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Career Feature

Dr. Rasika Hudlikar, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the NIH

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We invited Dr. Rasika Hudlikar, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at The National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, MD to tell us about her career as a postdoctoral researcher. Here, Dr. Hudlikar talks about some responsibilities and expectations from her job and offers some advice to those who are interested in pursuing a career in research at the NIH.

About Rasika Hudlikar, Ph.D.

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Rasika Hudlikar, Ph.D. is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), NIH working with diverse team that conducts clinical and translational projects in the area of lung cancer research. Her applied research spans the fields of microbiology, cellular and molecular biology, biochemistry, and in vitro and in vivo oncology. Alongside her multifaceted role as a postdoctoral research fellow at the NCI, Rasika is an editorial member and reviewer for multiple scientific publishing houses and a freelance science writer.

How did you get your current job? Describe the path to your current position.

I obtained my BS and MS degrees in Microbiology. I pursued my Ph.D. in Life Science (Cancer Biology) at The Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research and Education in Cancer (ACTREC), Tata Memorial Centre (TMC) in Mumbai, India. After obtaining my doctoral degree, I began to explore postdoctoral research opportunities, as I was primarily inclined towards conducting research in the field of disease biology. Although I received multiple offers, I decided to take up my first career opportunity as a postdoctoral researcher at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, in a lab where my current research interests aligned with ongoing projects and provided me with opportunities to incorporate new techniques in lung cancer research. After serving 3 years as a postdoctoral fellow at Rutgers, my interests leaned toward application-oriented and patient-based projects. This led me to pursue a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, Maryland, where I have been working since the last 6 months with a diverse research team, comprising head and associate surgeons, bioinformaticians, and senior scientists to conduct research aimed at understanding the complexity of lung cancer, particularly from a clinical standpoint.

 What is a usual day/week at your job position?

My day primarily involves conducting research/benchwork that consists of designing and performing experiments for both independent and collaborative research projects. I’ve listed three most important tasks in addition to my daily research activities:

  • Presenting/discussing research articles
  • Staying up to date with the latest publications in the research field
  • Discussing potential research ideas with my own team as well as with other clinicians at NCI.

My other research activities involve attending scientific conferences to present our work, collaborating with scientists and clinicians in the US, as well as facilitating international research collaborations to promote diversity from various ethnic backgrounds, which is a crucial aspect of scientific research. One of the ultimate goals of our research group is to disseminate the results of our work to the scientific community by publishing our findings in reputed international journals. As a postdoctoral fellow at NIH, we are always encouraged to actively participate in professional development activities outside the lab, for example attending seminars, colloquiums involving career and personal development, including CV/resume writing, job applications, preparing for the interview process, etc. The NIH provides an amazing opportunity for postdocs to acquire various skills, including mentoring students, judging poster presentations at conferences, and preparing candidates for taking up future career endeavors.

From your experience, what does a company/institution look for in candidates applying to your job position?

I believe that dedication to research is an extremely important aspect of working at the NIH. My background in cancer research spans a broad range of experiences, including working with in vitro model systems, experimental animal studies, and human tissue samples, all of which strengthened my application for a postdoctoral fellow at the NIH. From my experience, research institutions also look for candidates who are eager to take on completely new research projects with a diverse soft skillset, including quick learning ability, teamwork, collaborating, and multitasking! Furthermore, developing strong communication skills is an important aspect in postdoctoral research as most work responsibilities involve meeting with a diverse team, including surgeons, bioinformaticians, and global research collaborators where one is expected to not only explain the research with clarity but also understand the challenges at their respective ends. Overall, horizontal learning allowed me to focus on improving my research expertise, whereas vertical learning enabled me to put that knowledge into practice.

What skills have made you and others in your field successful? Were there any unexpected skills that you needed to learn?

Looking back, my career path involved a series of stepping stones, starting from conducting research involving handling organisms at a microscopic scale during my graduate studies in microbiology, to handling organisms at a macroscopic scale, with mice during my doctoral research to understand the complexity of diseases. The research experience I obtained during my Ph.D. was the primary step in learning the basic nuances in the research process, which involves 4 major steps: designing, executing, interpreting/analyzing, and troubleshooting experiments. To accomplish these steps, my mentors taught me in detail about how to dive into research literature to understand potential challenges and research gaps and troubleshoot experiments. After receiving my Ph.D., I began my journey as a postdoctoral fellow in the US with a diverse research culture, and it was thrilling to apply my knowledge/skills to understand different challenges in the field! Although postdoctoral research involves mentorship, I learned to how to independently conceptualize my own project, design the required experiments, conduct experiments, as well as troubleshooting them. My role as a postdoctoral fellow also gave me an amazing opportunity to mentor both Ph.D. candidates and undergraduate students with their research and thesis progress. Another important aspect of my career trajectory was my role in actively participating in professional development research opportunities, which included grant writing and evaluation, reviewing original research articles and literature reviews, as well as writing book chapters, and other university-related volunteering opportunities.

