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Name: Terry Pellmar Brown Affiliation: grad '73 Company/School: Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute (AFRRI), Uniformed Services University (USU), Department of Defense Position: Scientific Director of AFRRI and Chairman, Radiation Biology Department, School of Medicine at USU Degree(s) Earned: PhD Physiology and Pharmacology, Duke
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Are
advanced degrees
a must for what you do? A
doctorate level degree is required for my position. What
positions did you hold before your current position (what other jobs
led I
did two postdoctoral fellowships, one at AFRRI and one at the
National
Institutes of Health. I
joined the staff at AFRRI as a research scientist and rose through the
administrative ranks In
1998 I left AFRRI to go to the Institute of Medicine at the National
Academy of Science as Director of the Board on Neuroscience and
Behavioral Health. In
2002, I returned to AFRRI as Scientific Director. The
research experience during my postdocs and early positions at AFRRI
was essential to my career growth. The policy experience I
gained at the Institute of Medicine provided a broader perspective on
science that is helpful in my current position. What
are your favorite aspects of you job? What are the drawbacks? There
are 3 main aspects of the job that I particularly enjoy: 1.
Opportunities to continue learning 2.
Contributing to the nation's readiness for terrorism 3.
Shaping the direction of research and training The
primary drawback is the day-to-day frustration with the bureaucracy.
It is easy to get lost in the hassles of doing the job, but if I step
back from this once in awhile, I can keep it in perspective. What
advice do you have for someone who is thinking about pursuing a career
in To
succeed in science, you have to really have the dedication to put in
the years at the bench. Funding is not always good and keeping a
lab going can be a real struggle. If you don't love it you can't
do it. What
do you look for in a potential job candidate/ what qualities are most I
look for the knowledge in the particular area of science we are
recruiting for and just as important, the drive to pursue the
research.
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