An Interview with My Favorite Professor: Dr. Daniel J. Donoghue

WRITTEN BY SOPHIA HSU

ILLUSTRATED BY CASSANDRA CHANG

November 3, 2024 | Features | 9 min read

Thank you Dr. Donoghue for sharing your insights and experiences. Hearing your journey through academia has brought me closer to figuring out my own.

My favorite chemistry class is definitely a toss-up between two of my elective courses: Molecules that Changed the World (CHEM 151) and Pharmacology and Toxicology (CHEM 118). CHEM 151 looks at chemistry through a societal lens and studies how chemistry has impacted the world we live in. Similarly, CHEM 118 focuses on important drugs and toxins we encounter in the real world, as well as the biochemical mechanisms the drugs follow. My favorite part of both classes is the final video project: we are placed into groups and tasked to create an engaging video educating the class on any drug, chemical, or toxin of our choosing. For my project in CHEM 151, I talked about historical and modern preservation methods of pickles.

Not so coincidentally, my favorite professor, Dr. Daniel J Donoghue, teaches both classes. Dr. Donoghue has such joy and a passion for teaching his classes that I can’t help but want to learn about the chemistry in our everyday lives, whether that be the pigments in my nail polish or the Advil I popped to battle my headache.

This headache is often brought on by the fact that I’m a third-year undergraduate. I feel like I’m constantly being bombarded with questions about my post-grad plans. It’s overwhelming at times, especially when you are in the process of deciding what feels like the rest of your life. Now that I’ve put all this work into my degree, how am I gonna use it?

In order to find a solution to this question, I asked Dr. Donoghue how he got to where he is now. I figured even professors were undergrads at one point, and they sure seem like they have it figured out, so who better to ask?

Dr. Donoghue started out quite similarly to myself: a chemistry/biochemistry major wanting to attend medical school. I’ve met an almost comical number of ex-pre-med chemistry/biochemistry majors, possibly stemming from a lack of understanding of the kinds of jobs in the chemistry field. Contrary to my parents’ beliefs, it’s not doctor or bust.

Dr. Donoghue had a similar epiphany: “[As] I began to understand more about the research part of science, I began to see medicine as more of an applied science…You get sick, you go to a doctor. But a doctor doesn’t ask so much, [like] what are the underlying causes of diseases? His job is to treat you…it’s not so much an investigative journey that you expect your doctor to carry out.”

The process of identifying a new problem and working through the solution is part of the research process that I think is beloved by so many chemists, including Dr. Donoghue and myself. He says, “I very much enjoy being able to be at the lab bench…I like the process of being in the lab and doing lab work.”

As a matter of fact, Dr. Donoghue started washing glassware as a freshman or sophomore for about a year before learning lowry assays. He eventually got a research position in a plant science lab, where he spent the rest of his time as an undergrad.

During this time, Dr. Donoghue decided that he wanted to open up his own lab, drawing inspiration from his former PI. Rather than working in industry or pursuing what was lucrative, he wished to focus on his own projects. He was a science rebel who “never wanted somebody to tell me what to do.”

Currently, Dr. Donoghue’s research focuses on the cellular and molecular biology of cancer, particularly on the mechanisms underlying the disease. His research delves into how confusion of Receptor Tyrosine Kinases (RTKs) for other genes during chromosomal translocation is linked to cancer. He specifically focuses on RTKs that involve fibroblast growth factor receptors (FGFR) or neurotrophic growth factor receptors, and is most interested in understanding the downstream activation of certain cellular pathways following activation by specific genes.

So, how did he go from plant research to cancer research?

Simple. Grad school!

During his lab rotations at MIT, Dr. Donoghue worked under Dr. Philip A. Sharp, who won the Nobel prize for discovering the process of splicing. Dr. Sharp had previously worked under James Watson, colloquially known as the father of DNA.

