Emory University Press Releases: Early-Career Scientists At Emory Seek Resilience Through NIH-Designed Program

Press release from Emory University Press Releases:

July 8, 2021

The “Becoming a Resilient Scientist” program sponsored by NIH featured webinars and small group discussions addressing mental health and wellness concerns among graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. Note: Not all participants are shown.

Early-career scientists at Emory and Georgia Tech had a stressful year, even after pandemic-related restrictions on laboratory research eased. Over the last several months, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows have been participating in a virtual pilot program aimed at mental health and wellness concerns to help with that stress.

Sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the program was called “Becoming a Resilient Scientist.” Lasting from January to May, the program consisted of six webinars, each followed by a small group discussion. Topics were tailored for scientists and included emotional intelligence, cognitive distortions and imposter fears, developing assertiveness and resilience when getting feedback or criticism, and developing better relationships with mentors.

At Emory, the program had twice as many applicants as available spots for the small group discussion (40 applicants for 20 spots), so organizers held a lottery to select who could participate.

Now Laney Graduate School and the School of Medicine’s Office of Postdoctoral Education are talking about holding the program again in the fall, possibly with changes in format. 

“This is something we should be doing anyway,” says Rob Pearson, assistant dean for professional development and career planning at Laney Graduate School. “It was necessary before the pandemic, and it will be necessary after it fades.” 

Students and postdocs reported that they gained insights and tools from the webinars, but the small groups discussions really held them together. 

“This program came at the ideal time for me,” says Lauren Liebman, a third-year graduate student in the biomedical engineering program at Georgia Tech and Emory. “The discussion groups were a great way to connect with people having similar experiences and similar challenges.”

Liebman’s research had been in its most uncertain state in the last year, and she’s had to reorient topics and proposals. Last summer when Emory and Georgia Tech shut down research not related to COVID-19, , she had to spent about three months away from the lab. 

Together with advisor Brandon Dixon at Georgia Tech, she is now planning a project on lymphedema, the damage to lymph nodes that is a common complication of cancer treatment.

Going through the Resilient Scientist program encouraged Liebman to begin wellness coaching at Emory and to start therapy off-campus, she says. 

It also encouraged her to discuss the topic with her classmates and co-workers. “We’ve had more communication about wellness and mental health in the last few months than in the previous few years,” she says.

Early-career scientists spend long hours working in the lab, squeezing in the writing of grant applications and research papers. Nationwide, they face a culture in biomedical research that imposes both external and self-imposed pressure. Research has found the incidence of depression and anxiety in graduate students is more than six times the rate observed in the general population. 

An effort to mitigate these pressures, the Resilient Scientist program was designed by Sharon Milgram, director of NIH’s Office of Intramural Training and Education — herself an Emory alumna. The National Institutes of Health had an enthusiastic response to the program; some 15 universities, including Yale, Vanderbilt and University of Wisconsin, took part. 

At Emory, the small group included postdocs from the Departments of Chemistry and Biology and the School of Medicine, along with graduate students from the Graduate Division of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Nursing, Sociology and Rollins School of Public Health. The discussions were facilitated by Pearson and Lydia Soleil, director of career development in Emory’s Office of Postdoctoral Education.

“Our job was not to say too much,” Soleil says. “It was to create a space for camaraderie, where students and postdocs could learn from each other.”

Soleil and Pearson went through training specifically for the discussion facilitators, and an observer from NIH sat in on the group discussions and gave them pointers afterwards.

“I was impressed about how all of the participants supported one another,” Pearson says. “I would frequently hear, ‘What you said resonated with me.’” 

Program participants say that they gained insights and tools from the webinars and discussions that they have used to be more productive and balance their lives.

“The big reason why I wanted to take this course was to figure out better tools for myself, to stay motivated and on track,” says Brandon Young, a FIRST (Fellowships in Research and Science Teaching) postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Biochemistry.

Young started at Emory in Bo Liang’s laboratory in September, after earning his doctorate at Medical University of South Carolina, so his work was never interrupted by pandemic restrictions. But Young found he was pushing himself so hard that he sometimes didn’t have time for maintenance tasks such as laundry. “It seemed like I was always working on something, yet still didn’t have time for day-to-day things,” he says.

Taking suggestions from fellow program participants, Young began journaling and found a weekly task list helpful.

“It’s not a ‘must do’ list, but more of a priority list,” he says. “It became a guideline so that I don’t get overwhelmed with how much is on my plate.” 

After completing the Resilient Scientist program, participants have been planning a face-to-face reunion. “I would love to meet everyone in person,” Liebman says.

This press release was produced by Emory University Press Releases. The views expressed here are the author’s own.