Dipping his brush into his palette, Professor Michael S. Hudecki paints a picture with oil paints and canvas. With this picture, he tells a story.
Sitting in front of his computer, Hudecki writes a new chapter in the collection of memoirs he is working on - stories about times spent with his wife, his dog and his colleagues. With this memoir, he tells a story.
Hudecki, an artist, writer, and assistant to the chair in the department of biological sciences, believes that telling stories is essential to the study of science.
"The study of science is carried out by human beings with all of their foibles. This has always been interesting to me," said Hudecki. "It's a very human endeavor and not at all a cold, antiseptic enterprise as it is often mainstreamed."
For the last 25 years, Hudecki has conducted research on the causes of, and treatments for, muscular dystrophy, a genetic disease from which he suffers. Although his interest in research persists, the focus of his career has recently shifted from research to teaching.
"Research, in order to be carried out correctly, requires a lot of attention, time and a team of good people," said Hudecki.
The loss of two of his research teammates and an increase in administrative work that came with his promotion to assistant to the chair are additional reasons for his shift to teaching.
"While I'm not actively involved in research right now, I use a lot of the approaches I'd use in research in my teaching methods," said Hudecki.
This fall, Hudecki is teaching two biology courses, one at the undergraduate level and the other at the graduate level. Both are targeted to students who do not specialize in science. His undergraduate course, biology 129/130, is titled "Perspectives in Human Biology" and is for undergraduate non-science majors.
His graduate course, biology 531, is titled "Case Studies in Biology" and is part of a new master's program offered through the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Education. In both courses, he implements the "case study" approach to teaching.
Case studies put scientific issues into real-life scenarios, which students study, analyze and interpret. Scenarios are compiled by professors around the country and then reviewed by a peer review process, which discusses the way the study could be used in a classroom setting.
Hudecki has orchestrated two case studies. One is a factual newspaper article that describes the use of a mouse model for research on the causes and treatments of Alzheimer's disease. This study puts students in the role of the scientist, imagining what the evidence might suggest about Alzheimer's.
The other is a fictitious story written about the mother of two boys with muscular dystrophy who has to decide whether to put her boys into an experimental treatment program with potential risks. It puts students in the role of the mother, weighing the positive and negative aspects of the therapy.
"Case studies are really stories," said Hudecki. "They are factual stories, or they are fictional stories based on scientific fact and used as a means to stimulate interest."
Although currently engrossed in teaching, Hudecki maintains a relationship with researchers in Washington, D.C. He said he would always be involved in the research realm.
"There's no immediate end in sight. It's a process, so to speak," he said.
The never-ending aspect of research is part of what initially attracted Hudecki to the field.
In the late 1960s, after completing his master's at Niagara University, he was in the process of applying to medical school at UB. During Hudecki's second interview, he spoke with a man who held a doctorate in physiology, not a medical degree, and realized that he was more interested in research than attending medical school.
"I got the sense that I was more attracted in what he was doing than I was in a strict medical program," he said. "I applied to the Ph.D. program in the department of biological sciences at UB."
Since earning his doctorate, Hudecki has contributed to both the intellectual and emotional realms of campus life.
"I want to put my own oar in the water, along with everybody else, to make this a good place. It's reciprocal; UB has been very good to me, as I hope to be to UB," he said.
Although UB is large and often gives the image of being impersonal, it is not long before one realizes that there are wonderful people willing to help here, he said.
Hudecki realizes this every time a stranger held a door for him, or assisted him through a snowdrift. Since Hudecki cannot walk, this altruism on campus is particularly helpful.
"Through my life I've developed a philosophy of believing in people. There are always people you know as well as people you don't know who assist you along the way," said Hudecki. "If you are able to communicate you realize they are in the same boat as you are."
Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki
