Fitting into Research Careers

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 also times [when] I think: Do I want to go to a pharmaceutical company and make more money?" Most young scientists follow a fairly predictable path from undergraduate to graduate school to postdoctorate positions. In 2001, almost one-half of the 5,909 life scientists who received PhDs in the United States chose to do postdoctoral work, according to a recent National Science Foundation study.1 Only one in six new life scientists headed straight for the work force. For some, the decision about which fork in the career road to take comes easily. Others need a global positioning system to find their best chance at fulfilling work. GETTING THE RIGHT FIT "It is very individual," says Susan A. Gerbi, chairman of Brown University's Department of Molecular Biology, Cell Biology, and Biochemistry. "It depends on what they enjoy doing and what they are best at. Where possible we try to have them do a consulting thing in industry where they can do a small project, say on weekends, to get a flavor of what industry is like." In the end it comes down to one three-letter word: Fit. If the work isn't the right fit, regardless of the location, the scientist probably will not be productive. George Plopper found out about fit when he accepted a highly prized postdoctoral position at Harvard University. A great opportunity, right? It turned out to be the "postdoc from hell" for Plopper. "I felt like the hand of God reached out and touched me," says Plopper, now an assistant professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY. "Who was I to say no? [But] it was a very poor match for me. What my career aspirations were and what Harvard wanted out of me were very different." The experience was so bad that during his fourth year, Plopper considered quitting and teaching high school biology. But the not-so-small issue of repaying $300,000 in research funding stopped him. A little short of cash, Plopper instead chose to switch his research to another lab. "With that came many lessons that I apply to my own grad students," he says. "They absolutely have to feel that they belong in my lab and that they are important there." Frolov also understands the importance of getting the right fit. His fair complexion, sandy cropped hair, and burly build make him central-casting perfect to play a Russian doctor, despite his American attire. In most countries, Frolov, his wife, also a Fox Chase scientist, and 18-month-old daughter, would be outsiders. But not in the United States, he says. "In other countries you are a foreigner and will always be a foreigner. Since this is a melting pot, it's easier. Nobody looks at you differently because you are from a different country." Born in Moscow, Frolov knew early in life that he wanted to be a doctor and scientist. He also knew he wanted to study in America. "The funding is tremendously higher here than anywhere in the world," Frolov says. "The possibility and means of having your ideas go onto development and the potential for research and development is very high." After receiving his medical degree from the Russian State Medical University in 2000, Frolov applied and was accepted to do graduate work in molecular biology at Fox Chase, which has an ongoing relationship with the Russian university. He came to Philadelphia from Russia with a love for science. "When something clicks, it is emotionally satisfying," he says. "You think, this is why I spent all these months and months of working." He works closely with other physicians who are looking for biological markers for early detection of ovarian cancer. Someday, he says, he would like to work for a pharmaceutical company and drive a Mercedes paid for by his stock options. But that will come after flexing his scientific muscles and working on his own ideas. "In a pharmaceutical company you have to produce a result," he says. "You are an instrument in their hands. If we're talking [age] 37, then I'll go to the pharmaceutical company." ACADEMIA OR BUST Plopper tried the pharmaceutical company route with a start-up biotech, but he found it wasn't a good fit. Today, at age 39, he says he still feels like the new kid at the bench six years after finishing his postdoc. "I am still an assistant professor, so that makes me a newbie by definition," says Plopper, a cell biologist. You change status, he says, when you get consistent NIH funding. "Every year I apply to give a talk and every year I get turned down." Courtesy of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute George Plopper Plopper's lab is working on cancer-cell migration. He also works with an engineering professor who designs small compounds as drugs that inhibit interactions of proteins. The two have built just such a small compound, which "... stops tumor cells from migrating without killing them," Plopper says. "It might improve the chemo." Plopper has always been "jazzed" about science, but when he switched lab coats to become a faculty member, he also picked up a new list of responsibilities, including fundraising, human resource management, and accountancy. "What I became, in effect, is the president of a very small company," he says. "There is nothing in my training that leads me to understand management. No one trains you to manage." And while there have been bumps in the road, as when he hired too many people with too many projects, his research has enjoyed long, ongoing financial support from the United States Army. He says he figured out early on that getting a grant is not about being perfect. It's about being at the right place at the right time. TO TEACH, OR NOT Raymond Hulzink, 33, was university-trained as a biology teacher in the Netherlands, but it didn't take him a lot of time to figure out that he didn't want to teach biology to teenagers. Hulzink didn't consider a career in research until he met a professor who got him excited about molecular plant physiology. Courtesy of Raymond Hulzink Raymond Hulzink "You become interested in the research questions, and you get a moment lying in bed and you are thinking about an experiment and how to improve it and that is when you think, I want to be a researcher," says Hulzink, who is finishing his postdoctoral work at the Netherlands Institute of Ecology, a research institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. Perhaps the hardest skill for Hulzink to learn has been grant proposal writing. Two of his supervisors at Catholic University of Nijmegen, the Netherlands, have helped him learn how to write proposals in English. "I have learned a lot from them and I am still learning a lot from them," he says. Hulzink has no doubt that his calling is at the lab bench, doing basic research. He has found his fit. "I am really a fundamental re-searcher," he says. "I would not prefer to work in a company. Fundamental research is very special." Bob Calandra (rotoca@aol.com) is a freelance writer in Philadelphia. 1. H.H. Garrison, S.A. Gerbi, P.W. Kincade, "In an era of scientific opportunity, are there opportunities for biomedical scientists?" FASEB J, Oct. 2, 2003, available online at www.fasebj.org/cgi/reprint/03-0836lifev1.pdf HOW TO FIT INTO YOUR OWN DREAMS The best way to start a research career is to open yourself to new experiences. Build a network of professional friends and colleagues, and don't be afraid to tap it for information and news. Networking is one of the first things Brown University's Susan Gerbi teaches her students. "We usually have the students network with other graduates from the program and speak to people in the field [who] we know," says Gerbi, chairman of the Department of Molecular Biology, Cell Biology, and Biochemistry. "We've built up a pretty good network of graduates, so I usually have people contact them or shadow them for a day." For George Plopper, an assistant professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY, the key to getting off to a good start in your career is to find people who share your vision. "Find people who are interested in your career development," he says. He also suggests learning time management skills so that you meet expectations and can still have a life outside the lab. "You will get a set of expectations handed to you that, if your imagination runs wild, would consume your day," he says. Plopper's mantra: Set priorities, delegate duties, and accomplish at least one thing every day. Raymond Hulzink, who earned his doctorate in natural sciences and math at the Catholic University of Nijmegen, the Netherlands, offers this bit of career advice: When plan A fails, have plans B and C ready to go. "I have seen it in my lab that people just focus on one thing, and after four years they have nothing," he says. "Just try to write down some research lines that are connected to each other so that when one line is not working, you can continue working on the other lines." function sendData() { document.frm.pathName.value = location.pathname; result = false if (document.frm.score[0].checked) result = true; if (document.frm.score[1].checked) result = true; if (document.frm.score[2].checked) result = true; if (document.frm.score[3].checked) result = true; if (document.frm.score[4].checked) result = true; if (!result) alert("Please select") return result; } .myradio{background-color : #94bee5} Please indicate on a 1 - 5 scale how strongly you would recommend this article to your colleagues? Not recommended 1 2 3 4 5 Highly recommended Please register your vote

Fitting into Research Careers

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