" I would encourage early-career scientists to seek out opportunities to learn from individuals in other disciplines so they could incorporate these diverse perspectives into their own work. "
Intro:
Jessica M. Faupel-Badger, PhD, MPH
Chief, Office of Policy, Communications and Education with the Education Branch of the National Center for Advancing Translation Sciences (NCATS)
Background:
I received my PhD in tumor biology from the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, MPH from the George Washington University, and BS from Gettysburg College. I currently direct the Education Branch at the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS). Prior to joining NCATS in 2018, I led the Postdoctoral Research Associate (PRAT) program at the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) and managed a portfolio of research and training grants. Before this, I was the deputy director of the Cancer Prevention Fellowship Program at the National Cancer Institute.
Q: What is your favorite subject to teach and why?
A: I love multi-faceted, complex problems that provide an opportunity to explore a variety of different perspectives and research approaches. This is precisely what a translational science course offers. You hear what each individual was concerned about regarding their specific contribution to the project, but you also see how the group functioned as an integrated team.
Q: What course(s) will you be teaching in Spring 2021 at FAES?
A: The NCATS Education Branch is developing courses that use a case-study approach to teach principles of translational science, like Principles of Preclinical Translational Science (MEDI 501) that we are offering through FAES. Translational science is the field of investigation focused on understanding the scientific and operational principles underlying each step of the translational process. In this course, we follow the research leading to development of a compound to treat advanced metastatic cancer that is currently in phase 1 clinical trials. We used this project to both teach key principles of translational science including novelty, process innovation and efficiency, acceleration of timelines, and boundary-crossing partnerships, and highlight how these principles have been operationalized in a real-world project.
We are also developing additional courses using this approach that will highlight research across the translational science spectrum. We hope to be announcing a MEDI 502 course soon!
Q: What are you most looking forward to for the upcoming semester?
A: In combination with offering this new course (MEDI 502), the NCATS Education Branch also conducted a rigorous pre- and post-course evaluation to assess change in knowledge and attitudes about preclinical translational science and how knowledge gained during the course might influence one’s current or future work. I look forward to us being able to share these data and use this evaluation to guide our future course design.
Q:What is one piece of advice you would give to young professionals entering the field?
A: Translational science is a multidisciplinary field. Participants in the MEDI 501 course hear lectures from over a dozen people who either conducted the research or are expects in other aspects of translational science, such as legal, ethical, team science issues. Throughout these talks, you can see the level of interaction between the different research groups and the constant communication needed to move this project forward. To me, this highlights that a successful translational scientist will not only have deep expertise in their subject area but will also be conversant in what individuals from other disciplines bring to the team and what is needed to advance the project towards becoming a successful intervention. I would encourage early-career scientists to seek out opportunities to learn from individuals in other disciplines so they could incorporate these diverse perspectives into their own work. For example, many compounds look like a promising intervention in in-vitro models but fail to move forward because of toxicology or efficacy issues at later stages. By knowing these potential pitfalls, one could design experiments to address these issues earlier in the process.