Whitehead Culture

Lab Manager and Electron Microscopy Specialist Nicki Watson (left) and Light Microscopy Specialist Wendy Salmon (right)

Nicki Watson and Wendy Salmon: W. M. Keck Microscopy Facility

April 09, 2020

Light Microscopy Specialist Wendy Salmon sometimes finds herself looking into microscopy images like shapes in the clouds. “I’ll say, ‘Look, there’s a snowman!’” she says. The habit comes a deep familiarity with the odd shapes found in microscopy, she says.

Collage of video call interface, baked goods and lab supplies.

Whitehead Institute in Action

Whitehead Culture

March 13, 2020

See what our community has been up to to during these unprecedented times.

Director of the Human Stem Cell Facility, Maya Mitalipova

Maya Mitalipova: Human Stem Cell Facility

Whitehead Culture

March 09, 2020

Maya Mitalipova, director of the Human Stem Cell Facility, isolated some of the first human embryonic stem cell lines confirmed by the National Institutes of Health in 2001. With 18 years of experience with human embryonic stem cells (HSCs) and having isolated 19 HSC lines at Whitehead Institute, Mitalipova says that her knowledge lets her troubleshoot nearly any hurdle that researchers encounter.

Master of the opening game: Gerald Fink reflects on his first 50 years in science

Plant Biology

Genetics + Genomics

January 30, 2020

The Annual Report’s editors asked Fink to reflect on his experiences in research, teaching, and leading Whitehead Institute.

A woman pours herself some coffee in the Whitehead Caf.

The Caf: A Kendall Square Institution

Whitehead Culture

June 19, 2019

For nearly 30 years, Salt Creek Catering — led by husband-and-wife team Jim Nally and Tina Truedson — has served Whitehead Institute with delicious food made in-house and reasonably priced. The Whitehead Cafeteria, affectionately known as “the Caf,” is a nexus of the Institute’s community as well as a culinary keystone for people working around Kendall Square.

Meet the Scientists Keeping Whitehead Institute’s Core Facilities Thriving

Whitehead Culture

February 04, 2019

From genomics to electron microscopy, the Institute’s core facilities scientists excel in enabling world-class research.

Images of the International Space Station and NASA Astronaut Kathleen "Kate" Rubins

AudioHelicase: NASA Astronaut and Former Whitehead Fellow Kathleen "Kate" Rubins

Whitehead Culture

October 23, 2017

NASA Astronaut and Former Whitehead Fellow Kathleen "Kate" Rubins discusses her journey from studying pox viruses to sequencing DNA in space.

Still images of a microglia-like cell branching

Derived neural immune cells enable new facet of neurodegeneration research

Whitehead Culture

Neurodegenerative disease

Neurobiology

September 26, 2016

Whitehead Institute scientists have devised a protocol for pushing human pluripotent stem cells to become microglia—the specialized immune cells that maintain the brain and care for it after injury. Microglia play an important role in neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, and studying these cells has been very difficult until now.