Lab Scientists Under the Microscope: Meet Eric Vaughn

In celebration of Lab Week 2025, we put a handful of laboratory scientists under the microscope, peppering them with questions that shine a light on their professional and personal lives. What were their career dreams as kids? How do they relieve stress when they hang up their lab coats and safety goggles? What do they wish we all knew about their jobs?

Each day of Lab Week, we’ll highlight one of these professionals and give you a peek at their passions and personalities, the things they love about laboratory science and the things they’d rather forget (we’re looking at you, disseminated strongyloides).

Eric Vaughn, supervisor, Next Generation Sequencing Core, DC Department of Forensic Sciences, Public Health Laboratory

What did you want to be when you were growing up?

One thing was a meteorologist. I’ve always been fascinated with weather, particularly tropical storms and hurricanes. My grandfather grew up on the North Carolina coast, and the house has stayed in the family since it was built in the 1920s by my great-great-grandfather. Every hurricane season, he would board up the house. Once I was old enough, I would also prepare the house for storms and ride out the hurricane, depending on its intensity. To this day, I still love to go down to prepare the house.

What’s one thing you love about lab science?

I love that, while the overall work is the same every day, the results are always different, and you never know when what starts as a routine run turns into a larger investigation. You can’t predict what the day will hold and what you are going to be involved in.

Laboratory science is serious work. What do you do to unwind when you’re not working?

I’ve recently taken up sewing. I am very early into this hobby, having only made a couple of pillows, but I love how I can sit down to think of a small project, grab some fabric and create something I can use. My favorite pillow is the first one I made. It came out much smaller than I envisioned because I kept messing up the sewing machine, and then I put a ton of stuffing in, more than I should have at the time (but I was still learning). Now, it is the perfect pillow to sit in the crease of my neck when I’m on the couch. It gives the perfect amount of support. My partner and I keep fighting over it because we both love it; plus, it’s from a craft beer patterned fabric that I thought was cool.

What’s your favorite non-science item in your lab?

I have a picture on my desk of me holding my niece and nephew. It’s in a frame they picked out at the store. I love looking at it, especially on tough days, as a reminder of what’s important.

What’s the last book you read? Thumbs up or down?

I just finished “The Seven Wonders,” by Steven Saylor, and I absolutely loved it. I stumbled onto a local secondhand bookstore and asked a worker for a recommendation. She saw it on the shelf and pointed it out to me. If you enjoy mystery and a little bit of intrigue mixed with historical fiction, this book is great. While being an easy read, it was fun to experience the different wonders with the characters as they traveled throughout the Roman Empire before ending with a twist that, frankly, I did not see coming.