From Academia to the Authorities

Let's start with the basics. My name is Henriette, I am 28 years old and I will soon be an alumna from the MedNeuro MSc and PhD programs at the Charité. 

I started my PhD in 2014 in the group "Experimental Psychiatry" with Prof. Christine Winter. My focus revolved around neuropsychiatric disorders and my daily work contained a mix of performing stereotactic surgeries, behavioral experiments and electrophysiological recordings. My thesis is written and ready to go, the plan is to open the procedure this summer.
However, a lot has happened since I finished lab work in 2017. I moved back to Denmark, mainly with the purpose of getting closer to my family (I am a dane) and finding a job. Luckily, all of this fell into place rather quickly.

Henriette Edemann Callesen

I started looking for jobs a few months before moving back to Denmark. I spent a lot of time figuring out what kind of job I wanted, which wasn’t easy. Moving from research into the “real world" seemed rather daunting. I mainly saw myself as a researcher and was interested in continuing in this field. Yet, after almost three years of working with rats, I wanted to get out of the lab. I did quite a lot of soul searching to figure out what kind of position met my requirements and to understand what qualifications the PhD had given me. In this period, I even wrote an article in the CNS newsletter about this topic – simply because I had to put my own doubts into words and let go of the imposter syndrome.

Let go of the imposter syndrome

I eventually boiled all my qualifications down to a proper CV that included my PhD, but also some organizational work I had been doing on the side. I made sure that the focus was not on my published papers nor my everyday handling with rats, since this is only relevant if you want to stay in academia. Back in Denmark, I sent out a bunch of applications. To make the story short: I am now an Academic Employee at the Danish Health Authorities in Copenhagen.

My Work Has Clinical Impact
My daily work evolves around constructing National Clinical Guidelines. I attend meetings with clinicians to figure out where the problems in their daily work are. For example, we discuss whether there is lack of evidence for the treatments that are being applied, or if one treatment is better than another. Then I go through research publications, critically evaluating its quality (using the so-called GRADE method [1]) in order to find out more about the effects of different treatment options. All of this is then composed into a National Clinical Guideline, which physicians can use in their daily work when doubt arises.

Use your qualifications wisely

And, boy, is this work different from being in the lab! I no longer work with rats, I have normal working hours and I get to drink coffee at my desk, while going through research. I developed competencies in understanding what contains good research (and what not) and I get insight into the challenges doctors face daily. Moreover, my products have clinical impact, which is very motivating.
What I miss, though, is being able to sit down and scientifically analyze and interpret data. I miss the flexibility that comes with being a PhD student, including structuring the day myself. I miss my friends and colleagues in Berlin and the thrill of being abroad. With that said, right now, I would not change it for the world. My new position offers other interesting possibilities and I get to grow in a different direction then what I would have if I had stayed in academia.
So, to all of you currently in academia who are thinking about changing tracks: first of all, yes, your PhD is a valuable asset that can land you a job in the “real world”. However, be aware that when promoting yourself, employers outside academia value other aspects of your work than a potential PI. There are indeed jobs out there, where you can combine research and regular working hours. Seriously, let go of the imposter syndrome that many PhD students have. Use your qualifications wisely, take a leap and go for it.

by Henriette Edemann Callesen, MSc and PhD Alumna, MedNeuro


[1] http://bit.ly/1IQ69Ub

This article originally appeared March 2018, in Beauty and the Brain , Vol 11 - Issue 01

Animal research on preventing aging

Who Wants to Live Forever?

Biogerontology (the study of the biological aspects of aging) is a particular field of research that is struggling for recognition by the scientific community as a proper intellectual domain. One impeding factor is the difficulty to separate this field of study from the “anti-aging” industry, which have somewhat of a blemished history and tarnished reputation. Nevertheless, biogerontology has slowly started to become more accepted and, in parallel, the interest in age-related research has started to boom. So if these scientists are not just producing anti-aging products, what are they doing?

The Puzzling Questions
Separating the anti-aging industry from the work of a biogerontologist is difficult, mainly because they are trying to achieve similar ends. However, for a biogerontologist, the focus is to understand what aging is (a solid definition is still lacking) as well as to understand the aging process. Ultimately, their goal is to alter the degenerative process of aging and thus to keep people healthy and fully functional up until the time of death [1].
The intriguing thing about biogerontology is that the most basic questions still remain unanswered. As such, it is a field of study where possible breakthroughs may lurk in the distance. One fascinating question includes why some species in general live longer than others (reference inter-species aging article?). Getting old is a universal across all species, yet horses generally live longer than rats but have shorter lives than humans. Aging affects species in a similar fashion, such as losing hair and muscle tone, getting age-related diseases etc. Yet, these happen at a differential rate across species. We still do not know why this is the case [1].

The “supermodel” of age research – the naked mole rat
Picture source: http://bit.ly/1n4aVZa

What are They Working On?
When it comes to investigating the lifespan, biogerontologists have often turned to genetics. Several genetic pro-longevity mutations have been identified by the usage of model organisms such as yeast, fruit flies and mice. Most of the identified genes are involved in aspects specific to evolution, including growth regulation, energy and reproduction.

NAKED MOLE RATS LIVE 10 TIMES LONGER THAN NORMAL LAB RATS

Apart from genetics, specific prominent models have emerged. One model that especially has attracted attention is the so-called “Naked mole rat” – also known as the “supermodel” of age research. The mouse-sized rat is normally found in the horn of Africa and has a marvelous lifespan of 30 years (!), as compared to the average 3 years of a normal lab rat [2]. Its long life span has been linked to its good health and cancer resistance. So obviously some processes have evolved in these species that allow them to stay fit for such a long time in comparison to a lab rat. Surprisingly enough, these rats exhibit high levels of oxidative stress and short telomeres – findings usually linked to an accelerated aging process. Yet, despite this, they still cope well with cellular stressors and show stable genetic integrity. The mechanism of how they are able to do this still remains a mystery [3].

Any Breakthroughs Yet?
There is still a lot which remains to be discovered. Yet, one major finding in aging research is that dietary restriction (under-feeding with a 30-40% reduction in calories, without malnutrition) extends life in both nematodes, spiders and dogs. The idea that life is prolonged during times of less food is thought to serve as an evolutionary advantage, as this enables animals to postpone reproduction until food is available. The underlying mechanism is unclear, yet the hypothesis is that decreased caloric intake slows down metabolic activity, thus reducing the production of toxic reactive oxygen species and ultimately the aging process [4,5].

CALORIC RESTRITION EXTENDS LIFE IN DOGS, SPIDERS AND NEMATODES

Can We Extend Life?
Biogerontologists do find that different genes/pathway/processes are involved in the aging process when investigating different species. Despite this, translational approaches are challenging as aging processes, while bearing similarities across species (e.g. the effect of dietary restriction), also substantially differ from one another (naked mole rat vs a lab rat). This brings us to the general problem of translating preclinical findings into something useful in the clinics. Considering that we still need to understand the basic mechanism of aging, there is a long way to go before eternal life is possible. We will all eventually “suffer” from getting old. Yet, who knows? Given the increased interest in biogerontology, aging might with time (ironically) become a process which, to some extent, can be postponed or at least improved.

[1] Settersen et al., J Aging Stud, 2008
[2] Sengupta, Int J Prevent Med, 2013
[3] Edrey et al., ILAR J, 2011
[4] Guarente & Kenyon, Nature, 2000
[5] Vijg & Campisi, Nature, 2008

by Henriette Edemann Callesen, PhD student AG C.Winter
this ariticle originally appeared in CNS Volume 9, Issue 1, The Aging Brain