Arjun is the quintessential triple threat: a clinician scientist who excels in research, teaching, and clinical care. He is a generous collaborator and teacher, working with several other laboratories on complex infection models and training many individuals on virology and immunology. He is clearly a leader and ready to run his own group.

— Catherine Blish, MD, PhD, George E. and Lucy Becker Professor of Medicine

The power of mentorship: Having Catherine as a mentor has been essential. She connected me to collaborators and provided opportunities for me to build research infrastructure at Stanford. When the university shut down during the pandemic, she helped me logistically continue my biobank and BSL3 work.

What the future holds: Looking for a permanent job as a physician-scientist, ideally in the Bay Area, where my partner is also a physician-scientist.

Takeaways from the pandemic: The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us that science in a vacuum or shared only among scientists misses an opportunity to inform the public and help nonscientists think about complex biomedical concepts. I am inspired by programs like Radiolab that mix scientific concepts with audio and visual arts. To help the public better understand my work, I teamed up with art students who helped me translate my main scientific project (studying lung inflammation that happens in response to infection) into artistic concepts.

Preference: Clinical or research? In college, I initially could not decide. Then, the summer before senior year I joined a program working with students in Arusha, Tanzania, to teach basic HIV biology. As I spent time with people living with HIV in the community, I felt that with HIV and infectious disease, I could blend my interests in clinical medicine and basic science and have a fulfilling career. I then worked in a biomedical lab for a couple of years while I applied to MD/PhD programs.

Preventing physician burnout: This is really hard. Our lab has regular social events and retreats, usually overnight at a house in Sonoma or along the coast north of San Francisco. These retreats provide an annual opportunity to take stock. I also benefit from talking and interacting in person with other postdocs and fellows in the lab about the intersection of science, medicine, family, and maintaining balance.

Unwinding with the family: Bike rides through Golden Gate Park with my daughters or playing ultimate Frisbee in the park or on the beach; car camping and trying new restaurants.

Hobbies: Listening to music and podcasts; playing the piano and saxophone; gardening; tending to orchids and my aquarium.

Arya is meticulous, rigorous, and committed to excellence in both the clinic and the lab. He is an outstanding physician-scientist.

— Paul Bollyky, MD, PhD, associate professor of infectious diseases and of microbiology and immunology

Why a career as a physician-scientist? In undergrad, I got a job washing glassware in a lab focused on bacteria that cause infections. The principal investigator and lab members included me in discussions and explained to me what they were studying and why, as well as the methods by which they pursued their studies. I attended clinical rounds and got to see how the same bacteria we were studying in the lab were causing disease in patients. I was hooked. This was exciting, precise work that allowed me to be creative and work alongside passionate and incredibly intelligent individuals while at the same time offering the possibility of providing a significant impact on patient outcomes.

When I eventually started my own project, the lab members helped me understand the difference between statistically significant and meaningful data as well as taught me to be my own harshest critic. They also instilled the value that the purpose of science is to advance knowledge and our understanding of life.

Preference: Clinical or research? Research. It provides me more opportunities to be creative and explore ideas. I very much appreciate patient care and feel my time spent on service is more productive and possibly more meaningful than time in the lab. However, there is a lot of repetition. We often see similar cases and have near-identical discussions with the primary teams calling daily for consultations. In contrast, the questions I am trying to answer in the lab can change drastically from week to week. It’s rewarding to watch a project or idea evolve over time.

What do you love about the job? Allows me to be curious and connect dots. It’s fun when immunology intersects with microbiology, metabolism, ecology, and even philosophy.

Preventing burnout: When I am not in the lab, I am sleeping or watching TV shows to unwind. When I can make time, I enjoy reading and woodworking.

Karen is a rising superstar in global maternal and child health. She is well on her way to an outstanding career as a translational scientist in infectious diseases.

— Prasanna Jagannathan, MD, assistant professor of medicine and of microbiology and immunology

The power of mentorship: I have been very lucky to have Dr. Jagannathan as my primary research mentor. He is supportive, enthusiastic, and always available to his trainees, and has cultivated a collaborative yet rigorous lab atmosphere. I feel lucky to have worked with him and learned from his example.

What the future holds: In fall 2023, I joined the Vaccine Study Center within the division of research at Kaiser Permanente Northern California, based in Oakland, as a research faculty member.

Preference: Clinical or research? Both! I prefer to spend most of my time on research because I like to think about the bigger picture, but I think it’s essential to maintain some patient contact and have those personal connections in order to keep a grounded perspective and remember why the bigger picture is so important.

Why a career as a physician-scientist? I knew I wanted to be an infectious disease physician and researcher before going to medical school. The medicine part has always interested me, but I’ve also been intrigued by the societal impact of infections. Pathogens have shaped the course of human history and seem to lay bare so much of our social and political rifts, with infections like HIV, Ebola, and of course COVID-19 more recently. The advances we’ve seen just in the last century — antibiotics, vaccines, a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine developed in less than a year — are astounding. I think it’s such an interesting and important field!

Avoiding burnout: I recently had the opportunity to attend the Gordon Malaria Conference in Spain. Connecting with colleagues from around the world and being able to travel a bit for fun was definitely rejuvenating.

Relaxing after a hard day’s work: Spending time with family and friends and watching TV on my couch.

Joelle combines a capacity to identify, interpret, and critically consider key scientific findings in the literature with a commitment to use the scientific process to improve the lives of low-income marginalized communities globally.

— Stephen Luby, professor of medicine, infectious disease; associate dean for global health research

What the future holds: Continuing my academic research in climate change and infectious diseases with hopes of getting a faculty position somewhere.

Preference: Clinical or research? This is a very difficult question. I love both. They are fundamentally different but also completely complementary. I love interacting with patients, learning about their lives, and working to make their lives better in a very tangible and gratifying way. But I also love the exploration and creativity that research affords. With research, every day feels like a new adventure, a new opportunity. But what makes the research feel worthwhile is also imagining how it might benefit people and the planet in some way later down the road.

Why a career as a physician-scientist? I wanted to be a primatologist. But while studying wildlife conservation, my deepening appreciation for the interdependency between the environment and human health drove me to become a physician-scientist working at this intersection. I also suppose one could argue that by studying medicine, I still did become a primatologist of sorts, just not studying the kind of primate that typically swings from trees.

For the love of science: I love that I get to work with brilliant, caring people with all sorts of different skills and backgrounds. My work is inherently interdisciplinary, and I love learning from and sharing with people across a whole range of expertise.

Active relaxation: Biking, hiking, pack rafting, Latin dancing, windsurfing, challenging my husband to a fierce game of backgammon, and trying to find the best cheese, scones, and hole-in-the-wall music venues.