This past spring I had the opportunity to lead a seminar series on strategies for career advancement for a dozen early- to mid-stage faculty members. We met four times over the course of two months and touched on several topics including career planning, negotiations, and change management. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know these individuals, learning about their research, and helping them navigate the realities of academic research career advancement. 

My motivations for leading a series on this topic was driven by my colleague Dr. Shannon Takala Harrison’s repeated reminder that not only is it challenging to launch a research career as an early career scientist, but it is also equally if not more challenging to find continued success.

A professor in CVD and the Associate Director for CARTI’s Training Tracks, Shannon tells me that she has seen several colleagues falter and lose hope sometime between successfully securing a first federal grant and establishing a rhythm of continued funding. Life is a series of choices. That said, sometimes the choices before us are difficult to see clearly due to a myriad of reasons, including ambition, stress, and other life distractions. 

Perhaps the most important thing to keep in mind as you navigate life and your career is to have a solid vision of where you want to be, of what your life looks like in five, or maybe ten years. This vision is not a title or rank, but a mental image of what your life looks like in its totality. Setting a vision takes some effort, you need to evaluate your priorities, your life, your family and your own health and wellness. You also need to give yourself grace and understand and acknowledge that unexpected events arise, priorities shift, and that it is possible to set a vision with enough flexibility to accommodate the vicissitudes of life.  

“The only constant in life is change”—Heraclitus of Ephesus 

As I was finishing my residency many years ago, the vision I mapped out for my own career neglected my passionate interest in research. My mentor and residency program director immediately saw the omission, stepped in, and helped me course correct. He saw something in me that I couldn’t yet see in myself, but he was entirely right. Therefore, socialize your vision with mentors and advisors whom you trust to gain necessary perspective and fine tune your vision.  

The beauty is that this vision is yours to create, to manage, to adjust.  

We at CARTI are here to help you achieve your vision through our research career counseling, our seminar series on managing your research program, and many other offerings, including my career advancement seminar series, which I plan to offer again in early 2025. We always can make room for one more eager and excited person looking to set a path toward a successful research career.  

-- E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA