Lessons Learned - February 2024

Too often as junior scientists and trainees, we focus our attention forwards; towards the next step in our career progression, the next experiment to plan, the next grant to write, the next presentation to pull together. Thus, I value this opportunity to pause, take a breath, and look backwards to reflect on how far I have come in my scientific career.

I am an Assistant Professor at Tulane University’s Department of Cell and Molecular Biology. Prior to starting my lab at Tulane two years ago, I completed two postdoctoral positions – with the second juggled alongside the equally daunting challenges of the COVID shutdown and becoming a new parent. Here are a few of the lessons I have learned in my professional journey thus far.

Be focused: For many of us, being a biomedical scientist is innately rewarding: the excitement of new scientific discovery is heady, and the work that we do holds the promise of one day benefitting patients. However, in the day-to-day work of bench science, it is also easy – especially as a junior scientist or trainee – to lose sight of why you are doing what you are doing. To combat this tunnel vision, schedule periodic breaks to take a step back from the bench and focus your attention on the bigger picture – both of your science and your own career. Regarding your science: ask yourself why your project is important to you and to the larger world? How will the studies you are doing in this moment advance your specific research question? Is your time best spent on this specific experiment, or might there be better studies that could be done to directly address your research problem? If the latter, focus your time at the bench towards the key studies that will move your project forward.

Regarding your career trajectory: Where do you see yourself in one year? Five years? Ten years? What are the skills you need to achieve that career goals, and what milestones must you reach to realize that vision of your future? Don’t let this be an abstract idea. Plan an afternoon to write down these goals, and describe to yourself (in concrete terms) how what you are doing now will get yourself there in the future. Whether at the bench or in life, time is your most valuable commodity. Focus your time on the activities that will best move you and your science forward. 

Be flexible: Science is a passion; but it is sometimes also exasperating. Despite our best efforts, things rarely go exactly according to plan. Experiments fail. Hypotheses are proven wrong. Life happens. I am a rigorously organized person, and so I struggle when things go wrong, and I must adjust – or even abandon! – my best-laid plans. Nonetheless, I have learned to see value in being flexible – both at the research bench and for my work-life balance. My advice is to reflect on how you handle unexpected obstacles. Then, work on ways that can help you quickly identify the need to abandon your plans, and develop strategies for seamlessly pivoting towards a new course of action. Remember that failure is part of science, and the ability to be flexible and to adapt to changing circumstances is crucial to being a successful scientist. 

Find your scientific family: My life has been immeasurably impacted by my many scientific mentors. Their advice and support have helped guide me into my current position, and have positively shaped the scientist I am today. Regardless of where you are in your career, the help of others will always be beneficial. Take time now to find and build your “science family” whom you can trust to have your back and to support you. Surround yourself with mentors, colleagues, and friends who will help you because they want to see you succeed, whether by offering feedback on your scholarship, expanding your professional network, or even just lending a listening ear when things get difficult. Don’t be afraid to continue to reach out to your mentors for advice no matter how far you’ve progressed in this profession: I count myself lucky to have mentors that are still a source of strength and support, even after over a decade. Lastly, as you become more established, pay that mentorship forward. Be the best mentor you can be to the next generation of trainees and junior scientists.