What advice do you have for current graduate students looking into work in this job position?

Learn, learn… and keep learning! Never ever give up on learning new things every day, let it be a new research paper, new techniques, new soft skills, or even new software/websites for analysis of your data. When I observe the working styles of well-renowned scientists, I noticed that the one thing common among all of them is that they never stop learning! Actively build your networking skills and stay up to date with the latest publications in your research lab as well as peers in your research field. Finally, I also suggest exploring traditional as well as non-traditional career paths associated in the STEM career to make this path more enjoying and fun!

The views expressed in this article belong to the authors and not the organization, its affiliates, or employers.

Interview by Janhavi Damani

Alumni Spotlight

Cheri Lee, Postdoctoral Fellow at the NIH

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Dr. Cheri Lee, Postdoctoral Fellow at National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Bethesda, MD

As part of the HGSAC, we love honoring our alumni and keeping up with their successes! Alumni stories inspire students by giving them career path ideas. As part of this spotlight series, I asked one of our Penn State alums to answer some questions about her career journey up until this point.

Meet Dr. Cheri Lee, Postdoctoral Fellow at National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Bethesda, MD.  She earned a Ph.D. in Biochemistry, Microbiology and Molecular Biology from Penn State, in 2015. Her former advisor was Dr. Craig E. Cameron. 

Here are her responses–in her words:

Dissertation title: Viral-polymerase-mechanism based strategies for viral attenuation and vaccine development.

My dissertation work dealt with the population dynamics of RNA viruses and how, when manipulated, they can be attenuated and used as possible vaccines. As a model for RNA viruses, I used poliovirus. RNA viruses replicate with a high error frequency, which creates a heterogeneous population of mutants dubbed quasispecies. Population genetics theory states that RNA viruses replicate along an error threshold, the theoretical limit in which the virus can maintain its genetic information. An increase in the mutation rate and/or a decrease in the population will drive the viral population towards extinction. Antiviral drugs that increase the mutational frequency and/or mutations in the polymerase that alter population diversity should also exhibit a decrease in fitness. Working with a panel of polymerase fidelity mutants I have been able to study the relationship between fidelity and attenuation. Using this approach, I have been able to determine the effect of fidelity has on pathogenesis and development of the adaptive immune response.

How did you choose your degree program and what you like about your current career?

Ever since high school, I have been fascinated by viruses and how they initiate disease. My first semester in college I visited the career center and learned that there was such a thing as a Virologist and after that I was hooked. I attended George Mason University and at that time they didn’t offer many different degree programs so I majored in Biology and concentrated all of my electives in Microbiology. After graduating from college I worked for several years as a research technician at the Naval Medical Research Center (NMRC) in the department of Viral Diseases aiding in vaccine development against dengue virus. It was there that I learned molecular and cellular biology techniques and worked with both mice and non-human primates. It was this job that solidified for me my desire for viral pathogenesis research and gave me the push I needed to go back to school and get my Ph.D.

I was drawn to Penn State mainly because it was close to home and I could easily visit family on the weekends, which eventually proved to be nearly impossible! Also because of the amazing research that is conducted on campus especially the work being done in the Cameron Lab. I was attracted to Craig’s lab due to the work he was doing with poliovirus and the idea that altering polymerase fidelity can serve as a universal vaccine strategy. My project was on poliovirus pathogenesis in a transgenic mouse model, but it really only scratched the surface of pathogenesis seeing as we were more interested in the virus and not so much how it interacted with the host. When thinking about my next career steps I knew that I wanted to delve more into pathogenesis and host immunity in response to infection with an RNA virus, which is what I am currently doing at NIH. I currently working in the laboratory of Vanessa M. Hirsch and again I am working with non-human primates. We use simian-immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infected rhesus macaques as a model for AIDS pathogenesis and to develop effective vaccines strategies. My specific project is to investigate hidden reservoirs of SIV in the brains of rhesus macaques with neuroAIDS.

What have been some obstacles you’ve had to overcome in pursuit of your educational and career goals?

My number one obstacle as always has been me doubting my own abilities. After college, I never wanted to go back to school and I worked for a long time knowing that I wanted to return to school and get my Ph.D., but not feeling confident enough that I would be accepted anywhere. I reached a point in my career where I felt I had hit the ceiling and there was no more upward movement. At that point, I felt my only choice was to go back to school, which has been the best decision I ever made.

