1 / 15

Recruiting Young Neurologists into the Basic Laboratory

Ahmet Hoke MD, PhD Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Recruiting Young Neurologists into the Basic Laboratory. A career in basic science in neurology. Age 22. Age 37-42. MD or MD/PhD. Residency. Fellowship. K08. R01. 4 years. 2-3 years. 5 years. 4-8 years.

brennan-frank
Download Presentation

Recruiting Young Neurologists into the Basic Laboratory

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Ahmet Hoke MD, PhD Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Recruiting Young Neurologists into the Basic Laboratory

  2. A career in basic science in neurology Age 22 Age 37-42 MD or MD/PhD Residency Fellowship K08 R01 4 years 2-3 years 5 years 4-8 years After college 15-20 years to an independent career!

  3. A career in basic science in neurology • Pros • Satisfaction of pursuing a challenging area of inquiry • You get to choose what you want to study • Potential for identification of new therapeutic targets • Clinical practice informs your research • Cons • Competition with full time basic researchers • Pressure to see more patients • Lower compensation (salary differential is high, but this is not a critical issue for most clinician-scientists)

  4. Requirements for a successful career in basic science • Drive to want to make a change • Mentor • Adequate training • Formal (e.g. PhD) or informal (postdoctoral fellowship in a lab, NIH medical student rotations) • Institutional support • Family support

  5. Barriers for a successful career in basic science • Medical school debt • NIH loan repayment program • Lack of departmental support • Protected time • Space • Access to resources • Pressure to increase clinical practice • Revenue generation (including downstream revenue for the hospital and other departments) • Long wait periods

  6. Paths to a successful career in basic science • Identify a mentor early in residency • Choose someone who is willing to spend time with you and campaign for you • Choose an area of research that you like • Enjoy what you are doing, you’ll be doing it for a long time! • Start planning for your independent research program early on • At some point you need to differentiate yourself from your mentor

  7. Paths to a successful career in basic science • No need to despair, even in these current economic conditions • Success rate for K-awards is relatively unchanged! (30-40% at NINDS) • First time R01 awards pay at almost at twice the pay-line of senior investigators • Yet the greatest attrition of physician-scientists occur during transition from K to R awards or when renewing first R01 grant.

  8. NIH-wide career awards in 2008 These are for applications, applicant success rate is higher due to resubmissions

  9. NINDS K08 career awards These are for applications, applicant success rate is higher due to resubmissions

  10. K08 pathway – suggestions for the applicants • For most people in basic sciences this is the most straightforward path • Pick a lab and mentor early on during training (preferably during residency) • If available take advantage of R25 grants • Use your fellowship time to generate preliminary data for your K08 • Take your time for your first grant • It is better to delay than submit a sub-optimal grant (dept and mentor support is critical here)

  11. K08 awards – kisses of death • Proposals that do not appear to have been read by mentor • Proposals that are not good training vehicles and pathways to independence, e.g.: • Methods not yet established • Specific aims 2 and 3 dependent upon success of specific aim 1 • Methods that are limited in future applicability • Vague career development plan • Generic chair letter that does not spell out institutional commitment

  12. K08 awards – suggestions for the department • Remove pressure for rapid submission and resubmission • With only two cycles this will not impact departmental budgets as much as before • Develop an internal review (something that is stressed by NINDS) and make it meaningful. • Allow mentor time for appropriate review • Have candidate reply to reviewers comments • Department or mentor should be able to tell applicant to wait or skip a cycle

  13. First R01 grants – suggestions for the applicant • Transition to R01 requires adequate productivity from K08 years • Start to differentiate research from that of mentor • Senior authorship • Make sure you have adequate time to prepare the grant and get it vetted by mentor and departmental committee • Pitfalls in the K08 applies to R01 • Take advantage of grant writing courses offered

  14. First R01 grants – suggestions for the department • Develop a departmental committee to oversee first R01 applications • Adequate review and feedback • Consider establishing a fund to support junior faculty who is promising but has a funding gap between K08 and R01 • Be rigorous in evaluating the potential of the faculty (say no early on – productivity during K years may be a good predictor of future success)

  15. Other tips for a successful career • Always on the look for grant opportunities relevant to your area of interest • Non-federal grants (foundations, industry etc) • Cultivate relationships with leaders in your field (they are the ones reading your papers/grants) • Posters at national meetings is better than platform talks • Strike a good balance between quality and quantity of manuscripts

More Related