- Thoughts from a Self-Proclaimed Interdisciplinarian
I am scientist trained in sociology, social work and public health (behavioral sciences, to be exact), who did a postdoc in a Pharmacy department and is now a tenure-track Assistant Professor in a College of Nursing. There are pros, cons and lessons learned from my interdiscipl...
- Using Timelines to Diagnose Problems in Career Planning
This post builds on a presentation at the 2019 CTSA Annual Meeting of Training Program Directors.
Reviewing intended career progression is a cornerstone of mentorship. Goals for milestones such as manuscript and grant submissions typically dominate discussion. Often goals are ...
- Be Proud of Your Accent! Give Confident Conference Presentations
Is English not your first language?
Currently, and this could well change, most international research is communicated in English. For now at least, all international researchers need to become proficient at speaking English in public. Using interpreters at conferences is ...
- Don’t Let Your Research Questions Go Out Without PICOTS
All the best aims are wearing PICOTS (pronounced “peacoats”). Specification of your PICOTS* is the minimum outerwear required to prevent your research question from being caught in a downpour of questions. Having these details tucked in gets you ready to have a meaningful convers...
- Publishing Null Results
Nearly every scientist has felt the frustration of pouring effort, money and (sometimes) tears into a project only to get null results. The elusive p<0.05 decides whether results get published or not—the oft-mentioned file drawer problem. Others have explained better than I ca...
- How to Protect Your Protected Time
You've just gotten your K award—awesome! 75% of your professional effort is now protected to focus on your research and career development. But wait. What about that class you teach, or those days your department expects you to be in clinic, or the students whose dissertation ...
- Not that Kind of Year: Tales of Year 1 as a New PI
It has been about a year since I started my new position as a principal investigator (PI) at Clinical Department in R1 University. It has been a challenge. Here are my suggestions on surviving the first year, based on areas where I succeed and failed. As always these days, n=me.
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- Not that Kind of Doctor: Tales of a PhD in a Clinical Department
As long as I have been in science, my research has always been a mix of basic science and translational studies, nestled in a clinical department. This convergence of PhD-initiated basic science questions in a clinical setting has led to some fantastic collaborations and deep int...
- Best Poster Resources for Trainees
Scientific Poster Roundup
Get your scientific posters on point by visiting these sites for inspiration, how-to guides, and other free resources:
Scientific Posters
Poster design tips, examples and templates from Michael Alley at Penn State, author of The Craft of Sci...
- Using BioVU for Research
BioVU is a biobank of de-identified DNA samples and genetic data to fuel discovery. The “banked” DNA is from routine patient care-associated tests that would otherwise be discarded. The bank was developed as part of The Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Research...
