Cultivating Hematology Excellence: Having a Community of Mentors

By Moua Yang , PhD, Assistant Professor, Division of Hematology and Oncology, University of Washington, Assistant Member, Bloodworks Northwest Research Institute

As a blood scientist, I do not see patients but focus on understanding the knowledge gaps that would inform drug discoveries or improve treatment strategies for patients with blood disorders. As with many hematologists, we are molded from a community of mentors and from our own inspiration and growth into our unique fields of expertise.

My roots started from my first mentors — my parents. They had emphasized the academic path because we were Hmong refugees from the Secret War in Laos during the Vietnam War era. We came to the U.S. after our refugee camp in Thailand closed. My father was the main influence, always emphasizing education because formal education is a life they never experienced. My mother provided support and strength for my family in many ways as she gracefully navigated building a new life for us in a new country. It is the support of my parents that allowed me to put 100% of my effort to pursue knowledge, allowing me to first experience the excitement of scientific discovery during college.?

Like other Hmong students, my family did not have the resources to help me excel in standardized tests for PhD programs. Program directors helped me isolate my strengths and focus on weaknesses, allowing me to secure a PhD candidacy at the Medical College of Wisconsin. I was fortunate to train under Dr. Roy Silverstein, a hematologist, leader in thrombosis and hemostasis, and former president of the American Society of Hematology. Dr. Silverstein is the quintessential mentor through his unwavering dedication and persistent focus on the growth of trainees.?

My scientific training matured from the unique blend of guidance and autonomy within Dr. Silverstein’s mentorship style. Dr. Silverstein’s encouragement of students to “own their project” built my confidence in asking scientific questions, designing appropriate experiments, and developing independence as an investigator. Success requires more than one mentor — and at all levels. Dr. Silverstein helped me connect with many leading investigators in the field, thus expanding my network and allowing me to land a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School in the laboratory of Dr. Rob Flaumenhaft, a leading investigator in thrombosis and hemostasis. Dr. Flaumenhaft furthered my training by helping me home in on any deficient scientific skills. Under his wings, my scientific progress proliferated.?

During my postdoc years, I connected with other Hmong scientists to help interested Hmong students along the path of pursuing biomedical science. I also learned more about the art of mentorship while working closely with trainees in the lab, allowing for a more in-depth perspective of guiding someone through hypotheses testing. It is these experiences that helped me build my own mentorship style while tailoring the experience to the needs of the mentees. I learned that not all students start at the same level. Some students are superstars right away. Some students require more guidance until they can build the confidence to proceed independently. And there are some students with limited scientific backgrounds where effective mentorship is crucial. It is these students whose learning we must consider how to best support, while identifying areas where our mentorship might be strengthened. Effective mentoring may also require an interdisciplinary collaboration and partnership with clinicians to understand the gaps in treating and improving clinical care for patients with blood disorders.

It truly takes a community of people, including our family and friends, teachers and students, and patients, to guide us on the path to be the best hematologists we can be. Dr. Silverstein’s mentor, hematologist Dr. Ralph Nachman, once emphasized the importance to “pass on the baton.” So many of us have received the baton from our former mentors, and I feel strongly it is our duty to pass the baton to our mentees so that they can go the distance.

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