By: Carolyn Bazan

What led you to this field and/or career path?
I started my academic career early on, although I didn’t know it at the time. When I was in community college, I took a psychology course that I found fascinating and spurred my interest in the field—as is the experience for many others. On the advice of my professor, I took many of the other psychology courses that were offered, and I decided to declare a psychology major once I transferred to my undergraduate alma mater, San Diego State University. There were a lot of courses, fields, and majors that interested me, and part of me assumed that I would eventually change my major to something else. But as I kept on, and got involved in research, learned more about health disparities and inequities, and explored options for a career path as a psychologist, I found my place and never looked back.

I find it so rewarding to find ways to empower communities and change systems to promote equity. Of course, it helps that throughout my undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral training, I’ve been fortunate to have incredible mentors and opportunities to work on projects that I’m truly passionate about, which I hope to create for others in the TRACC program and beyond.

What does work/life balance look like for you?
For me, this means taking care of myself physically, mentally, and emotionally. I learned in graduate school that in academia, there’s no such thing as being “caught up,” and there’s always something you could be doing or working on. So, you have to create your own spaces for self-care and personal fulfillment.

Some of my highest priorities are getting enough sleep, staying engaged with nature, and having dedicated personal time for activities (e.g., reading, watching movies, spending time with my husband and dogs). I find that sometimes, evening and weekend work is unavoidable, especially during certain times of year—but keeping “personal time” as a priority and monitoring my time helps to guide whether I need to start saying no to things. I also try to find ways to make my work life easier, by finding the times of day that work best for my productivity, practicing mindfulness, and minimizing distractions in completing a task, such as staying off my phone and closing email while I’m writing.

If you hadn’t become a psychologist, what might have you done instead?
When I was a kid, my earliest dream job was being a teacher—or a game show host, since that seemed like a fun job. I also loved reading, and my career plan for the longest time was to be a librarian. You can probably tell that I’ve always had a passion for reading and discovering new ideas, which I think lends itself well to my current career!

What advice would you give to someone starting out in your field?
Some of the best advice I’ve ever gotten was to figure out what I wanted to do in my career, and then get the degree that let me do that. That helped me and a lot of my peers figure out whether a master’s, or a doctoral degree (and what type), would help us reach our specific goals. Something else I’ve learned along the way is that there’s no right answer, and no right path. Your plans and goals can change, and that’s perfectly fine.

As you navigate your career choices, I would encourage you to take advantage of new opportunities (balancing with expectations and what’s actually feasible for your time), even if they’re totally different than anything you’ve done before. Doing new things can be uncomfortable, but embracing discomfort can help you learn and grow. Some of the things I’m most proud of, like writing my first grant and advocating for myself, came with feeling uncertainty, anxiety, or worry about the outcome. Again, mentors are incredible in this area—talk to people in the field that you can trust to coach you through these situations, finding the right approach while navigating discomfort. And last, remember that while grad school is tough—it’s a marathon, not a sprint, but it doesn’t last forever!

What is your favorite food/restaurant?
I grew up in San Diego, California, so this answer will always be tacos.

The post Dr. Alexandria Bauer first appeared on TRACC.

By: Chantel Ebrahimi

What led you to this field and/or career path? What led me to this field were the daily injustices I experienced and witnessed growing up as a poor Latina girl, daughter of immigrants in NYC under “broken window policies” and curiosity about how these experiences shape development and mental well-being. My career path wasn’t linear as I worked at a criminal defense attorney’s office, and a leading news media company before realizing that clinical psychology was my field. I was initially drawn to clinical work, when I began to realize that through research, I could potentially have longer and larger impact to improve the cultural responsiveness of mental health policies and practices by studying the mental health effects of racism and identifying underlying causes for racial/ethnic disparities in youth risk behaviors like suicidal behaviors.

How do you keep your life in balance? I keep my life in balance by being intentional with setting and sticking to my boundaries. This was something I was forced to learn during the pandemic, but especially following the racial reckoning in the US where a surge in interest and attention to my research topic yielded a high volume of requests (work) and a feeling of urgency to oblige knowing that interest would eventually wane. But acknowledging that my work is better framed as a marathon and not a sprint helps me keep things in perspective and allows my work to feel more sustainable. 

What advice would you give to someone starting out in your field? I encourage future scholars to find their people and build a community within the field, folks they can trust and lean on for support. It was instrumental for me during my training and continues to be as an early career scientist.

If you could change something in your field, what would it be? I would improve the support systems within academia and research institutions available to scholars of underrepresented backgrounds to address the “leaky pipeline” so that we don’t continue to lose great minds and budding scientists so early in their careers to more lucrative fields where they may feel more valued to be their authentic selves. This is why I appreciate what TRACC is doing for the field. Good science needs diverse perspectives, and we can’t achieve good science if the field continues to systematically exclude certain groups like people of color, low SES backgrounds, women.

What’s your favorite food/restaurant? My favorite restaurants are Amy Ruth’s in Harlem for soul food. I would go all of the time when I lived nearby, and since I’ve moved, I make a stop whenever I’m in the neighborhood. And Pío Pío who offer Peruvian cuisine and their Aji verde (a spicy green sauce) that makes everything that is already tasty, even tastier.

The post Dr. Lillian Polanco-Roman first appeared on TRACC.

