An Atypical Career Path
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I enrolled
as a part-time PhD candidate so I could continue to earn a salary as Head of CAHM,
which was necessary to make ends meet. Being a part-time candidate was only
possible due to the support of Peter Mac and being able to delegate some of my
workload to my team of dedicated expert staff in CAHM. However, I soon realized
that there was nothing part-time about keeping up to date with the literature
and working with mice so I joined the long list of ‘guilt-ridden’ mothers and
worked 7 long days per week for 5 years, publishing 4 manuscripts during my
candidature. My husband was, and still is, extremely supportive and enjoyed spending
more time with our daughters during that period. The long hours and challenges
associated with completing a PhD helped hone my leadership and organizational
skills, build resilience, and improve my networking capabilities.
Since receiving
my PhD, I have been fortunate to secure consecutive competitive grants from the
National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), Australia’s foremost
funding body for medical research. Grant funding in Australia, similar to the
rest of the world, has been getting more difficult with success rates for
project grants hovering between 13 and 17% (2014-2018). However, this year the
NHMRC launched an entirely new grant scheme and we are all anxiously waiting to
see if the success rates will start to increase. I have effectively combined my
role as head of CAHM with my research investigating the role of polarity
proteins in hematopoiesis and leukemogenesis within the Cancer Immunology
program. I am often asked how I manage to divide my time between the two areas,
but I don’t think I am very different to most researchers who wear two hats,
for example, clinician researchers who lead research laboratories whilst
working in the clinic, or colleagues at Universities who combine teaching loads
with running their laboratories. It all comes down to good time management and organization
skills and a willingness to work hard. Realistically, my productivity is never
going to equal that of research-dedicated laboratories but the trade-off for me
is that my salary is more secure and I get to play with fantastic
state-of-the-art microscopes and explore new technologies and methodologies.
As with
most research careers, I have experienced a few setbacks, the most significant was
when Peter Mac relocated to a new state-of-the art building in 2016. As well as
arranging the relocation, de-commissioning and re-commissioning of the high-end
equipment in CAHM, all my mouse colonies had to be re-derived. With quadruple
transgenic mice, this took much longer than anticipated. However, I remained
positive (mostly) and used this unexpected downtime to become involved in other
pursuits such as accepting new roles on committees to help others. For example,
I was elected to the University of Melbourne’s Alumni council where I led the
Mentoring and Careers working group. As part of this role I worked closely with
the University’s Advancement team to roll out a new mentoring program across
the University to facilitate mentoring opportunities for all students. This was
very rewarding. In my capacity as head of CAHM, I continued to collaborate with
many talented students and post-docs, offering advice, supervision, and assistance
with experimental design. The enthusiasm of the students for their research
projects is infectious and gives me a buzz.
So what am
I doing now? I sit on the board of a number of committees, formally mentor
several Peter Mac PhD students and have the privilege of leading my own team. There
are 9 expert technical staff in CAHM, whilst my research team comprises 3
students, 1 part-time research assistant, and a post-doctoral scientist. My
research team will remain small due to limitations in grant funding but it is a
good size for me as it allows me to still do some bench work, which I really enjoy. I am pleased to say that all our mouse
colonies are breeding well and we have recommenced our experiments, an exciting
time. Now that my children have grown up, I am keen to undertake a sabbatical
and live and work overseas, something I wasn’t able to do whilst they were
little. I enjoy being part of ISEH and am impressed by how friendly everyone is
at the annual conference; even senior laboratory heads of international acclaim
are willing to engage with more junior scientists. I began my involvement with
ISEH as a member of the New Investigator committee, then the Board of Directors
and am currently the Treasurer on the Executive committee. Being actively
involved in ISEH is a rewarding experience both professionally and socially and
it is interesting to learn about the ‘behind-the-scenes’ operations that underpin
the Society. I have developed good friendships and feel well connected scientifically.
Thank-you to the New Investigator committee for allowing me to share my unconventional
research career story, I hope I have inspired readers who are not able to
follow a traditional research career path to challenge dogma and commence their
own unique journey on the pathway to a career in scientific research.
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Centre For Advanced Histology And Microscopy (CAHM)
Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre
Victoria, Australia
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