My story (i.e. the Odyssey)

Transcription

1 My story (i.e. the Odyssey) Invitation for interview Wellcome Trust Sir Henry Dale in Invitation for interview Interview Interview MRC CDA in

2 What did I do differently? The final outcome depends (also) on factors that are beyond your control and cannot be predicted I gave it my best shot and there is no way I can do better That is likely to be true, but it does not matter! Lesson #1: DO NOT GIVE UP!

3 Wellcome Trust The Committee agreed that you were : a good candidate using novel approach to tackle important research questions The Committee questioned: ambitious aims and feasibility of some parts of the project that all of the technical and recruitment challenges could be overcome when considered in competition with other applications on the day, your proposal was not considered sufficiently strong for support Lesson #2: AN AMBITIOUS PROPOSAL FOR SOMEONE IS CUTTING EDGE FOR SOMEONE ELSE OR FOR THE SAME PEOPLE ON ANOTHER DAY Medical Research Council The Committee agreed that you were: a very high quality candidate with an interdisciplinary skillset working in an area of high strategic importance well placed to lead your proposed research to enable better use of advanced imaging techniques The Committee not persuaded: that planned approach would result in changes to clinical practice because likely to encounter multiple confounding factors However: cutting edge technical development providing new insight into fundamental brain development excellent research environment move to a tangential field to your current interest allowing independence

4 The darkest hour Invitation for interview Invitation for interview Interview Interview

5 What did I actually do in the darkest hour? 1. Panicked 2. Pretended to be happy 3. Madly starting asking for advice to senior colleagues in the lab 1. Prepare the presentation 2. Prepare for Q&A

6 Prepare the presentation Wellcome Trust: 5 minutes, 2 slides with animations MRC: 5 minutes, 3 slides no animations

7 It is a pitch! LESSON #3 : Keep it simple! and this project is amazing because I kind of vaguely understand that this seems important obviously! Of course! What the heck is he talking about? Expert member of the panel Other member of the panel Other member of the panel

8 Development of cortical somatosensory circuits in the human infant brain Corrected Gestational Age (weeks) Serag A et al. (2012) Neuroimage Infants in NICU are constantly exposed to sensory stimuli This may contribute to the poor neurodevelopmental outcome of premature infants 7% of all live births in the UK are premature 1 39% of surviving premature infant have long term motor, sensory or cognitive impairment 2 1 Office for National Statistics; 2 EPIPAGE Study

9 Aims Spindle burst Pain Touch Premature infants Term infants Subplate Delta Brush Mature Event Related Potentials Fabrizi et al. (2011) Curr Biol Is the subplate generating early neuronal activity in humans? Which patterns of spontaneous and evoked activity shape local and global cortical networks? Young Rat Does the topographical organization of the somatosensory cortex mature in concurrence with neuronal responses? How does prematurity affect the developmental trajectories of these processes?

10 Experimental Plan SUBJECTS: Premature and term infants (28 42 weeks corrected gestational age) EEG: Spontaneous and evoked neuronal activity patterns (n = 331 in 5 years at UCLH) MRI/fMRI: Structure + spatial localization of neuronal activity (n = 97 in 1 year at St Thomas ) EEG fmri EEG + fmri n = 3 After 5 years: Fabrizi L., Arichi T. et al PAS Annual Meeting First comprehensive view of the structural and functional mechanisms underlying early brain development in humans Further our understanding of the link between subplate functions and poor neurological outcome of infants born prematurely Open new avenues to neonatal research leading to improved clinical care

11 Prepare a script! LESSON #4 : Forget about your pride, prepare a script and learn it by heart! In that way you make sure you say everything you want to say and within the time allowed and and.. hermm 1 st Slide Introduction Introduce myself Good morning my name is Lorenzo Fabrizi I am a neuroscientist with a medical physics background and I study somatosensory processing in premature infants using EEG

12 Questions and Answers If you have the feedback prepare a reasonable response for every single point Write the questions and answers down and rehearse them with other and by yourself (remember, no pride in learning things by heart!) More questions will come up at the mock interviews Think about tangential questions! What would your neighbour ask you? I am doing MRI in newborn Are you crazy?! Is that safe?!

13 Mock interviews At least 5 mock interviews: 1. Familiar grounds (your close colleagues) 2. Other colleagues that went through the same experience 3. Other colleagues of whom you fear the judgement 4. Other colleagues of whom you fear the judgement 2 5. Back to familiar grounds for a boost of confidence Resources: 1. Your own network 2. The network of your mentors 3. Research coordination SLMS 4. NCN (Interview workshops 2 times a year)