What have been some sources of inspiration both in your career and in your life?

Number one inspiration has always been my mom. As a single mother, she worked very hard to continue to educate herself so that she could provide my sister and I with the best opportunities in life and somehow she made it look easy! She instilled in me a strong work ethic and told me from a very young age to be career driven and as long as I love what I do it won’t feel so much like work and she was right.

What would you describe as your strong suit?

My strong suit is my tenacity. When there is an obstacle in front of me I don’t stop until I either get around it, over it or punch right through it.

How has Penn State impacted your life?

I learned a lot at Penn State. First, I learned that I can be strong and can deal with a lot of adversity and still somehow get through it while still maintaining a smile. Second, I learned that nothing matters unless you have friends and family to share your successes with. I made many friends in State College, year after year. They all helped me through grad school and just life in general and I will forever be grateful to all them for that.

What advice would you give someone who would like to pursue a career in your field?

Start working in a lab as soon as you can to get experience. Universities have lots of opportunities for undergraduate research or work-study positions. Experience is key. Learn techniques that will make you indispensable in the lab and able to collaborator with other scientists. Publications are important but they will come only if you are able to generate data. Of course, the more you are able to learn and more you are able to publish the more job opportunities you will be able to open yourself up to.

What are your words of wisdom for current graduate students?

My best advice for current grad students is to make sure you keep a running dialogue with your advisor and that you both agree that you are making progress with your studies and also have yearly committee meetings. Professors are very busy and sometimes they can lose track of what their students are doing (even though it may feel as though they are avoiding us…). You have to make sure that you remind them that a) you exist, b) you have data and c) you don’t want to be in grad school forever!

What are your plans for the future?

My ultimate goal is to direct my own independent research program on viral population dynamics and pathogenesis.

Alumni Spotlight

Shakira Nelson: Fellow at the National Cancer Institute

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Shakira M. Nelson, PhD, MPH, Cancer Prevention Fellow at the National Cancer Institute

 

It is chiefly important to show the variety of career options for PhDs at the end of their graduate school journey. As part of this spotlight, I asked one of our Penn State alumni to answer some questions about her career journey up until this point.

Meet Dr. Shakira M. Nelson, cancer prevention fellow at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, MD. Nelson obtained a PhD in Pathobiology from Penn State, class of 2013. Her former advisor was Dr. K. Sandeep Prabhu.  She also recently received a MPH (Masters in Public Health) in Epidemiology from John Hopkins University.

How did you chose your degree program and what you like about your current career?
As an undergrad I majored in Microbiology (also at Penn State). When I graduated I had no clue what I wanted to do next and decided to enter the workforce. I was fortunate enough to land a contracting job at the Department of Health and Humans Services (DHHS) where I worked within the Pandemic Influenza Division. For two years, I was able to watch MDs and PhDs work together, and with other Divisions and Agencies and Congress, to protect the country against a future influenza pandemic. The more I worked, the greater my desire to move into a field of public health, working to protect those around me. At the end of two years, I felt ready to return to school and get my PhD.

My plan was to work in biological sciences, acquiring the background necessary to understand biological assays, cellular work, and mechanisms. I still wanted to focus on public health and humans, working on prevention of diseases, but I felt having this as a foundation would benefit me in the long run. Little did I know that a person in my future, while at Penn State, would open a door for me that would lead me directly to the work I wanted to do. Towards the end of my PhD, my attention turned back to wanting to work on humans. The animal studies I did as a PhD student showed me mechanisms and helped me establish myself as a scientist, but I still desired to try something new. More specifically, I wanted to work on analyzing human clinical trial data, working in the prevention of diseases, such as cancer. One of my thesis committee members was an alumnus of the Cancer Prevention Fellowship Program, a prestigious fellowship offered through the National Cancer Institute. I was encouraged to apply. After reading their mission statement, I felt this would be a great fit for me. It would help me transition from biological sciences towards epidemiology, while allowing me to have experiences that would enhance my portfolio of knowledge and help with career development. I am currently in the third year of my four year fellowship, and it has been incredibly beneficial and fulfilling. I have met many people within the field of epidemiology who have been pioneers in the development of treatments and prevention methods of cancer development, including Dr. Harold Varmus and Dr. Douglas Lowy. I have traveled to conferences and networked with scientists and epidemiologist who work around the world and throughout the government, including CDC, NIH, and USDA. I look forward to the next steps in my career development, where I hope to continue working in the area of cancer prevention.

