On March 8, 2018 we will launch the new NAVBO Webinar Series.  We plan to offer a new webinar each month and will archive these webinars for later viewing.  The attendance at the live webinars will be limited to 100. 

 

Here is our current line up:

Dr. Henar Cuervo of the University of Illinois at Chicago Shares Her Insights

I started my lab at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) about a year and a half ago. I am still finding my way through and know that there are many challenges ahead, but I am happy to share some of my lessons learned. Some of you may find it helpful; some of you may enjoy the trip down memory lane.

Get plenty of advice, and then trust that you are making the best decision you can. As scientists, we do a thorough background research before we start an experiment, we search what has been published, what techniques have been used, and then once we have all the information, we design and execute our experiment. So, I felt that I needed to do the same when making important decisions about managing/setting up my new lab. I read several books (I strongly recommend "At the Helm: Leading your laboratory" by Kathy Barker, and "Making the Right Moves" published by the HHMI), and took advantage of the great faculty mentorship at UIC. However, more frequently than not, I would hear opposing advice from similarly successful senior professors; for example: Professor A would suggest using your Start-up funds aggressively to get the best preliminary data you could to secure grant funding, while Professor B would recommend to be cautious with spending and save some of the Start-up funds for a rainy day. As it usually happens in life, nothing is black and white, and everyone has had a different story and has different circumstances, ultimately the decision has to work for you and how you like to manage your lab.

Learn to say no. This is one of the big clichés, I know, but after a year and a half I am still struggling with it. It is much easier said that done. As you start your lab you will be invited to give talks, to review papers, to review grants, to serve in multiple committees, to teach...etc. I actually find most of these activities to be exciting; they make me feel proud to be contributing to my Department/University, and to the overall scientific community-plus it is a good way to learn the lay of the land. I found that being part of the "Graduate Education Committee" in my Department allowed me, for example, to get familiar with the graduate student selection, and the thesis (and qualifying exam) rules and requirements. This experience turned out to be particularly useful when I was part of a qualifying exam committee, or when recruiting graduate students to my lab. Similarly, being a grant reviewer for the Department of Defense and seeing how that process worked was a fantastic learning experience towards crafting my own grants. However, while all this service work can be edifying and rewarding, it takes a substantial amount of time and focus, and it is easy to neglect your own research group. It is therefore critical to keep a good balance between your own research and the service to the academic/scientific community. As I mentioned, I still have not found the perfect formula (I am not even sure it exists), but I try to select talks, reviews, and other tasks that I feel I can either learn from, or that can help in the development of my career.

Be patient. The first year while setting up the lab is usually not as productive as you would like it to be. You have to spend time negotiating prices with sales representatives, preparing IRB and IACUC protocols, training students...etc. The experiments that you thought were so easy and just took you a couple of hours to get done when you were working at the end of your postdoc might take much more for your newly trained student(s). I remember feeling frustrated with how slow things were moving in the first months: I knew it would take some time to get the lab up and running, but I also wanted to be productive and get good results as soon as possible. I had to be patient, and focus on building my lab and training my students thoroughly. It took more time than I wanted, sure, but now when I see my students' data and presentations I know it was worth it.

See all of the contributions to Lessons Learned on our web site.

This month we are highlighting the lab of Dr. Henar Cuervo, who is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Find out more about Dr. Cuervo and her lab at http://www.navbo.org/membership/members-labs/660-lab012018.

Guest Editors Andreas M. Beyer, Marcelo Bonini, and Javid Moslehi, along with the editorial team of AJP-Heart and Circulatory Physiology, invite submission of original research and short reviews on the emerging area of cardio-oncology, which explores adverse cardiovascular side effects of cancer chemotherapy.

This call for papers focuses on three major components: a) increased understanding of clinical and physiological challenges surrounding adverse cardiovascular events induced by cancer therapy that include radiation treatment as well as chemotherapy b) improved definition of the basic mechanisms that underlie radiation/chemotherapy induced cardiovascular toxicity, and c) establishing relevant interventions to prevent or counteract the negative cardiovascular outcomes of anti-cancer therapy.

For more information go to: http://www.physiology.org/ajpheart/cancer-therapy-induced-cardio-vascular-toxicity

As Congress negotiates a federal spending bill for fiscal year 2018, Research!America and partners have launched another week-long print and digital ad and social media campaign to urge lawmakers to lift spending caps to help increase investments in federal science agencies. Use the hashtag

#RaisetheCaps on social media and other digital platforms in messages to Congress.

Print and online ads are running in major publications January 10 - 17, including POLITICO, CQ Roll Call, Daily Caller and Washington Examiner .

 

Join us in reminding Congress that scientific breakthroughs depend on federal investments. There are several easy ways to get involved:

Click #RaisetheCaps to visit the Research!America web page for resources and to learn more about the joint ad campaign.

Ken Matsumoto, VIB, University of Leuven