"There’s something captivating about Ed, even at the first meeting—his interest in other people, in their research, in their characters, in their circumstances,” says Michael Olszewski, DVM (’97), PhD. “When you are with him, you think that you are the center of the world.”

Olszewski, now an assistant professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School Department of Internal Medicine and research biologist with the Ann Arbor Veterans Affairs Healthcare System, was an instructor of veterinary medicine in Poland in 1991, the year he and his wife, a Michigan native, traveled to the state for a visit that included the MSU College of Veterinary Medicine. It was during this trip that he met Dr. Edward Robinson. Their meeting put Olszewski on a path that would land him permanently in the United States.

“I just wanted to see how the MSU veterinary program worked and whether there was anything here that I could learn, or if there were opportunities to engage in collaboration; my wife and I weren’t inclined to leave Poland,” Olszewski says. “Ed was pretty much the first faculty member I met at MSU.”

Robinson was an internationally-respected expert in equine respiratory issues by the time the two met, and Olszewski was familiar with his work. When they met, Robinson was quick to identify potential projects for collaboration. He encouraged Olszewski to submit a scholarship proposal for a one-year research project in his lab, the Equine Pulmonary Laboratory. Olszewski was awarded the scholarship.

“That’s how our paths crossed initially,” Olszewski says. “That scholarship completely transformed my life.”

Olszewski arrived at MSU in 1992 for his year-long project in Robinson’s lab.

The experience of working with Robinson, and the promise of Olszewski’s data resulting from his year at MSU, led Olszewski to apply to the college’s PhD program. His project focused on recurrent airway obstruction (RAO) in horses, including the mechanisms of RAO and the development and testing of treatments.

“Even though I did some research before I came to MSU, my true, real training in research came from Ed,” Olszewski says. “After working with him for six years, I learned I could do research, and that was so exciting—it transformed my life and opened me to all the new opportunities. Through his collaboration with the University of Michigan, I was able to get a very good post-doc fellowship here at the medical school, where I’ve been ever since.

Olszewski accepted a postdoctoral research fellowship from the University of Michigan Department of Internal Medicine Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, where he is now an assistant professor and conducts research on the immunology of the respiratory system. A common theme of his studies is the development of protective responses against fungal and bacterial pathogens. Olszewski is particularly interested in Cryptococcus neoformans, and says his is the one of a few labs in the world studying interactions of the immune system with this pathogen. This pathogen causes severe infections and kills more than half a million people each year, especially those with HIV.

Robinson’s intellectual curiosity and encouragement inspired Olszewski in research. “Beyond the actual procedures and protocols, came all the philosophy of research and the reality of it,” he says of his experience in Robinson’s lab. Because doing research is not easy—it comes with a lot of disappointment and lot of hard work that frequently doesn’t take you directly to your result. Disappointments are part of the process—that is part of the philosophy Robinson teaches. Successful research involves remembering there is a great idea and persevering through failures leads you to finding the truth. “We all had a lot of these conversations with Ed about research. That’s why forever he will stay my true mentor of science and research.”

Robinson and Olszewski continue to exchange ideas and collaborate, formally and informally. They sit together on a student’s committee, and Olszewski visits MSU to share what he learns about immunology in human lungs in the hopes that it can be applied to the study of horse airways.

Following Robinson’s example, for Olszewski, extends beyond research.“I try to emulate Ed’s immense interest in helping people and his skill in building someone to their full potential to let them grow,” Olszewski says. “That’s what I learned from him. I could see what I knew when I came, and then see all this training and all this gentle steering in the right direction over the years.”

“When I hear that’s he about to retire I just can’t believe it,” Olszewski says. “Because who’s going to fill this void?”

Posted: May 2014
Contact: Casey Williamson