What's one piece of advice Dr. Bruce Beutler gives to anyone interested in excelling in science? Go outside. It worked for him.
Beutler, 67, now a world-renowned immunologist, won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2011. But his journey started in Chicago, back when he was just a kid infatuated with the mysteries he found in nature.
"I was interested in biology from the time I was a kid," he told Investor's Business Daily. "It began with a love of nature. I was fascinated by living things from my earliest days. How can one not be? What a special form of matter. That was something that amazed me when I was a child."
The strategy worked so well for him, Beutler shared it with his own three sons. "I tried to imbue them with the same interest in nature that I had as a child," he said. "I think I succeeded at this. Two of them now have careers in science (one in physics and one in plant biology), and the other, the oldest, operates a ranch in Montana where he is happy to work with nature."
Turn Your Passion Into Your Career
Beutler is living proof you're more likely to be successful if you focus on what you love.
His passion for nature prompted Beutler to get the experience he needed to be a standout researcher. "I wanted to make my life in science and eagerly worked in several different laboratories," said Beutler.
He's now the regental professor and director of the Center for the Genetics of Host Defense at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. A pioneer in the study of innate immunity, Beutler spent decades tackling problems he saw as important to help humanity. And as a result, he broke new territory and is a leader in his field.
Following this strategy, Beutler pioneered discoveries that earned him the Nobel Prize. Beutler shared half of the award with Jules A. Hoffmann "for their discoveries concerning the activation of innate immunity," while the other half went to Ralph M. Steinman "for his discovery of the dendritic cell and its role in adaptive immunity."
The Laureates' work "revolutionized our understanding of the immune system by discovering key principles for its activation," said a Nobel statement announcing the winners.
Find Discoveries That Matter
Beutler's discoveries are technical, but he purposely targets uncovering knowledge to help real people.
His discoveries led to treatments for inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis. And they have helped relieve the pain and disabilities of patients suffering from these illnesses.
Being a physician, and a son of one, helped Beutler focus on areas that assist people to lead healthier lives, not just win awards. "This is something I credit to my father," he said. "It was actually something he repeatedly emphasized as the key to his own success."
"Knowing what's important comes from having been a physician," Beutler said. "Any curious physician naturally wonders how diseases come about. Much is known about many diseases. But for all of them one reaches a point at which there is uncertainty. Eliminating that uncertainty can be a major fundamental advance and one with practical consequences."
Tread On New Territory
Beutler finds breakthroughs working on problems that were "not much studied by other people when I began my work," he said.
His early lab training, including in his father's lab, set the stage for Beutler's discoveries and research. Beutler says the most important aspects of his journey were "learning to purify proteins, learning to map phenotypes (traits) to regions of the genome in fruit flies, and learning about LPS (Lipopolysaccharide), infectious microbes and immunology."
He drew on his knowledge in these areas "as occasions arose a few years later," after he completed his medical training. Then he began to make breakthrough discoveries of his own. When he was a postdoctoral fellow at the Rockefeller University, he "isolated TNF (a protein called tumor necrosis factor) and showed it was a key mediator (acts as a go-between molecule or messenger) of LPS effects."
Simply stated: He was the first to recognize TNF as a key activator of the inflammatory response.
Build On Your Work
But Beutler knows there's usually more to learn about an area of science, even following a breakthrough.
Later in his career, as a junior faculty member at UT Southwestern, he invented a "highly specific and effective inhibitor" of TNF. He patented this molecule. The patent was sold to Immunex, later bought by Amgen.
The TNF inhibitor became Enbrel, which became a very successful drug, prescribed to treat rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and other inflammatory diseases in which TNF causes tissue injury.
Set An Example For Your Team
Beutler didn't have leadership experience as he started bringing on researchers to help him. But he's developed his own style.
"I try to be first among equals," he said. "I'm in charge and ultimately make decisions about the direction of our work, but I work as hard as anyone in the lab."
Beutler picked up leadership lessons throughout his career as a doctor, a scientist and as a Nobel Prize winner. First, "respect, encourage and listen to members of your group, but make it clear that final decisions are yours to make," he said.
Praise skill and success, he says. But insist on honesty. It's also important to expect a lot from your people. But show that you are just as demanding of yourself. Also, forgive failure unless it stems from a basic problem that someone refuses to correct.
And lastly, don't be so familiar (with the team) that "you place your own distinction as the leader at risk," he said.
Get Help So You Can Focus
Beutler maintains control. But he also knows when to get a hand so he can lock in.
"He's a forward thinker and understands the important questions to ask. He tackles the big problems, no matter how difficult, and never thinks small," said Betsy Layton, departmental administrator at UT Southwestern Medical Center for the Genetics of Host Defense.
Layton has worked with Beutler since meeting him in 1986. Over the years, she has become his "right-hand person." She works to manage the administrative aspects of Beutler's work so he can focus on the science.
Layton says he's also "very passionate about his work for all the right reasons and not for self-glory."
Spot New Opportunities
Beutler's lab is always looking for ways to apply its know-how.
It pioneered a method known as automated meiotic mapping, or AMM. This links abnormal traits in mutant mice to the mutations that cause them in real time. Doing so is helpful in "identifying genes needed to maintain a normal physiologic state."
The method stands to expedite the research and discovery process. The impact is massive.
"(AMM) has the potential to find targets for drug discovery leading to the treatment or even cure of many, and perhaps most, human diseases," Beutler said.
Together with two other scientists, Peppi Prasit and Xinzhu Wang, Beutler founded a company called Potentiam Biosciences. "In the long run, we will find solutions to many other diseases ... almost any disease that can be modeled in mice," he said.
Tap Your Roots
Science is in Beutler's DNA. He follows a family tradition with four consecutive generations of Beutlers in medicine and science. "My father's parents were both physicians. My father was a practicing hematologist and a distinguished biomedical scientist. He was a strong influence on me," he said.
His father's teachings continued over the years until his death in 2008. "He was renowned for his work in biochemical genetics," said Beutler. "I learned a great deal from him, and we were very close during the later years of his life."
Dr. Bruce Beutler's Keys
- Winner of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering a family of receptors that allow mammals to sense infections when they occur. Patented the molecule, which became Enbrel, to treat inflammatory diseases.
- Overcame: Challenges of finding funding for exploratory scientific research.
- Lesson: "I didn't have any formal training in leadership. I had to find my way."
