We walked beyond those steal gates into the oncology (cancer) research center_of_excellence, with thumping hearts & warm feet - after being lost in the huge specialist hospital complex.
The interview (more like an informal chit chat, me sitting inside the room to observe) went fine, except for a funny moment when on constant questioning of the american hired Director of Research to my consort as to why she got interested in research at all & not perusing clinical side after achieving much in her clinical studies... her sixer reply was;
"umm.. err.. actually.. sir.. i mean doctor saheb.. i'm done with my license exam, but i don't want to specialize & end up being a grey-headed professor for the rest of my life.."
.. too late to recognize that he himself had a grey head.. And was a professor!
ooopsy!!!
lol
But the cool guy meticulously changed the subject altogether.. haha
Needless to say that he was impressed (or depressed?) & has asked us to come later :p
After taking some suggestions from me & others on job selection, this is what she wrote;
'Thinking about professional working, investing time & exerting skills generally, I have ranked the following which I personally find most useful spending my life getting at something, making a difference & bringing a smile on a sick countenance (if i can as a clinical researcher.. or a physician).
– where 1 is most important, 8 is the least:'
Salary (Incentive, Facilities) | 4 |
Job Satisfaction (Feeling more fulfilling in doing what I’m doing) | 2 |
Work Environment ( | ---------------------- 1 |
Institute’s Reputation | 3 |
Real Research & not a ‘clap research’ | 5 |
Encouragement | 6 |
Outcomes (Making a solid difference in lives) | 3 |
Training | 8 |
seeing this table, it seems one sure doesn't like people patronizing her..
hah! thats for sure ;)
Returning -
my exposure with cancer research dates back (& was largely limited to) years when we have had wholesome family dinners, after an exerting day of student life; where my father while peeling fruits would discuss about his cancer research experience & the nitty gritties of food 'carcinogens' (? or whatever he called them back then)
It went on as in..
.. reading few bits here & there regarding the non-radiation non-invasive 'breakthroughs' in curing strategy etc. A four page interview transcript here.
More here & here
[Now that the radio man is no more, i got hold of some of Dr. S. Curley's research papers here, here & here.. oh & also a patent]
Its interesting though, when the search for cure is none other than the natural means & not machines, for instance; using carrots as a cure to cancer, & then the research on a protein that gives a certain species of jellyfish a faint glow thats presumed to be useful in curing cancer and other diseases, as mentioned in this episode of Science and the Sea podcast..
Or the one made from toad venom; a traditional Chinese medicine for treating cancers, & its Clinical trial.
Plus the research on patients with Down’s syndrome (since most types of cancer are much less common among these people) - here is the related abstract on this issue (this genetic stuff reminds me of the nice slick flash demo with a slider bar a dear friend sent my way).
Then a research on rodents-genes vs. cancer-cells & on & on...
I do think though, that biostatistics is a separate field of statistics.
We as an engineering scientists, can't fully comprehend the 'ethical tension' thats part & parcel of clinical research.
Rules are different while experimenting on people.
FTW, clinical trials will often use statistical designs that sacrifice some statistical power in order to protect the people participating in the trial.
Ethical constraints & limitations is what make biostatistics challenging, i suppose.
anywayz.. this all reminds me of a familiar thing;
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