For this Faculty Feature, we spoke with Stephen Persaud, MD, PhD. who is physician-scientist in the Division of Laboratory and Genomic Medicine.
Tell us about your background. Where did you grow up, and when did you first become interested in science and medicine?
I grew up in Fredonia, NY, which is a small suburb on Lake Erie about an hour southwest of Buffalo. Growing up, math and science were always my favorite subjects in school, influenced to some degree by having a fair number of family members and acquaintances being physicians. They were all consummate clinicians who were not terribly interested in being basic science researchers; I think my interests in that area started to develop late in high school and in early undergraduate years. My senior high “Topics in Biology” course was very hands-on and had a strong field biology component, which resulted in my appreciation of science and nature and thinking more about how things in biology work. In undergraduate, as my knowledge base grew, I found myself wanting to learn firsthand how the classroom studies transferred to the lab. Between all the new knowledge I gained in the lab, being able to do interesting methods, and the thought that my knowledge gained in the lab could one day impact how we think about and treat disease, I was hooked. I knew research was going to be a significant part of my career going forward.
What is your career path?
After graduating from Fredonia High School in 2001, I went a few hours down the road to Ithaca, NY to study Biology at Cornell. After finishing undergraduate in 2005, I took a gap year to pursue a post-baccalaureate fellowship at the University of Rochester, which was my first exposure to immunology. I finally left Upstate NY in 2006 when I matriculated into the MSTP at WashU Medicine, where I earned my PhD while with Dr. Paul Allen on the impacts of basal T cell receptor signaling on T cell fate, function, and response to infection.
I stayed in the department after completing my MD/PhD in 2015 to join the PSTP in Clinical Pathology, with the residency aspect of my training completed in 2018. During my postdoc phase, I worked in John DiPersio’s lab to start a new project on antibody-based conditioning regimens for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Originally studied for use in treating acute myeloid leukemia, now for investigating applications for non-malignant blood diseases such as sickle cell anemia. Based on my initial work in the lab, we were fortunate to receive funding leading to my current role as Instructor, which I have held since 2020.
Since then, I have been building and expanding my research program in the areas of minimally toxic transplant conditioning to eventually launch my own independent research lab in this area.
3. What are your favorite parts of your current role?
I enjoy having a great deal of flexibility and independence in planning and conducting my research. I am also fortunate to have the resources and particularly the support and trust of my mentor, Dr. John DiPersio, to build what was at the time a brand-new project in the lab from the ground up. Other than the fact that mouse transplant experiments tend to take forever, I enjoy the research itself, which allows me to apply my experience in immunology to leukemia, stem cell biology, and now non-malignant hematology. I have also greatly enjoyed the opportunity to mentor an undergraduate student, who after working with me for three years, graduated in May 2024 (and who, incidentally, nudged me back onto a normal work schedule after a year of shift work during the pandemic). Seeing Aditya (my student) develop his skills in the lab, present at conferences, and now having his name on his first manuscript(s) has been extremely rewarding.
What is a memorable moment you have had while working in the department?
There have been many memorable moments during my approximately 18 years at WashU (16 years in the department). Most of those moments would be during my PhD training in the Immunobiology Division. WashU Medicine’s Immunology has a well-earned reputation of being a rigorous place to train, leading to a strong camaraderie among those of us here at the same time. We all worked hard and struggled at times to make it but having a solid crew of people to celebrate and, at times, commiserate with (particularly Fridays around 5pm after Works Iin Progress) made the journey enjoyable and certainly memorable.
In more recent years, the surprise of both of my first two grant applications being funded was a significant and memorable milestone. Naturally, a lot of thoughts surrounded receiving this news, but the two main ones were “I can’t believe both got funded,” and “don’t get used to this.”
What special skills or talents do you have that people may not know about?
During the pandemic, I developed a few new skills out of necessity due to various items being either unavailable or suddenly very expensive. This includes making bread, including with my very own sourdough starter, and my own vanilla extract. I had lofty goals of learning to home brew beer which never happened because going to Schnucks was always, by far, the path of least resistance.
What are some of your favorite hobbies or activities?
My hobbies tend toward the domestic: cooking, gardening, video games, streaming movies and TV shows, and a low-to-medium skill level for DIY home improvement projects. Others include cycling, weightlifting, and trying new restaurants.
What is your advice to aspiring people in your field?
Research truly is more marathon than sprint (though there certainly are phases of both). Patience and persistence are key and being able to step away to rest and prioritize friends, family, and hobbies is important for staying the course. Also, learn as much as you can from people whose career paths and scientific fields differ from your own, preferably earlier on in your career. Along similar lines, seek mentorship from many sources, in addition to your PI or immediate supervisor, so you can incorporate diverse viewpoints and expertise into your career development.
