Overstretched and overlooked: solving challenges faced by early-career investigators after the pandemic

Brock A Humphries; Priscilla Y Hwang; Agnieszka A Kendrick; Rajan P Kulkarni; Rachel A Pozzar; Rebeca San Martin

doi:10.1016/j.trecan.2021.07.005

Overstretched and overlooked: solving challenges faced by early-career investigators after the pandemic

Trends Cancer. 2021 Oct;7(10):879-882. doi: 10.1016/j.trecan.2021.07.005. Epub 2021 Aug 27.

Authors

Brock A Humphries¹, Priscilla Y Hwang², Agnieszka A Kendrick³, Rajan P Kulkarni⁴, Rachel A Pozzar⁵, Rebeca San Martin⁶

Affiliations

¹ Center for Molecular Imaging, Department of Radiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA. Electronic address: brhu@med.umich.edu.
² Department of Biomedical Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA. Electronic address: hwangp2@vcu.edu.
³ Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA. Electronic address: agkendrick@health.ucsd.edu.
⁴ Department of Dermatology, Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU), Portland, OR, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU), Portland, OR, USA; Cancer Early Detection Advanced Research Center (CEDAR), Knight Cancer Institute, Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU), Portland, OR, USA; Operative Care Division, VA Portland Health Care System (VAPORHCS), Portland, OR, USA. Electronic address: kulkarnr@ohsu.edu.
⁵ Phyllis F. Cantor Center for Research in Nursing and Patient Care Services, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA. Electronic address: rachel_pozzar@dfci.harvard.edu.
⁶ Biochemistry & Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA. Electronic address: rsanmart@utk.edu.

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had a detrimental effect on research. However, little has been done to identify and solve the unique challenges faced by early career investigators (ECIs). As a group of American Cancer Society-funded ECIs, we provide recommendations for solving these challenges in the aftermath of the pandemic.

MeSH terms

COVID-19*
Career Mobility*
Humans
Mentoring
Research Personnel* / economics
Societies, Scientific
Work-Life Balance*