I am Job

5, March, 2007


After several dispiriting and somewhat humiliating sales interviews, I have come to the conclusion that high-heels and nylon stockings are evil instruments of torture designed to keep women from being grounded. I cannot imagine why society would want half the population to be twittering around with calf cramps and sweaty toes, but I refuse to sign on. Also, I realized that I hate sales people, and I do not want to be one of them.

Therefore, after much soul searching, (which included a thorough if not entirely depressing investigation of my bank balance and stock portfolio) I have decided to return to the variety of challenges of lab work. My decision is not entirely based on wardrobe, but also on the dawning realization that I like science. I like working with my brain AND my hands. I like playing with chemicals and cutting open animals. I like having skills that are valuable to a potential employer without having to wear make-up or hair gel or having to have a manicure to prove it. (You know who you are…)

Almost immediately upon making this decision, all of my horrible recurrent nightmares have ceased. No more plane crashes. No more being chased by mobs of goth people. No more visions of Bill Murray naked.

And almost as immediately, I got a job!

I owe a HUGE thanks to Jim Douglass for hooking me up with a department chair at the University of Sydney. (I promise to send you some brownies.) And I owe a HUGE thanks to Mac Christie for sending my CV to every other department chair. Within two days, I received an invitation for an interview with Robert Vandenberg, and the day after that, I accepted a position in his lab with the Department of Pharmacology. (Turns out Professor Vandenberg worked at the Vollum Institute at the same time I worked there, but there was no spark of recognition between us.) I will be working on the characterization of glycine and glutamate transporters, using many techniques that I have already mastered, and also getting to learn a few more (such as harvesting frog oocytes and injecting them with RNA – cool.)

I’m pretty excited about returning to the university setting. I don’t want to say anything bad about Amgen – it is truly a great company. However, I think I will be happier working in a more altruistic environment where one does not need to consider the size and wealth of a “target population” in determining whether or not a disease is worthy of scientific research. (I just watched a very interesting show about ethics vs. profits in pharmaceutical companies that has profoundly impacted my thinking about drug development. It may change my life…or at least become the subject of a very nasty rant in the near future.)

I’m also excited (and very relieved) to learn that the pay scale for academic research at the university is much higher than I had supposed it to be. This means that we may actually be able to save some money while on this Great Australian Adventure…or at least we can afford to sustain our vices.