Four distinguished UT Southwestern scientists who are members of the National Academies inspired postdoctoral researchers by sharing their own experiences as postdocs, offering words of encouragement for working through challenging times and providing insight for paths toward breakthrough discoveries.

The Sept. 19 panel discussion capped National Postdoc Appreciation Week (NPAW) events celebrating the contributions of 620 postdocs training under 300 research faculty at UTSW. It also marked the 20th anniversary of the Postdoctoral Association at UTSW. The panelists are all members of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) or the National Academy of Medicine (NAM), or both.

“It’s best if you are a resilient person. Resilience isn’t something that you are born with – it is a set of skills you have to cultivate,” Dr. Morrison advised the postdocs.

Sean Morrison, Ph.D., Professor and Director of Children’s Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern (CRI), spoke frankly about a discouraging but ultimately uplifting experience early in his career.

“At the end of my first year of postdoctoral work, I proved that everything I had done in my first year was a complete artifact. I remember realizing that I had zero, not a single piece of data to show for a year of hard work. And at that point, I thought that I had no future in science. My backup plan was to start a landscaping company,” he said.

“I changed projects, and the second project worked. But during that period when I really didn’t think I had a future in science, I remember coming to work thinking I just have to choose to believe that I can make this next project work.”

The ultimate result, of course, has been an outstanding career in cancer research, including being named a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Investigator and election to both the NAM and the NAS.

Dr. Morrison, also Professor of Pediatrics, told the audience of about 50 postdocs that they must work at developing resilience.

“There’s lots of negative feedback in this business. But it’s also an incredible, breathtaking career,” he said. “It’s best if you are a resilient person. Resilience isn’t something that you are born with – it is a set of skills you have to cultivate.”

Learning from mistakes

Ralph DeBerardinis, M.D., Ph.D., Director of the Eugene McDermott Center for Human Growth and Development and Professor in CRI and of Pediatrics, added, “If you are going to have a career in science, the only thing that is guaranteed is that some of your hypotheses will be wrong – and you have to embrace that.”

“If you are going to have a career in science, the only thing that is guaranteed is that some of your hypotheses will be wrong – and you have to embrace that,” Dr. DeBerardinis said.

A well-designed, well-controlled experiment that allows you to cut off one line of investigation is still scientific progress, he reminded researchers.

Dr. DeBerardinis, an HHMI Investigator also elected to the NAM, encouraged the early-career scientists in the audience not to get discouraged by shifting attitudes toward support for research.

“Although there is chaos right now about how we are going to continue to support basic science work, don’t get overwhelmed by what is happening at any given moment. Things change quickly,” he said, referring to uncertainty in federal and other sources of research funding. “We have seen that over the last year. And no matter what happens, creativity, rigor, and persistence will be rewarded, so make sure to focus on those things.”

And a career in scientific investigation is absolutely worth some uncertainty, Dr. DeBerardinis said. “I got interested in metabolism through clinical experiences working with patients who had inborn errors that could be corrected if you really understood the mechanism. I can remember the excitement the day that really clicked with me.”

“If I had listened to the negative talk, which thankfully I didn’t, I wouldn’t be here today. Don’t let it derail you,” Dr. Hooper (holding the microphone) told attendees.

Lora Hooper, Ph.D., Chair of Immunology and a Professor in the Center for the Genetics of Host Defense and of Microbiology, talked about her own experience looking for work during a period of reduced funding for research, saying she started to pursue a faculty position right after 9/11. Today she is an HHMI Investigator who has been elected to both the NAM and NAS.

“We were starting to go to war, and they slashed the budget right as I was launching my career. Bad things did happen, but it wasn’t as bad as everybody thought it was going to be. If I had listened to the negative talk, which thankfully I didn’t, I wouldn’t be here today. Don’t let it derail you,” she advised.

Pivot when needed

Several speakers brought up the topic of changing direction as a researcher as warranted. The science might lead in unexpected directions, which may require learning new skills. For example, Kim Orth, Ph.D., Professor of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry and an HHMI Investigator, said she trained as a biochemist but gained other abilities in genetics and microbiology as she progressed because the work took her along that path.

“You are going to be there for three to five years. You don’t necessarily have the same goal at year one that you have at year five, and it’s OK if it changes,” said Dr. Orth.

Personal considerations also may be a factor in changes, including sometimes shifting toward a nonacademic career.

“You are going to be there for three to five years. You don’t necessarily have the same goal at year one that you have at year five, and it’s OK if it changes,” said Dr. Orth, who was elected to the NAS. “You are working with someone as a team to get the next best step for you. It’s all an evolution over time as you are becoming a more mature scientist.”

Dr. Orth also spoke about finding balance between work and home life, commenting on what changed when she became a parent. “I can tell you that the quality of my science did not change. What did change is my efficiency. No coffee breaks and no long lunches. That coffee break is now time spent with your kid.”

Another topic involved what makes a good mentoring relationship. All the speakers emphasized that both mentor and mentee should contribute ideas, read the literature, analyze the data, and think about what it means.

“It very much is my experience that when trainees are successful, publishing notable papers, going on to take faculty positions in good places, it’s often because there were two people contributing to the project,” Dr. Morrison said.

He added that the best papers coming out of his lab are always the result of a collaboration of ideas.

Communication is essential, Dr. Hooper emphasized. “Two people have to come together, create ideas, and then build a story based on data. Information starts to come in and we try to weave a story out of that. It becomes a collaboration very quickly, and that’s what’s fun and how we get to a product, which is a paper.”

A poster session was one of many events that took place on campus during National Postdoc Appreciation Week.

Dr. Morrison also emphasized the significance of explaining your work and why it is important to the public. The panel was organized by Ethan Perets, Ph.D., a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of Zhijian “James” Chen, Ph.D., Professor of Molecular Biology and in the Center for the Genetics of Host Defense, and Margherita Tabet, M.D., a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Anesthesiology & Pain Management. Dr. Tabet moderated the discussion.

Other events during National Postdoc Appreciation Week included food from the 50 countries that UTSW’s postdocs originate from, a scavenger hunt, an art show, and a poster session.