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Isabel Sada-Ovalle M.D., PhDNational Institute of Respiratory Diseases
Mexico City, MexicoJuly 2011, Rome, Italy
Strengthening the Research Capacity of Young Investigators
from Developing CountriesProfessional Development Workshop
6th IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis and Prevention
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h Agendao Definition of Early Career Investigatoro Early career development in HIV research in a
developing country: What do you need??o Potential sources of funding for early career
scientists in developing countries: What do you need??
o Priorities in HIV research and their impact on early career funding
o Hot topics in HIV that lend themselves to early career awards and training opportunities
o Multidisciplinary Challenges and Obstacles when living in a developing country
o Future commitments for early career scientists from developing countries
o How can you optimize your productivity in a developing world?
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h Early-Career Investigators… …Known Facts… …
Are you under 40? or within 10 years of achieving your final degree or clinical training?
Young- and early-career investigators (YECI) bring energy and a fresh perspective that is unbiased by prevailing dogmas. These characteristics are essential for scientific progress.
YECI are a major source of innovative ideas in science.
Examples of simultaneous Nobel Laureates and YECI: Harold Varmus, David Baltimore, James Watson and Dorothy Hodgkin all made their discoveries before the age of 30.
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h Early career development in HIV research in a developing countryFirst, if you want to work on HIV research (basic, clinical or epidemiological) you need:
1. HIV patients2. Healthy donors3. High-risk groups4. Animal models of infection5. BSL-2/BSL-3 facility
Many small cities in developing countries do not have these kinds of resources, so you will have to look for a faculty position in a larger city, where the most important Institutions are located (Universities, National Institutes of Health, Pharmaceutical companies, etc…). My experience:After my Post-doctorate I went back to my Institution (National Institute of Respiratory Diseases), to my old bench space and fought to obtain my own laboratory… and thus a pitched battle began!!
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h Early career development in HIV research in a developing country… … when you finally get your position
A. What do you want to do when working in the HIV field?1. Research2. Teaching3. Clinical4. Epidemiology
B. What resources will you need?1. Protected time for research2. Space
a. Office, lab, staff, computers, network, lab equipment3. Other support
a. Mentoring b. Routine administration
of course!!!! … all of them at the same time
Remember… what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger!
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h Potential sources of funding for early career scientists in developing countries Local Science Councils Local non-profit organizations International collaborations with your Post-
doctoral mentor www.grants.gov www.niaid.nih.gov/labsandresources/resources/
cfar/pages/default.aspx www.hhmi.org www.theglobalfund.org www.gatesfoundation.orgMy experience:As soon as I got my faculty position, I submitted a project to our National Council of Science, a simple continuation of my postdoctoral work. Next, I looked for other potential international sources of funding and potential new international collaborators.
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h Priorities in HIV research and their impact on early career funding3 key areas of scientific research and funding:1. Seek, test, and treat HIV-infected persons2. Cure at least a proportion of existing HIV infections3. Prevent new HIV infections through a comprehensive combination of prevention programsHowever, you may not have the resources to work on these specific areas, though we will continue to face the HIV/AIDS epidemic for many more years. There are several specific questions that must be addressed before we can say… … We know everything about the immunopathogenesis of AIDS!!Feasible and relevant questions get funding, even in developing countries. My experience:I have worked in the TB field for 10 years, and TB is a leading killer of people living with HIV. I identified a relevant question in TB research that could be critical to treating HIV. Use your skills to answer very specific questions related to HIV.
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Hot topics in HIV that lend themselves to early career awards and training opportunities
This is a topic to think about … … These novel and hot topics can be developed by researchers from:a. developed countries (ECIs working in established labs, collaborations with your Ph.D. or postdoctoral mentor, fast preliminary results, administrative support, etc…)b. developing countries (ECIs have bench space, no lab of their own, no start-up funding, no administrative help, etc…)
My experience:You have to work twice as hard as many researchers from developed countries, and you need to have the ability to envision an entire project in advance in order to preclude potential sources of failure.
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h Multidisciplinary Challenges and Obstacles when living in a developing country… … You may face some of the following circumstances:a. Lack of a supportive environment for mentoring and
conducting research.b. Lack of the networking required to facilitate the interactions
that early-career scientists require.c. Lack of bench-space / office-space to do your experimental
work, data analysis, grant writing, abstracts, papers, etc…
These challenges increase when the investigators decide to conduct their research with international funding that may require:1. DUNS number2. CCR registration3. eRA Commons registrations4. IRB approval 5. FWA numberMy experience:When I decided to submit the CNIHR proposal I did all registrations for my Institution myself. Nobody could help or was interested in doing so.
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Although the basis for successful grants is good scientific data, writing successful applications is a necessary, acquired skill.
Reading successful applications written by our previous mentors is the best way to do it.
However, not everyone will be willing to provide their previous applications for your perusal, so you can write your best draft, ask your international collaborators for suggestions and use their feedback to write a final version.
Key: good relationships with successful mentors.
How can you optimize your productivity in getting a grant in a developing country?
My experience:Formulate a specific and novel research question, design a feasible approach according your resources, look for strong collaborations with researchers that you can trust and get preliminary results from a pilot study that can strength your application.
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h Future commitments for early career scientists from developing countries… …
Recognize and accept your full responsibility to conduct your own research, but also strive to ensure the success of the next generation of investigators.
MENTORING
Whether we know it or not, all of us serve as mentors and benefit from good mentoring.
My experience:Mentoring can be challenging, training master and PhD students in developing countries is a critical issue. Less than 0.1% of the researchers in Mexico have a postdoctoral training in US or Europe, so it is our responsibility to provide a good mentoring experience to all those students that do nor have access
Developing countries do not want be testing countries, we want to improve and be competitive.
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“Because there are developing countries and developing minds, a YECI must be developed minds able to work in developing countries or
in resource limited settings.”
In summary:1.Identify your field of expertise2.Define your experimental system3.Transform yourself into a Polyfunctional ECI4.Look for potential sources of funding 5.Identify the priorities in your country and built a
potential novel and feasible proposal6.Identify potential sources of failure7.Write, write and write…8.Establish long term international collaborations
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Thank you
