Carolyn Lim | DP

Dr. Christine Guthrie, a biochemistry professor at the University of California, San Francisco, delivered the keynote address at Penns biomedical postdoctoral research symposium, which took place on Oct. 9.

Yesterday, the Biomedical Postdoctoral Council and the Office of Biomedical Postdoctoral Programs hosted a symposium to showcase current postdoctoral research.

The symposium, featured about 50 poster exhibits, nine lectures and a keynote address given by Dr. Christine Guthrie, a professor of biochemistry at the University of California, San Francisco.

The event began at noon, ended at 5 p.m. and was followed by a short reception. About 200 people attended the event.

The symposium gave postdocs the opportunity to present their research and to strengthen Penns postdoctoral community, said postdoctoral fellow Melissa Mendez, chair of the BPC Symposium Committee. It gives people who want to present the opportunity to practice and to get communication going, she said. The people who come want to get to know their colleagues.

But the symposium was more than just a postdoctoral mixer. It was an opportunity for the fellows and researchers to practice communicating their ideas to those who do not understand the intricacies of their fields.

It all comes down to communication, said Rohinton Tarapore, BPC co-chair and a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Periodontics. Can postdocs communicate their science in laymans terms? The way we measure the success [of this event] is if you understood a majority of the posters. That means that the postdocs are doing a good job of communicating their ideas.

Postdocs are technically not faculty or staff of the university but are trainees who receive a stipend while conducting research. Their appointments are annual and can be renewed for a maximum of five years. Most postdocs do not see their position as a permanent job, but rather as a stepping-stone toward a larger goal.

Your end goal can be a faculty position, and you can become a professor, or it can be joining and doing industry research in a start-up biotech company like GSK or Pfizer, Tarapore said. You can become a consultant or you can be in policy-making. You can start your own biotech company or [you could go into] writing science articles.

Link:
Symposium highlights postdoctoral research