What I Wished I Knew When Starting As a Professor: An Interview with Robert Abramovitch, Lark Coffey, Thomas Kehl-Fie, and Rita Tamayo

Abstract

A career in science often feels like a series of steps. These are sometimes circular, for example, the loop of building a hypothesis, designing experiments, applying for and receiving funding, doing research, and publishing research. Or these can be the steps in a career progression from performing PhD research, writing and defending a dissertation, to finding a postdoctoral fellowship, and then exploring next steps which can include looking for a professorship. But there are relatively few tenure track assistant professor positions for the many candidates that apply, and securing that first position can loom large. We were curious what happened next after reaching the step of being a professor in terms of what the early years of being a professor and principal investigator (PI) were like especially in the current challenging funding climate. To delve into this further we talked with four investigators about what they wished they knew during their first years as a PI. Robert Abramovitch is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at Michigan State University. His laboratory studies the molecular mechanisms by which the pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis senses and adapts to host immune cues. His laboratory also conducts academic drug discovery with the goal of identifying small molecules that interfere with M. tuberculosis virulence and persistence. Lark L. Coffey, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology at the University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine. Dr Coffey is a virologist who studies the ecology and evolution of mosquito-borne viruses, including Zika, chikungunya, West Nile and St. Louis encephalitis that are a significant cause of human disease with no licensed vaccines or treatment beyond palliative care. The goal of her research is to understand patterns of viral molecular evolution and the viral genetic factors that promote emergence and severe disease. Outside of work, she enjoys traveling with her husband and 3-year-old son. Dr Thomas Kehl-Fie has been an Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign since 2013. His laboratory is interested in elucidating how Staphylococcus aureus and other pathogens, despite being starved for essential nutrients by the host, remain capable of causing infection. Rita Tamayo, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA. Her laboratory studies mechanisms of virulence gene regulation in the bacterial intestinal pathogens Clostridium difficile and Vibrio cholerae.