Women in Neuroscience:

Transcription

1 Women in Neuroscience: A Holistic Approach to Career Development Professor Barbara J Sahakian FMedSci University of Cambridge, Department of Psychiatry and Medical Research Council / Wellcome Trust Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute Distinguished International Scholar, University of Pennsylvania

2 Holistic approach to Neuroscience Goals in life eg. partner, family, enjoyment, realising one s potential, contributing to society Career goals eg. obtaining a good post-doctoral position, academic professor, position in industry (research/admin), science policy, science and medical writing Goals for research eg. important translational research, improving patient care, improving mental capital and wellbeing for society

3 Realizing your potential Who am I? What do I like doing? What is the best work/life balance for me? Paul Gauguin, Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going?

4 Aims of the Talk 1. You are all different - You want different things in life to realize your potential - You must live your life 2. Keep learning throughout life - Develop a good skill base - Be open to new ideas 3. Have confidence in yourself 4. Focus on your achievements, not your failures - Celebrate your successes!

5 Aims of the Talk 5. Learn from your mistakes - You will make them (even when experienced) but do not be too harsh on yourself 6. Do not be too harsh on others 7. Be resilient; Be positive 8. Focus on the future, not on the past

6 Aims of the Talk 9. Be flexible 10. Engage the public in science 11. Have a vision of a better future for society - realize this through contributing to science and medicine policy development

7 Hints for life: A student s perspective Dr Jenny Barnett, Cambridge Cognition Ltd. Just because you re good at what you do it does not mean that you have to keep doing it. There are many different roles that contribute meaningfully to advancing science. Decide what success means to you. You don t have to be successful by always outperforming others. An alternative way to be successful is to be a great collaborator. This may be more enjoyable in the long run. Dr Jamie Nicole LaBuzetta, Harvard University Never sacrifice what you want, but what you want may change, and that s alright. Don t close your eyes so tight that you re blind to a shift in focus.

8 A student s perspective Hints for life: You may have to work insane hours to progress to the very top but you can still do great and valuable science on a schedule that allows you a life. Dr Rebecca Elliott, Univ of Manchester Decide what your not negotiables are and stick to them. Be clear on how your compromises work and don t judge yourself by anyone else s work-life balance. Do not feel guilty about the times that you take off. Dr Elise DeVito, Yale University If you see your free time as the time you get to live your life then you ll never be happy in science. A PhD must be part of your life.

9 A student s perspective Hints for life: Dr Fionnuala Murphy, MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit Think about what you want from life and try to plan your career choices accordingly. A good fit with a particular department helps, and for women in particular, one where the other staff are sympathetic to a flexible working style. Determine your own priorities in the context of your own life and self. When things get tough, this can help you to stay centred. Dr Sharon Morein-Zamir, University of Cambridge

10 A student s perspective Hints for work: Understanding the flexibility is really important. Don t sit in an office 9-5 if there s nothing to do. Work when you need to work. Dr Oliver Robinson, National Institute of Mental Health Have confidence in the interest and relevance of your own research. For publications in top journals it is the letter to the editor that is critical. Take every opportunity to get teaching experience. Dr Jonathan Roiser, University College London

11 A student s perspective Hints for work: When making a to-do list, make it achievable. Don t fall into the trap of feeling underproductive. Dr Jamie Nicole LaBuzetta, Harvard University Get a mentor however informal. Go to conferences. It gets you presenting your work and meeting those who you will cite, may cite you and may review your papers. Dr Mitul Mehta, Institute of Psychiatry

12 Aspects of my job Engagement of the public in Science Training / mentoring PhD students Training / mentoring Postdoctoral fellows Teaching clinical students Science policy Promotion of the field through societies, membership, participation, etc. Learning (conferences) The job Communication of research topics (eg. journal articles, conferences, lectures) Conducting research and supervising Clinics, seeing patients and supervising

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14 Neuroscience and Mental Health Policy Forum on Neuroscience and Nervous System Disorders

15 Neuroethics and Society Neuroethics Social: Psychopharmacology: Treatment and Lifestyle Drug Use Chair: Barbara J Sahakian Location: San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina: Torrey 1&2 Tuesday, November 16, 2010, 6:45 PM-8:45 PM Social with Brief Presentation Guests: B. Everitt S. Hyman G. Koob T. Robbins B. Sahakian N. Volkow T. Canli P. Churchland M. Farah H. Greely T. Hensch J. Illes A Roskies Join the Panelists (Barry Everitt, Steve Hyman, George Koob, Trevor Robbins and Nora Volkow) in considering the increasing use of prescription and lifestyle cognitive enhancing drugs; problems associated with prescription stimulants; drugs to improve memory and other cognitive functions and drugs to improve forgetting; addiction, responsibility and the law; and compulsive drug taking and freewill.

