It's been a very busy first 6 months of 2010, with much of my time focused on doing "other" things critical for my job, and to the center/agency programs. Unfortunately these time consuming activities have considerably slowed my ability to push some of the lab science forward. It didn't help that the post doc I had who was working on the genomics project left to take an internship with another government agency. This was good for him and important for his future aspirations, it paid him considerably more, and I felt I really had to encourage him to take it. But it sure caused a loss of momentum, and with the time commitment needed for his internship, I don't see him writing up one of his two projects unless I try to draft it.
However, unless I am requested to provide research support for a microbial perspective on seafood safety or ecological damage assessments as a result of the Gulf of Mexico Transoceanic oil spill disaster, things should start heating up this summer. I have a new post doc coming in July who will drive the genomics work. A couple of months ago he spent 4 weeks in the lab on an internship (funded through one of the national programs that my program is a part of), and I was both impressed and relieved that he will prove to be one of the better ones.
Everything's in place, financially and organizationally, to have 10-16 strains of my favorite bacterial species sequenced to ~100x coverage on a SOLiD next gen sequencer (when do they become current gen?). Strains to be sequenced have already been subjected to MLST analysis, clonal groups characterized and relationships established. The objectives include determining what is different at the genome level between clinical (therefore virulent) strains, which form one tight clonal complex and appear rare in the environment, and other environmental isolates that belong to other phylogenetic groups and are not isolated from clinical cases.
This should be fun, and I do need some of that at work!
Sunday, May 23, 2010
...staying put
It's been a long time since I last wrote here, and I just realized I never did post the outcome of my candidacy for a marine genomics faculty position (discussed earlier here).
Obviously, it wasn't me who was selected. I probably would have written about that. After almost 10 months of waiting, the med school dean/committee picked a very accomplished researcher, big research group, Howard Hughes Professor, ~250 publications, yada, yada. Really, I was flattered to be recruited to apply, and then asked to interview; then to make it as a top 3 candidate was icing on the cake. But from what what I know about the person selected, and what I've heard from others associated with both the university and the government lab where the person's research group will be based, it was kind of a strange selection. His background and career, while stellar, did not really fit the requirements and qualifications that were originally advertised. I'm not trying to sound bitter, because I'm not, and I realize shifts in positions happen. I've also heard that restructuring at the school might have made it less attractive to make the jump for someone like me.
So, as far as I know, I'm not going anywhere. I have several good years left, so I'm finally acting on some opportunities to make some changes in my work situation, plus I'm now more determined to follow through on many of the goals for the research I've set.
Obviously, it wasn't me who was selected. I probably would have written about that. After almost 10 months of waiting, the med school dean/committee picked a very accomplished researcher, big research group, Howard Hughes Professor, ~250 publications, yada, yada. Really, I was flattered to be recruited to apply, and then asked to interview; then to make it as a top 3 candidate was icing on the cake. But from what what I know about the person selected, and what I've heard from others associated with both the university and the government lab where the person's research group will be based, it was kind of a strange selection. His background and career, while stellar, did not really fit the requirements and qualifications that were originally advertised. I'm not trying to sound bitter, because I'm not, and I realize shifts in positions happen. I've also heard that restructuring at the school might have made it less attractive to make the jump for someone like me.
So, as far as I know, I'm not going anywhere. I have several good years left, so I'm finally acting on some opportunities to make some changes in my work situation, plus I'm now more determined to follow through on many of the goals for the research I've set.
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