your grad school days?
Everything. My grad school was awesome; it was an awesome lab. The research environment on the floor of the MBI that my lab was on was awesome. Lots of camaraderie, lots of fun science.
Which scientist do you look up to in your science career?
Probably Kate? (Points to the interviewer and laughs) Who do I look up to in my science career? Hmm. Probably make more sense if it’s someone I know. I would have to say Dan Ray, my PhD supervisor.
Which non-scientist person do you look up to?
Phoebe Bridgers.
I do not know who that is.
Well, you’ll have to look it up.
I guess I will. When did you decide you want to be a PI?
I would say fourth year of undergrad. Like after I got immersed in my fourth-year project. I knew that that’s what I wanted to do.
That’s actually pretty early.
Is it? I thought that was pretty late.
What’s the best thing and the worst thing about being a PI?
The best thing and the worst thing is people coming and going.
If you were to pick a protein at the replication fork to be your best friend, what would that protein be?
Oh, PCNA1. Obviously.
Is there a reason for that?
You don’t think PCNA is a good choice?
I think it is a good choice. Why yeast?
Why yeast? Why not! Because of the awesome power of yeast genetics.
How do you de-stress?
I curl up into a hamster ball and cry quietly. No, let’s see. Like how do I relax? I like to read. I like to listen to music. Sometimes gardening is a good one.
What songs are you currently jamming to?
Today, a song called “Waiting Room” by Phoebe Bridgers2. And also Lucy Dacus2‘ four-year-old album—not her brand new one, one before that.
Favorite movie of all time?
Hmm. That’s a tough one because there’s a few. Either Interstellar or True Grit, hard to choose.
How have you learned to balance your family life with your work life over the years?
I have not. (laughs) Yeah, I don’t know. I don’t think I do that great a job of it. But one thing that helps is that the work part is pretty flexible. Like there’s a lot of work, but I kind of get to define when I do it.
How has your mentorship style changed throughout the years?
I don’t hit the students as much as I used to. I think that’s the biggest change. No. How has my mentorship style changed? Hmm…I think actually in some ways my interactions with my students have become sort of more formalized than they used to be. When I started my lab, my office was in the lab and there were no appointments for one-on-ones, people just talked to me whenever they wanted to talk to me. And that’s not so much the case anymore.
If you could change one thing to make academia more ideal, what would that be?
To make academia better… I mean, specifically in terms of research, more consistent and substantial funding across all levels. Research grants for sure. Meaningful scholarships for students. More funding!
Cats or dogs?
(Immediately) Dogs. That was an easy one.
I know. But the readers don’t know.
That’s true.
What’s a piece of advice you have for trainees?
Grant, in his office chair, rolled back to his desk and pointed to a slip of note taped to the shelf above the desk, and read out the quote on it.
“Keep your nose to the grindstone.” Do the work. Have a little fun. Don’t tell your PI every experiment you do.
Guilty of that. What’s a piece of advice for PIs?
Mmm… (laughs) Don’t be an a**hole.
What’s up with the fish?
Sorry, say that again?
What’s up with the fish?
The fish?
The fish.
What fish?
The fish on your faculty page3.
Oh, what’s up with the fish? Oh, that was a fish that I caught on a nice trip in Northern California. Yeah. It was a nice fish. Came all the way from the ocean, back to the river.
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1PCNA: Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen, a DNA clamp protein that hugs the DNA strands during replication and supports the work of the replicative polymerases. Though one could only postulate why Dr. Brown would want PCNA to be his best friend, it could be due to PCNA’s ability to provide stability during the chaotic process of DNA replication. Maybe we could all use a friend like PCNA.
2Both Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus are members of Boygenius.
3The fish: at the time in which the interview was conducted, Grant’s old faculty page featured a picture of him with a giant fish in his hand. Sadly the fish ceased to exist after the revamping of the departmental website prior to the publication of this article, but you can still learn more about Grant’s research on his new faculty page and the lab website.