16 A little help from my friends Some of my key mentors: - C. Al Sorenson - Susan Iversen - Michael Morgan - Marlene Oscar Berman - Stuart Zola - Dick Wurtman - David Drachman - Robin Murray - Gene Paykel - David Kupfer - Sir Keith Peters

17 A little help from my friends Research is much more fun in collaboration. Some of my key collaborators:- - Jennifer Barnett - Ian Goodyer - Andrew Blackwell - Peter Jones - Ed Bullmore - Raymond Levy - Sam Chamberlain - Albert Michael - Luke Clark - Ulrich Muller - Wayne Drevets - David Menon - Alex Dombrovski - Peter Nestor - Rebecca Elliott - Gene Paykel - Karen Ersche - John Pickard - Barry Everitt - Trevor Robbins - Naomi Fineberg - Angela Roberts - Paul Fletcher - John Suckling - John Hodges - Katalin Szanto - Peter Hutchinson

18 A little help from my friends Learning is a two-way process: top down and bottom up Previous PhD students: Dr Gemma Jones 1990, Dr Adrian Owen 1992, Dr Jennifer Coull 1995, Dr Rebecca Elliott 1996, Dr Andrew Lawrence 1997, Dr Fionnuala Murphy 2000, Dr Mitul Mehta 2000, Dr Tisha Ornstein 2001, Dr Shibley Rahman 2001, Dr Nahal Mavaddat 2002, Dr Judy Rubinsztein 2002, Dr Andrew McLean 2002, Dr Siobhan Keenan 2004, Dr Adam Aron 2003, Dr Julia Deakin 2004, Dr Jon Roiser 2005, Dr Karen Ersche 2005, Dr Danielle Turner 2004, Dr Joana Taylor Tavares 2007, Dr Samuel Chamberlain 2007, Dr Oliver Robinson 2009, Dr Elise DeVito 2009 Barbara Sahakian, Luke Clark, Ed Bullmore, Trevor Robbins, Danielle Turner, Samuel Chamberlain at the Times Higher Awards celebration dinner for Young Researchers of the Year, 2006

19 Recent Achievements 1. Jobs, awards and prizes - President Elect British Association for Psychopharmacology - CINP council member - Executive Board Neuroethics Society - Committee for Women In Neuroscience, Society for Neuroscience ( ) - Donders Professor of Psychopharmacology, Utrecht University - Distinguished International Scholars Award, University of Pennsylvania - International College of Geriatric Psychoneuropharmacology (ICGP) Senior Investigator Award - Behavioural Brain Research/Elsevier Prize Lecture at the 43 rd European Brain and Behaviour Society meeting - CINP Plenary Lecture - ECNP Plenary Lecture 2. Research achievements and inventions - CANTAB computerised neuropsychological tests ( - Best known for research work on cognition and depression, cognitive enhancement using pharmacological treatments, neuroethics and early detection of Alzheimer s disease

20 Recent Achievements 3. Life achievements: Family Training The Oxford Handbook of Neuroethics (Judy Illes & B J Sahakian, 2011) University of Cambridge NIH Health Science Scholars Programme (Dr Mike Lenardo) Society Neuroethics Engagement in science Policy: the UK Government Foresight Project on Mental Capital and Wellbeing (2008); Grand Challenges in Global Mental Health (2010-); Medical Research Council Review of Mental Health Research Report of the Strategic Review Group 2010; The Royal Society Brain Waves Project (2011)

21 The Future of Neuroscience Miranda Robbins Use your knowledge to promote mental capital and wellbeing for all Jacqueline Robbins Marianne van Genugten Tim van Hartevelt Claire Gillan Valentino Pironti Natalia del Campo Charlotte Housden Winifred Limmer Linda Scoriels Ahmed Mohamed