My career in science has been convoluted, but it has led me to a place of clarity for my future. While being unbelievably tough at times, it has been an incredible journey of self- discovery.
My parents, who are both doctors, always encouraged me to be curious and sparked my interest in science. Instead of following in their footsteps, however, I forged my path and studied Biotechnology. As I wanted to experience the adventure of studying abroad, I moved to Manchester in the UK, for a Master’s degree.
On my first day in the lab as a rotation student, I was handed a pipette and asked to clone a gene into an expression vector. I did not have much practical experience, so this was a trial by fire. Dealing with living away from home, overwhelming lab work, and supervisor who was a bully, was very challenging, but it made me tough and resilient, in some ways. I held onto the fact that I was learning a lot and picked up essential wet lab skills. My second research placement was a happier experience and introduced me to the person who I consider a true mentor. This positive experience fuelled my research interest, and I decided to apply for a Ph.D. Due to pesky UK immigration law, I returned to India to work as a research assistant while I pondered where to do a Ph.D.
I did not anticipate the difficulty I would face applying to European and American laboratories as a foreigner. After months of disappointing results, I serendipitously came across an advert for a Ph.D. in my mentor’s laboratory. I contacted him and six months later I was back in Manchester as a doctoral student. For my Ph.D., I worked on studying the structure and function of polymorphic variants of the ABC transporter P- glycoprotein, while also developing drug screening assays using purified and lipid reconstituted protein. I found my Ph.D. quite challenging, but that’s perhaps what made it so rewarding in the end. There were one or two significant setbacks, but what I found most difficult was the build-up of minor setbacks over time and the constant need to troubleshoot things. My Ph.D. had amazing moments too. The one I remember most is when I accidentally stumbled onto an unreported drug interaction with P- glycoprotein. As this was a drug used to treat cystic fibrosis, its interaction with a multidrug transporter could adversely affect the lives of patients. For the first time, I felt like my work really mattered. I’d hold onto that feeling of joy, any time I felt like quitting.
By the end of my Ph.D., I had an offer to do a postdoc in Oxford to study another ABC transporter in diabetes. Oxford was initially a dream come true. The ‘dreaming spires,’ the gorgeous parks, and the prestigious university were everything I could have hoped for. The postdoc project was off to a flying start and in the eyes of my PI, I could do no wrong. After nearly a year, however, I hit the first major trough of the project and my postdoc quickly went into a downward spiral. Due to the less than ideal lab situation and because my contract would be ending anyway, I started applying for jobs in earnest. This proved harder than finding a Ph.D. lab! Most of my interviews went fantastically, but the moment the words “visa sponsorship” left my lips, I could see the shutters come down. After nearly a year of such disheartening experiences, I got a break when an acquaintance, an independent PI in Singapore, caught wind of the situation. She instantly offered me a position in her lab, saying that she needed a protein biochemist to helm a project on developing novel cellular transplant systems to treat age-related retinal diseases. I wasn’t sure, as it was a massive departure from my previous areas of research, but the more I discussed the project with her, the more I wanted to do it.
While I was sad about leaving my home of six years, I knew how lucky I was to have a great job to go to. My current lab is well funded and has given me the opportunity to work with a diverse group of scientists and explore techniques well outside of my comfort zone.
My postdoc experience in the UK and the grim realities of life in academia has made me re-evaluate what I want to do in the future. I have realized that while I still enjoy doing experiments, I do not enjoy the arduous task of troubleshooting constantly. Establishing a new project has taught me that I enjoy the process of scouring through literature and assimilating pertinent information. I recently started a blog, and while researching for it, I had the happy epiphany that the root of my passion for science lies in reading and critically thinking about a wide variety of interesting research, rather than focusing on my own. Based on these self-observations, I would like to start working towards a potential career in science publishing, while I give my best to my current research project. Hopefully, to paraphrase Mr. Spock, “I can then go forth and prosper.”
Author
Swathi Lingam is a research fellow at A*Star in Singapore, where she is developing novel cell therapy systems to treat age-related eye diseases. She had been a Ph.D. student at the University of Manchester, followed by a short post-doc at the University of Oxford before moving to Singapore. She is passionate about science communication and loves doing that through her blog “The Very Curious Biochemist”. Follow her on Twitter.
Editors
Roopsha Sengupta is the Editor-in-Chief at ClubSciWri. She did her Ph.D. at the Institute of Molecular Pathology, Vienna, and postdoctoral research at the Gurdon Institute, University of Cambridge, UK, specializing in the field of Epigenetics. During her research, she was involved in many exciting discoveries and had the privilege of working and collaborating with a number of inspiring scientists. As an editor for ClubSciWri, she loves working on a wide range of topics and presenting articles coherently, while nudging authors to give their best.
Rajamani Selvam received her Ph.D. in Neuroscience. She is currently pursuing a fellowship where she studies the blood-brain barrier. She is interested in a career in science policy or regulatory affairs. During her free time, she volunteers as a judge to Science Fairs to elementary and high schoolers, performs demonstrations and hands-on activities to provide insights on brain and Neuroscience. She also mentors students through 1000 girls’ 1000 futures program and Freedom English Academy where she provides career guidance. Away from science, she is an artist and enjoys leisure travel.
Illustrator
Dr. Manasi Pethe is a Protein Engineer with Bayer and the founder of PethDoodles. She loves to depict the behind the scenes images in a scientist’s life in an attempt to make science a more accessible career. Find her art on www.instagram.com/PethDoodles
Cover image- Spiral staircase Pixabay
“Anxiety” by Dr. Manasi Pethe
The contents of Club SciWri are the copyright of Ph.D. Career Support Group for STEM PhDs (A US Non-Profit 501(c)3, PhDCSG is an initiative of the alumni of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. The primary aim of this group is to build a NETWORK among scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs).
This work by Club SciWri is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
