How Rochester鈥檚 Vice President for Research built a career on curiosity, collaboration, and access.
In a second-floor office in the Del Monte Research Building at the is an unassuming door that wasn鈥檛 always there. Nothing extraordinary. Simply an extra entrance cut into the wall when , the vice president for research at the 人妻少妇专区, first moved into the space. Dewhurst asked for the extra door in 2009 when he became chair of the because he wanted to offer direct access, without people鈥檚 having to go first through his administrator in the adjacent room.
鈥淢aking yourself available is super important,鈥� Dewhurst says. 鈥淧eople are more likely to come talk to you if they find you approachable.鈥�
That small architectural adjustment is in many ways indicative of his approach to leadership: accessible and acutely aware of the human relationships that frequently underpin the successful work of scientists.
With no fewer than to his name, Dewhurst has become a respected scientific and academic leader. An accomplished virologist and HIV researcher, he鈥檚 served as the vice president for research since 2023 (having held the role on an interim basis for the preceding two years) and as the vice dean for research at Rochester鈥檚聽 since 2013.
He came, saw, and stayed
English-born Dewhurst, who earned a bachelor鈥檚 degree in cellular pathology from the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom and a PhD in pathology and microbiology from the University of Nebraska, first arrived on the Rochester campus in 1990. He never left.
鈥淚 stayed because I really liked the people I met in my interview,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hat relationship to faculty, staff, and students here has never changed.鈥�
Though trained as a virologist during the early years of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, Dewhurst鈥檚 career was never confined to a single field. His research has crossed disciplines鈥攆rom a long-term collaboration with a pediatrician to studies of viral peptides with chemists. At one point, he worked with faculty from the departments of chemistry, obstetrics and gynecology, and infectious diseases to study how self-assembling peptides can influence the sexual transmission of HIV. These weren鈥檛 just scientific intersections鈥攖hey were human ones, too.
The best collaborations, says Dewhurst, are those when 鈥測ou get to work with people who know stuff you don鈥檛, and who think of things you鈥檇 never think of.鈥�
One of his most enduring collaborations was with the late , a professor in the at the Medical Center. An expert in pediatric infectious diseases, Hall had begun to study a newly described virus known as (HHV-6), which had been recently linked to (also known as sixth disease)鈥攁 very common childhood illness that her father, Burtis Breese, had studied back in the 1930s and 40s. Hall had access to clinical samples; Dewhurst brought molecular virology expertise to the table.
Together, and with the help of other collaborators, they explored questions neither could have answered alone鈥攕uch as the clinical consequences of viral infections in young kids. In fact, in infants and young children, , HHV-6 infection is a major cause of visits to the emergency department, febrile seizures, and hospitalizations.
According to Dewhurst, it鈥檚 this spirit of cross-pollination that makes up the essence of Rochester.
鈥淭he culture is extremely collaborative,鈥� he says, pointing out the geographic proximity of the Medical Center and River 人妻少妇专区, which are across the street from one another.
鈥淭here鈥檚 something different here,鈥� he adds. Large labs with more than 20 people are quite rare at Rochester, 鈥渟o you likely need to collaborate to succeed. Most people cannot be an island unto themselves.鈥�
A mentor鈥檚 gift
Dewhurst鈥檚 leadership style was forged not just in labs but also through various mentors in his early career. He recalls a pivotal moment during his time as a postdoctoral researcher at the Harvard School of Public Health, when he was part of a research team preparing a paper for聽a top scientific journal鈥攖he type of opportunity that can catapult a young scientist鈥檚 career.
The work involved scientists from two institutions, and the senior leaders of both groups felt that their contributions merited recognition. As a result, Dewhurst鈥檚 position as first author on the paper was suddenly in jeopardy. A postdoctoral trainee at the time, Dewhurst knew the loss of first-author credit would greatly diminishing his future job prospects.
That鈥檚 when his mentor, James Mullins, made a quiet but powerful decision. 鈥淛im was kind enough to remove himself from the senior authorship, in order to create space for me to be first author,鈥� Dewhurst says. 鈥淭hat made a huge difference. I wouldn鈥檛 be sitting here if that hadn鈥檛 happened.鈥�
It鈥檚 a lesson that stuck with him and one that he鈥檚 been trying to pay forward to his own mentees.
An accidental leader
Truth be told, Dewhurst鈥檚 career was less of a well-laid plan than a slow accumulation of yeses to unexpected opportunities. At Rochester, he first led a summer research program for undergraduates at the 聽and then won a National Institutes of Health grant to support those historically excluded from biomedical science. Later came an associate deanship, a period as a department chair, followed by a vice deanship.
Dewhurst insists he never set out to become an administrator. Instead, each step was something of a surprise. 鈥淧eople have asked me to step into roles that I might not have thought of for myself,鈥� he says.
But he figured that if others believed he could do it, he鈥檇 give it his best shot.
Now, as the University鈥檚 head of research, Dewhurst is a steward of programs and initiatives far beyond his own training and expertise.
鈥淚鈥檓 grateful that I get to be a voice for the research community,鈥� he says, explaining that he often speaks about the University鈥檚 research with the media, legislators, members of the board of trustees, donors, and other supporters of the institution.
As that voice he helps champion and oversee projects in areas as diverse as astrophysics, biomedical research, education, extended reality, humanistic inquiry, music, quantum science, and resilience. As an example, he describes Rochester鈥檚 : the facility not only supports national security and world-class research on nuclear fusion and plasma physics; it鈥檚 also the site of training for scientists, including those who helped achieve nuclear fusion, or 鈥渋gnition,鈥� in 2022.
鈥淭he majority of the people who did that experiment trained at Rochester,鈥� Dewhurst says, adding that 鈥渞esearchers get paid to explore. In doing that, we create enormous societal benefit.鈥�
Putting the art in science
An avid collector of contemporary art, Dewhurst鈥檚 office boasts a dozen framed drawings and paintings鈥攁ll original art鈥攁nd two large canvases with strong colors and bold brushstrokes.
He was instrumental in bringing artist to the University, originally to create portraits of people affected by HIV and mental health diagnoses鈥攇roups that are often stigmatized.
鈥淭he ability to humanize people and make their stories understandable, relatable, and important,鈥� Dewhurst says, 鈥渋s something unique that art can do鈥攖hat science can鈥檛.鈥� Which is why, in part, Wheatley has more recently created a that seeks both to humanize the researchers and to explain how their work improves lives.
Those dual commitments鈥攖o discovery and humanity鈥攕hape how he sees the future of the University鈥檚 research enterprise. Despite budget pressures and political headwinds, Dewhurst remains hopeful, noting the University鈥檚 recent decision to invest $8.5 million in four new transdisciplinary research centers.
鈥淲e鈥檙e all concerned about federal support for scholarship and research,鈥� he says, 鈥渂ut research will continue. And it鈥檒l continue to advance knowledge, to save lives, to improve the world鈥攂ecause those ideals and goals are something we can all agree on.鈥�
