Don Sakaguchi was charting a course to medical school as a biology undergraduate at the State University of New York, Albany, when he made a life-changing discovery. While studying insect sensory systems in a neurobiology lab, he realized it was the research -- not the medical path -- that truly inspired him.
"It opened my eyes to a totally different area of life sciences. To me, it's really important to share that experience with other students," he said.
Sakaguchi has shared that research experience with more than 220 undergraduate students over 35 years at Iowa State, where he is a Morrill Professor and director of the biology and genetics undergraduate programs. Sakaguchi is a faculty member in the Department of Genetics, Development and Cell Biology.
Discover more about Sakaguchi and others in the Inside Iowa State article by Kristin Guess, Angie Hunt and Anne Krapfl: "Why faculty get excited about undergraduate research."