Michael (Mickey) Marks, PhD

Mickey Marks is a Professor at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. He received his Ph.D. in Microbiology/ Immunology at Duke University in 1989, and completed two post-doctoral fellowships at the National Institutes of Health before joining Penn's faculty in 1995. He moved across the courtyard to the Penn-affiliated Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute in 2013. Mickey's lab studies the molecular mechanisms underlying the formation, maturation and functioning of cell type-specific lysosome-related organelles, including pigment cell melanosomes, platelet dense granules, and organelles in innate immune cells. His lab has largely focused on the functions of genes that are mutated in the genetic disease, Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome, and in various forms of oculocutaneous albinism. Mickey has been a co-editor of Traffic from 2012-2020, will be a senior editor at Molecular Biology of the Cell from 2021 on, and currently chairs the National Institutes of Health peer review group on Membrane Biology and Protein Processing. Mickey has mentored numerous graduate students and post-docs, and was proudly given the CHOP mentoring award in 2019. When not focusing on science, Mickey likes to relax with his family, his two dogs, and playing the guitar and piano.

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/mickey-marks-2b67b3a/
Website: www.med.upenn.edu/markslab/

Areas of Support

• Preparing for the next step with mentee's career

• Advising on the job search

• Improving mentoring skills

• Increasing visibility / reputation

• Managing time and competing priorities

• Learning how to network

• Improving organizational skills

• Growing in effective communication

• Practicing work/life balance or work/life integration

• Holding mentee accountable to deadlines / commitments

• Scientific advice (cell biology, biochemistry)

Mentoring Style

• Cheerleader: This type of mentor cheers on mentees and notices their progress. If a mentee makes a mistake, the cheerleader focuses on how the mistake will help the mentee grow.

• Connector: The connector helps mentees network online and in person. They will connect their mentees with others who can help them with their specific goals.

About Me

I am strongly committed to training a more diverse next generation of scientists, particularly women, under-represented minorities, and first generation college/ graduate school graduates. I have also worked extensively with foreign collaborators (European, Japanese, Chinese and Indian) and have hosted postdocs, students, and visiting scientists from many countries. Thus, I like to work with a broad spectrum of trainees. I work best with individuals who are self-motivated.