Mentor Extraordinaire

Van Doze, Ph.D., likes to give students – all types of students – opportunity to learn about biomedical research, maybe because he grew up in rural Kansas where such opportunity was limited.

“I had a mentor at Wichita State who took me under his wing and encouraged me to go out-of-state, get experience in research, and

bring it back to the Plains,” he recalls.

He did just that, selecting Stanford University in Palo Alto, CA, to pursue his doctoral degree.  He joined UND in 2000 as assistant

professor of pharmacology, physiology and therapeutics.

For the past six years, he has mentored more than 30 students who range from high school- to middle-age – the latter, science teachers who take summer stints with Doze in order to bring

new knowledge and techniques back to their classrooms.

Doze recruits students from colleges, throughout the nation, that don’t offer research opportunities, using funds from the National

Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institutes of Health, the medical school and his own grants.

For example, under the NSF “Research Experience in Neuroscience for Undergraduates from Rural and Tribal Colleges” program, he is teaching students from across the state, including several Native Americans.

When recruiting, he looks for students with rural and tribal backgrounds or “kids who need money and have lacked opportunity,” he says.  While he receives applications from very

bright students, “grades don’t always correlate with how well they’ll do.  Desire is more important.  I’d rather have them motivated.”

Van Doze, Ph.D., instructs Brianna Goldenstein, a UND senior from Granite Falls, MN, about her research.

In very busy labs, running two “shifts” that keep students conducting experiments sometimes into the wee hours of the morning, students range from those starting out with very little

experience to those in the final stages of completing their Ph.D. degrees, working on very challenging projects.

Many are interested in medical school, while others are heading for careers in research, teaching or careers in the pharmaceutical

industry.  He counsels and advises students (and even keeps a well-stocked pantry for those with limited resources).

One of his students, Floyd Laverdure, 47, a teacher-in-training from Belcourt, ND, is working with Doze this summer to build science-teaching skills so needed on the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation.

Another student, a recent Grand Forks Central High School graduate, Ke Xu has been conducting epilepsy research with Doze for the past few years, testing the effect of certain drugs on lab rats.  He’s preparing a paper to submit to a scientific journal and will attend Harvard this fall to continue his interest in neuroscience.  Eventually, he plans to pursue graduate studies in neuroscience and to work as a university researcher or professor.

Nurturing and encouraging students’ interest in science is a deep-seated force in Doze.

“This is an academic institution; part of our mission is outreach,” he asserts. “Students are important. Isn’t that why we’re here?”

- Pamela D. Knudson

Printable PDF version of issue

return to top