John W. Kappler, Ph.D. and Philippa Marrack, Ph.D.

The speakers for the 1996 Holiday Lectures on Science series were John W. Kappler, Ph.D., and Philippa Marrack, Ph.D. Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigators and members of the Department of Medicine at the National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver, Colorado.

If asked what trait would be most useful for a budding scientist to cultivate, many people probably would say "being really smart." But immunologists John Kappler and Philippa Marrack say that an excess of brain power is not necessarily what you need. Instead, they recommend determination, flexibility, patience, working well with your peers, and luck for building a successful scientific career.

Drs. Kappler and Marrack know more than most about what it takes to succeed in science—and even more than that about how to get along with laboratory partners. Married since 1974, they have enjoyed a uniquely productive personal and professional partnership for more than two decades. During their careers, they have produced a steady stream of advances in our understanding of how the immune system operates, punctuated by a few major discoveries that have earned them global reputations as immunologists of the highest caliber.

Dr. Marrack cites three traits that have been helpful to her and that she says many good biologists have. First, she says, you need to be alert and able to determine what your results—especially unexpected results—are trying to tell you. "Accidental discoveries are often the best, but you must be able to pay attention to the unexpected data," she says. "If you can't, you'll miss the most important findings."

But beyond intellectual flexibility, Dr. Marrack says, you need both tenacity and a special kind of patience—as well as the ability to find satisfaction in the smallest details while slowly building a much bigger picture. "In science, you need to know what the most important question is and be willing to do whatever it takes to answer that question," says Dr. Marrack. "John and I have always had a clear idea of what we wanted to find out, and we have pursued it ruthlessly. But really big discoveries rarely happen", she continues. "For most of your daily scientific life you have to be satisfied with little things, small satisfactions. Just the fact that the gel ran straight or that the cell cultures seem healthy counts as a small triumph."

Dr. Kappler agrees and adds that another important trait is the ability to forge productive scientific collaborations. "Almost nobody succeeds in this business all by themselves, and I owe a lot of my success to the people I've worked with." Dr. Kappler also says that the whims of fate play a role in moving a scientist out to the sharpest part of the cutting edge. "Serendipity plays an awfully big role in most scientific careers and even then only if you're in the right place at the right time and collaborating with good people," says Dr.Kappler. "We sometimes don't like to admit it, but to make discoveries you have to be lucky."

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