Download Anne O`Garra The MRC National Institute for Medical Research Mill

Special Career Presentation to Bright Sparks in
Immunology 2013
Anne O’Garra
The MRC National Institute for Medical Research
Mill Hill, London
British Society for Immunology Congress 2013 –
December 2-5th, 2013, Liverpool, UK
Anne O’Garra
Born Gibraltar 1954
1973: Moved to UK to finish A-Levels
1974:1977 Worked in a Lab as a Research Assistant (funding)
(from Pharmacology to Infectious Diseases)
1977 - 1980: BSc Microbiology & Biochemistry, University of London
Then
1980 - 1983: PhD, Div. Of Microbiology, NIMR - “Bacterial Adhesion”
The MRC National Institute for Medical Research, Mill Hill, London.
1983 - 1986: Postdoctoral Fellow: “Cytokines & B Lymphocytes” (G. Klaus)
Division of Immunology, NIMR (Head – Ita Askonas)
1987 - 1989: Postdoctoral Fellow, “Cytokines and Immunoregulation”
DNAX Research Institute, Palo Alto, California, USA
1989 - 2001: DNAX, from Senior Research Associate to Group Leader
(independent research group)
to Principal Scientist
Advantages of Living in Different Countries
•Life experience
•Experiencing different cultures - benefits of multiculturalism
•Experiencing different scientific approaches
•Exposure to broad range of technologies
• Increased Networking
•International Friendships
And many other---------
Research Career Facilitates Moving to Different Countries
2001 - Head of Division of Immunoregulation
To interface Research on Immunology & Infections
The MRC National Institute for Medical Research, Mill Hill, London
Continuing: Research On Cytokines & the Immune Response
Initiated: Research on the Immune Response in Tuberculosis
MRC: Dana Foundation: funding
From The MRC National Institute for Medical Research at Mill Hill to
the future:
The Francis Crick Instiute
Tips for PhD students/Postdocs
•
You must have a passion for research; answering questions; get excited about data and discovery –
determine the area that excites you
•
Develop and define, keep discussing your research project together with your group leader
•
Plan, execute & document experiments & review against current literature: keep abreast of the
literature; give talks on your work at lab and other in-house meetings – whilst driving your research
through (be organised)
•
Attend seminars: Lab Meetings, Thematic/Interest groups, Journal clubs, external & internal seminars –
always balancing your own research around this (be organised)
•
Continually review your own work; document data carefully; review your experiments regularly & plan
future experiments against your past data & the literature; regularly meet with group leader to review &
interpret data & plan ahead (as soon as get the novel findings which can lead to talks/publication (start
thinking of the story – the figures/how many times each experiment reproduced/stats etc)
•
Develop your skills eg.learn new techniques needed for your project; improve your presentations and
writing; improving time and data management allows you think of the science (your’s/literature)
•
Conduct your research with an aim to presenting at conferences and publishing papers on novel findings
once you have accumulated enough reproducible data
Your Development As a Young Researcher
•
Courses (limit to really key ones – with advice from your group leader/other mentors)
• On the job coaching is standard for PhD students & Postdocs
- through discussion with your group leader or other if required
- obtaining advice/training from appropriate lab researcher/institute researcher for
techniques/protocols
•
Self-managed activities – most of your research career is self-directed with advice/input
from your group leader & input from others when appropriate/needed or resulting from
feedback at meetings eg. planning experiments, documenting experiments, interpretation of
results post experiments (don’t be defensive – listen to questions – can be most helpful)
•
Discuss your personal career plans through the years with your group leader (your friends &
family can provide good sounding board but usually not mentoring – biased)
•
Seek advice – find the right mentor – Head of Dept can also provide additional advice if
needed
Writing a Paper or Review: A Potential Formula
(for most but not all journals eg Nature different)
Use top journal papers as examples
•
Arrive at stage with sufficient reproducible novel data (statistically sound) to write a paper; choose
journal, check format & submission guidelines – all in consultation with Group Leader
•
Arrive at a structure together – figures with active headers form the basis of results; design
impeccable & easy to follow figures; discuss what to include in Materials & Methods and
requirements of the journal – thus structure Results Section
•
Introduction – before attempting to write, provide a structure by naming each paragraph required
(background & references that led up to your question and findings – end with importance & novelty
of your study)
•
Discussion – first paragraph usually summarises novel findings of paper – then again provide a
structure of each topic to be discussed and against what background before attempting to write
•
Always ask for and listen to feedback; listen to feedback from your presentations at meetings
particularly from Programme leaders (helpful) – get feedback from wise experienced ressearchers
before submission of paper – think about suggestions – discuss with your group leader
DO NOT BE DISILLUSIONED BY REVIEWERS’ COMMENTS – WE HAVE ALL HAD THE BAD ONES
GET MAD FOR 20 MINUTES THEN THOUGHTFULLY RECOVER AND LOGICALLY FIGHT BACK
•
Again – when writing a review provide logical structure first
Scientific Integrity
(many grants eg NIH, NSF etc now require Ethics Training, part of medical school, business school curricula)
Basic rules for scientific community
• Absolute honesty in all scientific communications –
reporting data, results, methods, procedure
• Reliability – maintain careful/accurate records of research
activities eg. data collection (example); carefully critique and
examine your own work & work of your peers
• Reproducibility (statistics – some good UCL stats courses)
• Objectivity – avoid bias in experimental design, data analysis
& interpretation etc
• Publish to advance research & knowledge not just to
advance your career
• Confidentiality (your own work; that of others; reviewers’
material; confidentiality of computer accounts/array &
sequence data)
• No plagiarism
In Summary – Your Life as a Researcher
•
Keep developing and defining your research project together with your group leader –
your ultimate aims as a researcher are to conduct your research to make new discoveries to advancing our knowledge of biomedical research – disseminate your findings –
talks/publications
•
Make sure you are getting continued excitement/satisfaction regarding your career –
(some lows inevitable – can drive the highs)
•
Track your own experience – how long is it taking you to obtain data towards a publication
and/or poster or talk at an external conference
•
Track your learning – how is your work comparing to the literature; how are your skills
developing re – thinking up new ideas to address the research question; organisation;
data management; writing; giving verbal presentations
•
Do this regularly for yourself & with your mentor/PL
•
•
MAKE THE MOST OF THIS GREAT OPPORTUNITY & ENJOY IT
Discuss your personal career plans through the years with your group leader/mentor
Career Options for Researchers (publications & successes however important always –
whatever you choose for your future)
Further Post Docs abroad eg. USA, Canada or Europe
Research eg. Institutes
Research & and Teaching eg. University Lectureship, Senior Lectureship, Reader, University
Professorship
Grants and Fellowships (Clinical and non- Clinical) eg. MRC, other RCs, Wellcome, other Charities,
HEFCE, Royal Society, EMBO, EU and ERC funding
Post PhD,
Postdoc
Career
Possibilitites
Pharmaceutical/ Biotech Industry eg. Research Careers, Other- Patenting, Management,
Production, Marketing, Quality control etc.
Scientific Policy/ Admin
Teaching- non University/schools
Science Publishing Or Journalism Or Public Relations
Could be
Research or
other Allied
Patenting and Technology Transfer
NHS- clinical- other
Careers
Professions allied to medicine- clinical psychology, research nursing, dieticians etc.
Science and/or Medical Writer
Various other careers using knowledge and/ or skills developed in science