Career Paths

Ray
Wang

The Project Killer

When I was in grad school, in a well funded research center, I never thought about what could kill a project. Every project last for 2-3 years, or even more. I stayed in the same DOE project throughout my whole grad school career. However, when I came to an industrial/business job, I saw all kinds o...


Maida
Taylor

Breast Cancer: The Empress of All Maladies

October was Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and I felt totally immersed in a paper storm, an overload of information on the topic.  Making my immersion even deeper, while preparing two breast cancer talks, I was also in the thrall of  an amazing book,  “The Emperor of All Maladies: &...


Nathan
Fisher

My Tie is my Combat Patch

I don't particularly like ties in their own right.  They're uncomfortable.  Ties aren't required by my employer and not many of my colleagues wear them regularly.  Still, I wear a tie every day, even on “casual Friday.” 


Xiaoli
Du

Pursuing a career in Consulting

In the traditional perspective of postdoctoral training, fellows are expected to apply for faculty positions after several successful postdocs in institutes or universities. However, this classic career pathway meets a lot of challenges today in terms of the limited position openings and tight econo...


Wenny
Lin

It’s worth it to have it all

Last week in Boston, I attended a professional advancement session at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research conference. Judy Garber, M.D., M.P.H., current president of the AACR, addressed the young research investigators and trainees in attendanc...


Maida
Taylor

Just what do you do: medical affairs job description

One of my last postings was called “keeping Ken and Barbie out of jail,” an attempt to define some of the tasks involved working in medical affairs at a pharmaceutical company.  One reader pointed out that I really did not define the job very well, and I promised to describe just what the job e...


Kate
Sleeth

The 2 Body problem: Do you follow your heart or your head?

It isn’t unusual for two scientists to become a couple.  It is obvious really; we spend most of our time at work, so the majority of people we meet are also scientists.  Plus, our partner then understands our focus on our research and the long hours we work towards our ultimate goals; te...


Christine
Crumbley

Life at Scripps Florida

A comment on my first post asked about what it’s like to be a student at TSRI Florida. The Florida campus houses the Translational Research Institute, which integrates the high-throughput screening robot, the cell-based screening core, and the medicinal chemistry group. Other departments include i...


Nathan
Fisher

Exploit your uniqueness

I'm currently reading It's Called Work for a Reason by Larry Winget.  In this book, Larry says that the secret to success is to “find your uniqueness and figure out how to exploit it in the service of others.”  Do this, he says, and you will be successful.  Do this, I say, and you...


Kristi
Ashley

Meant to be

Hi! I’m Kristi Ashley.  I never really thought about the environment and how much it meant to me growing up until the summer that changed everything for me.  It was the summer before my senior year in high school.  I was like any typical teenager until then, I guess, pretty popular ...