What have been some obstacles you’ve had to overcome in pursuit of your educational and career goals?
Many times I have had to get out of my own way. I used to worry a lot about not being smart enough, or not knowing enough about a subject, holding myself back from applying to a program or pursing an interest. I have had to learn to trust myself and understand the desire to learn is a trait that has taken me far. I continue to learn daily, and cast aside self-doubt, pursing opportunities as they become available.

What have been some sources of inspiration both in your career and in your life?
My sisters and parents have been my best source of inspiration. Watching my sisters vigorously pursue their educations and opportunities for development, as I have done to this point and time, has pushed me to continue to work hard, to be the best example for them I can be. I also appreciate the support of my parents, and how my accomplishments are a reflection of the upbringing I had and the dedication they had to raising my sisters and me.

What would you describe as your strong suit?
I think my best strong suit is my dedication to any project or task I begin working on. I push myself very hard, but not because I want to outpace anyone, but because I want to make sure this opportunity is going to make me more knowledgeable and be a useful skill in my future. When I start a project I like to give all my efforts and focus until it is completed. By giving my efforts in the manner I do, I know that my work ethic and talents will be seen in the final product of any project I work on.

How has Penn State impacted your life?
I spent a total of 10 years as a student at Penn State (as an undergraduate and graduate student). Over those 10 years I was able to see the necessity of my becoming an African American female PhD. There are so few women in the STEM fields, and even fewer minority women. To be at Penn State and be visible to both the undergraduate and graduate communities helped me to see how important my accomplishments can be and how it can help open doors to future minority females interested in pursuing a graduate degree.

What advice would you give someone who would like to pursue a career in your field?
Be patient. Projects move slow, advisors and students can give you a hard time; there are hundreds of reasons you’ll want to quit. But you are here for a purpose and part of your journey is overcoming these obstacles. Having patience is your best ally, and will help you go stronger in the long run.

What are your words of wisdom for current graduate students?
Enjoy your time as a graduate student and accept opportunities as they are presented to you. Your potential can only go as far as the opportunities you take advantage of. And although everyday can be a struggle (as usually is), this journey towards your PhD can be the example for someone else, helping them in an unexpected way.

What are your plans for the future?
I would like to stay within the government, working in the area of cancer prevention. During my time as a Cancer Prevention Fellow, I have focused on nutrients, diet, and prostate cancer. I am interested in staying in this area, as there is a lot of research that still needs to be done. I have also begun working in the area of health disparities, examining how this plays a role along the cancer continuum. Although I have veered away from academia (for now), I would like to continue to be involved with student mentoring, helping to bring minority and female students to STEM, providing a substantial impact in the field.

I asked Dr. Nelson to include a brief overview of her thesis work to hear about some of the interesting science that has happened at Penn State:
My work focused on selenium, an essential micronutrient with anti-inflammatory properties, that plays a vital role in many metabolic pathways. The true physiological significance of this micronutrient is heavily studied, where over 25 selenoproteins have been identified. The goal of my thesis was to understand the role selenium plays in anti-inflammation first using an ex-vivo model, with bone marrow-derived macrophage cells from mice fed varying selenium diets. Collected cells were treated with the bacterial endotoxin, LPS, to induce inflammation, or as the Th2-cytokine IL-4. My studies found that macrophages supplemented with adequate levels of selenium (100 uM) and treated with IL-4 increased the expression of alternatively activated macrophage markers, Arg-1, Ym1 and Fizz1. These alternatively activated macrophages are found in anti-inflammatory settings, and also play a role in wound healing.

Interestingly, in macrophages treated with LPS and supplemented with adequate levels of selenium, we saw a marked decreased in pro-inflammatory macrophage markers iNOS, TNFa, and IFNg. Together these studies suggested that selenium at an adequate level can shift macrophages from a pro-inflammatory towards an anti-inflammatory phenotype. To effectively translate these findings into an animal model, we collaborated with Dr. Joseph Urban from USDA using the helminthic gastrointestinal parasite Nippostrongylus brasiliensis (Nb). These parasites have a short life cycle, residing in the lungs for 1-2 days before arriving in the small intestine where they reside until 14 days after initial infection. Mice infected with Nb and supplemented with Se significantly increased the expression of the alternatively activated macrophage markers Arg-I, Ym1, and Fizz1 in the small intestines, while decreasing the presence of intestinal worms and fecal eggs. We found that the experiments conducted in my dissertation suggest that optimal Se status, in the form of selenoproteins, is critical to shunt macrophage activation towards an alternatively activated phenotype that promotes enhanced clearance of gastrointestinal parasites.

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