Center for Research Excellence

Faculty Spotlight

Inaugural CRE Faculty Spotlight in Review: Think of Research as a Team Approach

The Center for Research Excellence recently launched its first Faculty Research & Creative Activity Spotlight, drawing faculty from four of Xavier’s five colleges. The event in HUB 402 demonstrated that there is a strong interest for cross-disciplinary connection and honest conversations and idea sharing about the scholarly journey at a teaching-centered institution.

One Lab, Three Models of Success

Hanna Wetzel, Ph.D (Biology & Osteopathic Medicine) shared how she manages a high-impact research program while balancing a 3/3 teaching load and 20 advisees . She outlined three distinct ways she involved students and suggested that it could work for other faculty.

  1. The Student-Driven Model: Finding the Success when presented with a Hurdle

First, Dr. Wetzel shared a story about a group of ambitious students investigating energy drinks

  • The Hurdle: Halfway through the summer, a student accidentally ordered creatinine (a toxic byproduct) instead of creatine.
  • The Pivot: Rather than scrapping the data, Hanna leaned into the unexpected hurdle. By collaborating with another Xavier faculty, who is an analytical chemist, to investigate this unforeseen introduction of the creatinine, she turned a lab error into two peer-reviewed publications.
  1. The Grant-Driven Model: Do what the grant says

Opposite of turning a mistake into win, when working on a sub-award from an NIH-funded lab at Yale, the team faced a rigid timeline and highly specific protocols

  • The Hurdle: The deadline was closing in, data collecting was not going well and finals week had come.
  • The Pivot: Do not underestimate your student workers and also support them with some Starbucks DoorDash. The student team were able to complete the experiments and finished the project within the sub-award allotted time.
  1. The Classroom-Based Model: Research for Everyone

To reach more students, Hanna adapted her sabbatical research into a Biology Capstone course.

  • The Hurdle: Logistical barriers made it impossible for 17 students to access sensitive clinical data.
  • The Pivot: Hanna shifted to using publicly available clinical datasets, allowing students to complete a full research cycle, from hypothesis to poster presentation, in just 16 weeks .

The Director’s Takeaway

The session emphasized that at Xavier, research is a team sport. Dr. Wetzel noted that her most proud moments aren't just the papers, but the fact that her students, regardless of the messiness of the process, graduate with the skills that allow them to land either land in graduate school or hit the ground running in the workforce.

"The narrative is: What did me and the students and the collaborators and the funders feel like doing day-to-day? It’s about providing authentic research experiences with the facilities at our disposal." — Hanna Wetzel, Ph.D.

Share Your Story: Call for Future Presenters

Do you have a project you are excited about? We are looking for faculty from all disciplines, the Humanities and Professional Sciences to the Arts, 

to feature in our upcoming Spotlight sessions.

Whether you are in the middle of a multi-year study, launching a new creative endeavor, or adapting your research for the classroom, we want to hear about it!

The Main Connector: The heart of this series is the Hurdles & Hacks conversation. You don't need a massive lab or a team of students to present. We are simply looking for colleagues who are willing to pull back the curtain and talk about the reality of their process; the logistics, the pivots, and the creative solutions that make your work possible at a teaching-centered university.

Nominate yourself or a colleague: If you are interested in spending an hour sharing your work and building community, please reach out to the Center for Research Excellence.

Send an email to the Director and get on the schedule