By Taylor McGee, Postbac in the Translational Immunobiology Unit, Laboratory of Infectious Disease (LID)
On Thursday, July 13, the NIAID Office of Research Training and Development (ORTD) hosted a career panel for NIAID summer interns and postbacs to highlight the variety of career paths in biomedical research available at the NIH. Panelists included:
- Lt. CDR Megan Brose, B.S.
Safety Manager/Responsible Official at Rocky Mountain Laboratories Select Agent Program - Rose Perry-Gottschalk, M.A.
Medical Illustrator and Animator, Visual and Medical Arts Unit, NIAID - Alicia Livinski, M.A., M.P.H.
NIAID Librarian and Informationist, NIH Library - L. Renee Olano, Ph.D.
Chief, Protein Chemistry Section, Research Technologies Branch, NIAID
The panelists began by describing their career pathways and current roles. Lt. CDR Brose spoke about how her post-baccalaureate certification and time spent working in policy alongside the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency prepared her well for overseeing the BSL-3 and -4 laboratories at the NIH’s Rocky Mountain Laboratories and overseeing the Select Agent Program. Ms. Livinski shared how her time in women’s health policy prepared her to help researchers find the literature they need to complete their tasks, while also providing educational seminars to help researchers develop the necessary skills. Dr. Olano spoke about some of the challenges of her Ph.D. program, how she felt dissatisfied with many of the different projects she was involved in after completing her graduate program, and how all the disparate experiences she had led her to run a program dedicated to proteomics, metabolomics, lipidomics, assay development, purifications, and biochemical characterizations. Finally, Ms. Perry-Gottschalk reflected on how her graduate program provided her with the credentials and training she needed to work in the dynamic Medical Illustration program at NIAID.
When asked about which skills are necessary for success in their career fields, all four agreed that communication, especially when navigating difficult conversations, is among the most important skills anyone can have in science, alongside an eagerness to learn, problem-solving abilities, and attention to detail.
In terms of general advice, Ms. Livinski and Dr. Olano both suggested that fellows spend more time looking at whether a program fits their educational desires and less time considering the relative prestige of the program. Ms. Perry-Gottschalk also recommended that students not be afraid of taking time off for personal development before beginning a graduate program. Finally, Lt. CDR Brose posited that the decision to go to graduate school should not be undertaken without careful thought about whether graduate school is the best way to achieve the career you are interested in.
NIAID postbacs who would like to learn more about the career exploration resources available to them through the ORTD can schedule a meeting with the NIAID postbac program coordinator, Jennifer West, Ph.D.