# Presentation: 538744

## Lessons Learned Along the Way 

- http://www.sei2003.com/nida/1014023/index.htm

- Lessons Learned Along the Way
***Laura Bohn, Ph.D.***
***Associate Professor of Pharmacology***
***The Ohio State University ***
***College of Medicine***
***Columbus, OH  43210***
***Laura.Bohn@osumc.edu***
*** ***

## Laura’s Timeline

- 05/1993 	Graduate VA Tech,  BS Biochemistry, BA Chemistry
- 08/1993	Start St. Louis University School of Medicine PhD in Biochemistry
- 07/1994	NIH T32 Departmental Training Grant
- 10/1996 	NIDA NRSA F31 Predoctoral Fellowship
- 01/1999	PhD granted,
- Begin Post-Doc at Duke Univ. with Marc Caron, PhD
- 04/2000  	NIDA NRSA F32 Post-doctoral fellowship
- 04/2002	NIDA K01 Career Development Award
- Promoted to Research Assistant Professor, Cell Biology, Duke Univ.
- 08/2003	Assistant Professor of Pharmacology, Ohio State 			University (tenure track)
- 10/2007	Associate Professor of Pharmacology with Tenure

## Now that you have the K...

- Setting goals- what is your timeline?

- For the 5 year K

- Year 1:	Wow, I can’t believe I finally got this thing-
- 		now I need to do this work
- Year 2-3:	Data generation underway- preliminary studies, preparing manuscripts.
- 	Apply for oral and poster presentations- Networking
- Year 3-5:	Write for an R01 while preparing manuscripts (preliminary data = paper)
- 	Begin to Interview- Make the big leap to independence

## Moving outside of the Mentor’s ring-

- 	Participation is Key
- Attending meetings is only the first step
- 	Resist urge to “hang out” with people that you already know-
- Sit up front
- Take notes
- Ask a question
- Talk to the speaker after the talk
- Visit the posters from the speaker’s lab for ongoing discussion

## Moving outside of the Mentor’s ring-

- 	Participation is Key
- Get involved with “your organization”
- 	Post-doctoral gatherings
- 	Committees
- 	Moderating symposia
- Expand your Venues-
- 	Go to some conferences that your mentor does not attend.

## Presentations/Recognition

- Apply for poster or oral presentations- get some mileage out of your work
- Benefit by presentation practice and get exposure
- Continue to build CV
- Apply for Awards- most organization offer “young investigator awards” for individuals under a certain age or within a period of post-degree completion (i.e. 10 years past PhD receipt).

## Prepare to leave the lab:

- Determine where the mentor and mentee separate
- Can be painful- resist making it personal and emotional
- Consider investment Mentor has made
- Be honest, fair and upfront
- Keep an ally

## 		authorship

- 		authorship
- 		reagents
- 		grants
- Keep an open dialogue regarding future research directions
- Studies supported by the K01 as a good template for future directions

- Prepare to leave the lab:  Progressive actions:

## Prepare to leave the lab: a checklist

**Generate preliminary data**
- Work toward Manuscripts
- Now is a good time to do a few studies that may not be your main focus
- Good time to pick up techniques
- Side experiments may spark  new research proposals in the future
- Build CV through collaboration within your lab and with new contacts
- Begin preparing the R01-  Even if you are “not ready,” it will help to organize your thoughts and study directions.

## Making the move:

- Finding the best fit-
- 	Available positions
- 	Departmental visions
- 	Funding
- 	Stepping Stones?

## Making the move: Considering best fit vs. ideal vs. availability 

- Consider transition position- it may be more important to establish independence than to wait for the dream job opening

- Time to interview- and then to move
- 	it will take around a year to transition.

## Things to look for in a faculty position:

- 	a partial list...
- MENTORING- Chair/ senior faculty
- SUPPORT – monetary, teaching, laboratory space
- PROGRAM – Complementary- collaborations
- Room to grow...(not just space!)

## Negotiating the new faculty position

- _Salary_-
- K01 will provide 75% support, Most new hires have 100% support provided during “startup” period (3-5 yrs).  Negotiate for this return to your research program on top of the startup package.

## Negotiating the new faculty position

- _“__Startup”:_  Set amount of funds that you have discretion over spending- can usually be used for equipment and personnel.
- Consider Shared equipment available
- Consider large pieces of equipment that may be needed
- How accessible are “cores”
- NOTE:  if you buy equipment from your startup funds, then the University owns it- if you buy equipment from an NIH grant- you *may *be able to take it with you if you are still working on the NIH funded work and you move to another institution.

## Negotiating the new faculty position & getting started...

- _Personnel_:  Technicians, Post-docs, Graduate Students
- Personal decision- What are you ready for?
- Post-docs and Graduate students: need mentoring
- 	Graduate Students- stipends and tuition
- 			*Does your institute cover tuition?*
- Technicians- highly trained or novice?
- 	Part-time vs. full-time technicians?

## Negotiating the new faculty position & getting started...

- _Teaching:_  The K01 provides protected time for teaching- Make sure that your Chair recognizes this at time of contract
- HOWEVER-  Need to show teaching component to achieve Promotion and Tenure
- K should provide you with some flexibility-
- Turn down some, take on lectures that you want to teach- develop a course

## The first years in the faculty position - the honeymoon & toward tenure...

- Reviews and manuscripts- PUBLISH!!
- Recognition/Participation
- Committees and commitments
- Teaching
- Securing funding	and securing funding

## PITFALLS:

- Over-commitment
- 	saying NO-  This must be a balance.
- Taking on too many collaborations
- 	Everyone who was afraid to contact your mentor will now contact you.  This can be good- or bad.  Be careful that you are not used for your resources.

## PITFALLS:

- Working for a new “mentor”
- 	This may seem “safe” but will not help with P&T or independent development
- Taking on too many courses-
- De novo course preparation takes forever!
- Taking on wrong personnel & waiting too long to terminate them!

## Giving back- 

- Giving back-
- Mentoring and Service-
- My own recent efforts to improve NIDA funding-