As NexMed's director of human resources, Linda Burns often sends flowers to hospitalized employees.

CorbisWhile it doesn't typically garner the lion's share of attention, quality control is just as important as other areas of science. If your R&D department comes up with the most promising compound of the century, without current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) in place it may never get to patients. You need well-written procedures and properly maintained facilities and equipment, as well as quality assurance staff savvy enough to navigate the regulatory hurdles."Quality-control scient

A good marketing plan is essential if you want a shot at hiring top research talent, says Maurice P. Boland, acting vice president for research at the University College Dublin. One of the most important parts of the plan starts with internal university work: building infrastructure, and lobbying nationally for funding. "It comes down to how well the applicant perceives the program they are going into, and ... the infrastructure, and how well the applicant sees the leadership from the top," Bola

Source: Hellen Davis, author, The 21 Laws of Influence Illustrations: D.F. Dowd Tom Griffiths fell for his wife, Margaret, while watching rats running on a treadmill. It happened 13 years ago in a lab at the University of Illinois at Urbana. Margaret was a doctoral candidate in exercise physiology, studying the effects of diet and exercise on the livers of rats. Griffiths was a biology professor at the university. Introduced by a mutual friend, they started dating, and Margaret asked Griffit

Courtesy of Adam Cooper, North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System  Bettie Steinberg The last sands in the hour-glass of Charles Gauntt's science career are silently descending. When the final grain falls on December 31st, Gauntt's 36-year stint as a virologist will officially come to an end. Retiring was his decision, one he made four years ago. No one had to push him or dangle an enticing severance package. All he needed was to think about fishing on a beautiful lake not far from t

Courtesy of University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Roy Herbst In those rare moments when Roy Herbst isn't seeing a patient or assessing the results of his research, he's aware of the quickening pace of time. So much of his time has been absorbed with education, training, mulling choices, and making hard decisions, each with potential to twist his life in a new direction. Somewhere in between the classes, the residency, the research, and the promotions, 22 years have slipped by.

Courtesy of Paul Cohen Andrey Frolov As the October sun streams through the seventh-floor windows at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, Andrey Frolov ponders a career choice that he didn't expect to wrestle with for another decade. "I'm still thinking about what I want to do," confesses Frolov, a 27-year-old physician, who is finishing his postdoctorate in molecular biology. "I think I would like to teach, so I want to see myself employed in a university setting. But there are a

Taxi YOU'VE COME A LONG WAY: British military medical men of a foregone era hunker down for a good peer through their microscopes. Today, military scientists are allowed to conduct independent research; in the US Navy, a junior scientist often gets his or her own lab. Most people joining the armed forces usually want to serve in a certain branch. Not Stan Cope. When he finished his doctorate in tropical medicine and infectious disease 15 years ago at the University of California, Los Ang

Geneticist who pioneered study of mutagenesis in mice dies at 92

US research institutions band together to share biotech breakthroughs

D.F. Dowd After landing a great new job offer, it's only natural to want to stop and savor the moment. Do yourself a favor and stifle that urge. You still have plenty of work to do before sipping that first cup of coffee in the office and signing up for the 401K plan. Getting an offer in today's sluggish economy is a pretty impressive feat. But it's just a part of the employment equation. Now you have to bear down and negotiate a package that reflects your experience, talent, and worth. It can

Famed son of Mississippi was literal and figurative father to a generation of doctors and scientists.