During this time, Dr. Sharp worked at what was then known as the MIT Center for Cancer Research (now the David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT) under the overall leadership of Nobel Laureate Salvador Luria, who won the Nobel prize for his work on the replication mechanism of viruses. Dr. Luria and his wife would invite grad students to their home to enjoy coffee and treats while reading books on science and culture once a week. This mentor-mentee relationship helped to build Professor Donoghue’s interest in cancer research.

While working in the Sharp group at MIT, Dr. Donoghue also collaborated with Robert A. Weinberg, who discovered the RAS oncogene, and David Baltimore, who won the Nobel prize for the discovery of reverse transcriptase. He became interested in Weinberg’s work on how different murine sarcoma viruses (MSVs) cause cancer in mice. He learned how to propagate and study those viruses, and was able to do gene mapping of oncogenic viral genomes in collaboration with Weinberg’s lab. This was enabled by Phil Sharp’s technology and expertise in DNA biochemistry.

Dr. Donoghue’s time at MIT from 1974 to 1980 was marked by collaboration: “The labs were all open proactively. So students just wandered from Baltimore’s lab to Weinberg’s lab to Sharp’s lab, and everybody was really helpful.”

MIT was an exciting place, filled with discovery and collaboration and incredible faculty, where Dr. Donoghue could hone his passion for biochemistry. He describes it as “a place where ideas are valued and where basic research discoveries are what it’s about.” Being part of a major research institute, like MIT or UC San Diego puts you at the center of discovery.

“[UCSD] is a premier institution…It’s just exciting to be part of such a massive research enterprise,” says Dr. Donoghue. “I think my own contribution is kinda small. And probably most of us feel that way, but then you’ll hear about this colleague on the radio or you’ll read about this colleague’s work in a journal. To me, collectively, UCSD does amazing things and our students go on to do amazing things, and I just think it’s really terrific that I get to be a part of that.”

Obviously being able to be a part of a “premier institution” takes a lot of work. “Grades are really important, and they do help to shape what your options will be after you graduate and what schools you get into,” Dr. Donoghue states. But he advises to “try not to let the pressures take over your life and turn you into some sort of horrible person who just studies for 24 hours a day.” The goal is balance: undergrad is a time to “just to work hard and to learn as much as you can” while also “try[ing] to have as much fun as you can.”

“Lighten up a little bit, and [don’t] take everything so seriously,” Dr. Donoghue says. “As I’ve gotten a little bit older, I’ve become a little bit more mellow about stuff…I think when you’re young, it’s easy to be, ‘I think I know how everything should work and how people should perform and how projects should move.’”

The best way to understand research is to get involved. I don’t think I would’ve come to enjoy chemistry and biochemistry so much if I wasn’t a part of a research lab. Lab classes are a different beast, that, in my opinion, isn’t representative of how actual research is conducted. “Getting as much experience as you can in the lab…and just working really hard,” is Dr. Donoghue’s advice.

Even if you think you are underqualified to do research, just reach out to labs you are interested in. Professors don’t expect you to know everything. According to Dr. Donoghue, he just wants “somebody who’s a quick learner…and somebody who is interested [in his research].”

Sometimes it feels like the future is knocking at the door. There are a million things that are begging to be done all at once, and if this one thing doesn’t work, then it’s all over. But that’s not true at all. As Dr. Donoghue puts it, “let go of things that aren’t working…it’s okay to move forward.” It’s okay to not know what you’re doing and to change your mind because “that’s part of being young…you do have endless possibilities. And then as you make different choices, you sort of get funneled in this direction or that direction.”

That’s the kind of wisdom that only comes with age. I’m still working on that mindset at the ripe old age of 21, but it really has helped with my peace of mind. Try your best, and if it doesn’t work, it wasn’t meant to be and something else is waiting for you.

“UCSD undergrads have amazing futures in front of them that are full of endless possibilities,” Dr. Donoghue says. “Get into a lab where you’re doing something interesting. Make friends with other undergrads and grad students who are also interested in research. And just really have a good time doing it.”