diff --git a/db/lab.json b/db/lab.json
index 867b7d90..de23df2d 100644
--- a/db/lab.json
+++ b/db/lab.json
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 	"members" : {
 		"Oliver Kennedy" : {
 			"status" : "Faculty",
-			"ubit" : "okennedy"
+			"ubit" : "okennedy" 
 		},
 		"Ying Yang" : {
 			"status" : "PhD",
diff --git a/lib/lab_metadata.rb b/lib/lab_metadata.rb
index a608e9e5..55868c4d 100644
--- a/lib/lab_metadata.rb
+++ b/lib/lab_metadata.rb
@@ -55,7 +55,12 @@ module LabMetadata
   def LabMetadata.link_for(person)
     cname = @@cnames[person] || person
   	data = $db["lab/members"][cname]
-  	if data.nil? then person else "<a class=\"lab_member\" href=\"#{GemSmith::root_path(data["link"])}\">#{person}</a>" end
+  	if data.nil? then person else 
+      link = 
+        if /^https?:\/\// =~ data["link"] then data["link"] 
+        else GemSmith::root_path(data["link"]) end
+      "<a class=\"lab_member\" href=\"#{link}\">#{person}</a>" 
+    end
 	end
 
   def LabMetadata.publications_for(person)