By: Divya Patel

How did you decide upon a career in research?
I wish I could say I was more strategic about it, but in reality a career in research chose me – I just continued doing what I was interested in. In fact, my original plan was to be a clinician. Along the way towards this goal I got distracted by the research I was doing, and here I am!

Was there a specific point in your education or professional career where you decided to pursue research?
It was a more gradual process for me. When I was in graduate school, I still thought I was going to be a clinician, despite being really interested in the research I was doing. Even during my postdoc, which was entirely research focused, I still believed that research was a temporary diversion from clinical work. In the past five years at Columbia I have slowly come to realize that I am actually a clinical researcher primarily rather than a clinician. I sometimes reflect on how lucky it was that I kept my options open by doing a degree that included both research and clinical training as I really didn’t know what would ultimately be the most satisfying direction for me when I started my graduate studies.

Tell us about your first experience of being mentored? What is one of the most important qualities in the mentors that you’ve had?
I have had some really excellent mentors. My sense is that good mentor-ship depends on not just the qualities of the mentor, but on the fit of the mentor and the mentee at that particular point in the mentee’s development. A particular style of mentorship that works for one person will not necessarily work for another. Obviously there are some bare necessities in terms of a good mentor: someone who is willing to be available (within reason), who you like, who’s work you admire, who is friendly and not unkind, and who is interested in your development. Beyond that, it really depends on what you need. For me, now, I really benefit from someone who challenges me to be practical in my thinking about research and to justify my ideas in a logical and concrete fashion. So the most important thing I think is to know your own strengths and weaknesses well enough to know what you need in a mentor, and then to seek that out.

 Which professional conference do you try never to miss?
I always try to go to the annual meeting of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. There is always amazing science being presented there, and I often come back to the lab feeling really inspired.

If you hadn’t become a psychiatrist/psychologist, what might have you done instead?
Not sure. At one stage during undergraduate studies I considered the idea of continuing on with cultural anthropology – so maybe I would have been an anthropologist. However, I’m quite glad I didn’t go that way.

The post Dr. Gill Bedi first appeared on TRACC.

By: Brian Sou

How  did  you  decide  upon  a  career  in  research?
I first became interested in research during my senior year in college while completing my thesis on the loudness scaling in chinchillas and rat. I highly enjoyed the research process and being able to answer unanswered questions, and working with a wonderful mentor. It was during my residency that I decide to pursue research and enrolled in a combined research and clinical addiction fellowship.

Tell  us  about  your  first  experience  of  being  mentored.
My mentor in college, Rosemary Pierrel-Sorrentino, I met while taking classes in my major, a bachelor of science in psychology. I was taking a course in experimental psychology and decided to approach her to do a research project with her. I spent the summer of my junior year collecting data, both in the mornings and evening, seven days a week. While in the end, I decided that I wanted to carry out clinical rather than pre-clinical work, I enjoyed working with Dr. Pierrel-Sorrentino. She was incredibly supportive, helped guide me towards the decision to apply to medical school. She was a terrific role model in that she also had time to meet with me, helped me formulate research questions and learn the mechanics of carrying out a research project. And she was kind.

Which  professional  conference  do  you  try  never  to  miss?
The annual meetings of the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry and The College on Problems of Drug Dependence

What  does  work/life  balance  mean  to  you?  OR  What  is  your  favorite  recreation/pastime when  you  are  away  from  the  office.
I have been lucky in that I have generally enjoyed my job and I am passionate about what I do, However, my husband and 3 children take priority for me in terms of my free time and career choices. It is hard to always be “balanced” but letting family know that they are more important than any job I might have is something I have strived for throughout my career. I enjoy listening to music, singing in choruses, and traveling.

If  you  hadn’t  become  a  psychiatrist/psychologist,  what  might  have  you  done  instead?
Either a high school teacher or an administrator in the healthcare setting.

The post Dr. Frances Levin first appeared on TRACC.

By: Jared Atchinson

How did you decide upon a career in research?
Dr. Jones attended a summer undergraduate research internship in Chicago that taught undergraduate students the fundamentals of traditional psychological research. This experience was very impactful on Dr. Jones, showing him how research can contribute to his educational aspirations.

Tell us about your first experience of being mentored? What is one of the most important qualities in the mentors that you’ve had?
One of the most important qualities that Dr. Jones can recall from one of his previous mentors was patience and likeliness. Dr. Jones says that as a student, one has a lot to learn, and all of that information will not come over night. Therefore, having a mentor that can aptly identify your weakness, and help you build on them over a period of time is very important.

Which professional conference do you try never to miss?
The CCPD onference one conference in particular that Dr. Jones trys to attend every year because it has a very good mix of pre-clinical and clinical research and is an excellent networking opportunity.

 What does work/life balance mean to you? OR What is your favorite recreation/pastime when you are away from the office. 
Dr. Jones says that balancing work and your own personal life together is very important to him. He explained that pursuing a career in research gives him the ability to set his own hours, work independently, and in an overall sense, be his own boss. Having that control over his schedule allows him to spend time with family and travel, which is one of his favorite things to do.

If you hadn’t become a psychiatrist/psychologist, what might have you done instead?
If not a psychologist, Dr. Jones would have most definitely pursued a career in the clinical filed that involves some sort of science.

The post Dr. Jermaine Jones first appeared on TRACC.