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Getting to Know Ralph DeBerardinis, MD, PhD

Date Posted: Wednesday, January 15, 2025

Dr. Ralph DeBerardinis is the Director of the Eugene McDermott Center for Human Growth & Development at UT Southwestern and a distinguished investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. His research explores altered metabolic states in human diseases, including cancer and inborn metabolic disorders in children.  As a long-time leader in cancer metabolism, he has made seminal discoveries in metabolic reprogramming in tumors and pioneered advanced techniques in metabolic flux analysis. Dr. DeBerardinis is widely recognized for his scientific contributions, earning numerous honors, including membership in the National Academy of Medicine. Additionally, he is celebrated for his outstanding mentorship and dedication to training the next generation of scientists. In recognition of his transformative impact on the field, Dr. DeBerardinis has been named a 2025 MetNet Pioneer in Metabolism.

Following our tradition we asked Ralph some science and non-science questions!

What traditions are unique to the DeBerardinis lab environment?  

When a trainee finishes in the lab (e.g. a student defends their Ph.D. or a postdoc gets a job), we have a little ceremony where they get “the mug.”  Basically it's a coffee mug with the lab logo.  A former student started this tradition and it stuck. It’s goofy but I think people look forward to getting the mug.

Also, once a year we do something ridiculous to have fun and promote teamwork. This year it was pickleball (see photo). Last year, go-cart racing. Once we played “whirlyball” (an insane combination of bumper cars and lacrosse). One of the new-ish trainees in the lab organizes the activity, and we all have dinner together afterwards.

What is your idea of a perfect relaxing day outside of work?

No time pressure in the morning. Coffee, exercise, maybe a podcast. Take my daughter shopping, someplace fun for her. Dinner out with my wife and a couple of friends. Simple!  Relaxation is hard to come by these days, so the less going on, the better.

What is your hidden talent that most people do not know about? 

I’ve played the guitar since college. I like it because I can still learn new chords, scales &  songs. It’s good to have a hobby where you can keep getting better as you get older.

Do you have unique/important mentoring philosophies?

I try to understand what motivates the mentees and how to match each one with a project that fits their capabilities but requires them to push their boundaries. I try not to micromanage, especially postdocs. Every mentee has frequent, scheduled 1:1 meetings where I try to ask: what is the hypothesis you want to test; is this the best experiment to test that hypothesis; and if you prove your hypothesis, why will it matter?

As the lab got bigger, I tried to find ways to stimulate crosstalk and feedback among the trainees. We incorporated this into the lab meeting format by alternating between a long-form presentation of a project by one trainee, and a “round table” where everyone has to present one new piece of data. This means that everyone gets at least a snippet of every project a couple times a month. That raises everyone’s awareness of all projects, and produces more feedback, more collaboration, more reagent sharing and ultimately more accountability (i.e. the trainees started to feel a little more pressure to generate data).

What are some memorable moments from your research training or as an independent PI? 

When I arrived at UT Southwestern, I had no direct access to mass spectrometry (in fact there was very little at UT Southwestern at that time). David Russell had an old single-quad GC/MS in his lab and said he would run samples for me once a week or so. That’s how it went for the first 6 months; I’d bring some samples up to David’s lab and Jeff McDonald, a senior scientist in the Russell lab, would run them for us. Then David called one day to say he was buying a brand new GC/MS, and would I like to have the old one?  My first thought was, “How can I be so lucky?” My second was, “I have no idea how to operate this thing.” But that turned out to be a crucial moment because it forced me to develop real expertise in using the technology to ask biological questions. That in turn gave me a much more practical understanding of its capabilities and limitations. That instrument, amazingly, is still in the lab and still turns out high-quality data for us every week.

Looking back on your path so far, any advice for trainees?

It is so important to train yourself to communicate well. This takes practice, patience and openness to constructive criticism. But it’s worth the effort. Clear communication.  Great slides, concise writing & precise language is above all else what determines who excels and who struggles. A big part of science is convincing people that what you are doing is interesting, and what you have discovered is worth thinking about. You can only do that with clear communication.  

What would you do with more free time?

Learn to code and develop a real expertise in statistics.

What are your best science-related & non-science habits?

Science-related: When I am writing a manuscript, I have gotten into the habit of thinking about how my college biology professor would react to it. He is a very smart and curious guy, but not an expert in metabolism. Would he understand what I’m writing? If yes, then I’m on the right track. If no, then I need to work harder to make the writing and figures accessible. This is particularly important for papers we send to journals with broad audiences.

Non-science related: Exercise practically every day, at least a little.

What profession do you think you would have if you weren’t a scientist?

Journalist. Maybe a critic of some kind.

Favorites: 

Movie: After all these years, it’s still hard to beat “Jaws”

Band: The Police

TV Series: The Wire & Breaking Bad