Dr. Stephen DiNardo is the chair of DSRB (Developmental, Stem, & Regenerative Biology), but to the students in DSRB, he is so much more. Self-declared “Your Leader Steve”, he offers himself to students as a constant academic advisor, scientific mentor, and friend. Steve developed a love for biology during his sophomore year at Columbia under the tutelage of a very enthusiastic biochemistry teacher. After taking time off to work as a research technician, Steve attended graduate school at the State University of New York at Stony Brook before becoming a post-doctoral fellow at University of California, San Francisco. Both positions gave him access to advisors he credits with shaping him into the mentor he is today. He describes his graduate advisor Rolf Sternglanz as very “linear, logical, and always doing small experiments at the bench himself,” while his post-doctoral mentor Patel O’Farrell was more of a “wild guy, smart and sharp, who jumped around between ideas.” Steve has apparently studied both styles carefully, as he is a jovial, witty mentor with a passion for his students.
Before his appointment as chair of the DSRB program in July 2012, Steve was a “very active” faculty member, first at Rockefeller, then here at Penn. He credits former chairs Sarah Millar and Daniel Kessler with establishing a well-run program that he only “tweaked a bit.” “The first year I did just about everything myself and learned what could be delegated to other active, involved faculty members,” says DiNardo. He also credits coordinator Meagan Schofer for all of her incredible administrative efforts, and for running DSRB student gatherings, saying that, “she really does it all.” His role as DSRB chair involves coordinating admissions, meeting with executive committees to discuss course curricula and funding for program events, running preliminary exams, and organizing student symposia. He especially enjoys talking with students, particularly at the student brunch during recruitment weekends. “The best thing about this job is the students; you guys are all interesting, smart, and active, and most are engaged. You put this energy in and I feel like I have to give it back.”
When asked how he balances running a lab, having a family, and being chair, he says, “I don’t actively decide how much energy I put in, [things] just come up as they do and it gets done.” In his spare time, he plays the ukulele (often with DSRB students) and explores electronics and STEM subjects with his daughter and her friends. Ever the advisor, Steve wants all of his students to know, “Don’t forget that you’re doing something that’s pretty unique; you’re figuring out something that’s new, and not many professions do that and that’s really special. You get to contribute on a minor scale to what’s known and that’s a blast and a little bit of an ego trip. Find what excites you and how you want to get at it; [this is] important as long as the question is important.”