Scott Heller, PhD

Senior Research Scientist, Beta Cell Regeneration Department, employed since June 1997

“I was recruited from the Harvard Medical School, so I actually didn’t apply for the job. I was motivated by the high quality research that was and still is being performed here and all the facilities available. HRI is a great place to work and it’s a place that goes out of its way to help you do what you do best as a scientist.

As Senior Research Scientist I work with basic research on pancreatic regeneration, publish research papers and generate patents. Also, I supervise and train students and other scientists and make the research done here at HRI visible to the outside world. The most exciting part of my job is the opportunity to take early basic science ideas and doing the experiments to better understand the biology of the pancreas. All our work is done with a hope that it will one day lead to a treatment for diabetes. My work continues to be challenging as science is changing at such a rapid pace and you must stay informed of the latest research and methods to continue to be competitive and the best in the field. I have a lot of freedom in my work, the opportunity to publish interesting research papers and the chance to collaborate with many interesting and professional people.

We have lots of students from the university and other new and exiting people to interact with on a daily basis. This creates a dynamic atmosphere. Sometimes I think we spend too much time in meetings. But these are also what keep us on track when many different projects are all running at the same time.”