Dr. Jan Chalupny is the Biotech Outreach Manager and an adjunct professor at Shoreline Community College in Seattle, WA. She earned her PhD from Yale University. She has been published numerous times for her extensive research in various areas.
Can you describe your career pathway and journey?
It was always about Biology for me. My parents told me that I learned all the animal noises before I learned any words. As a kid I planned to be a veterinarian. In high school I took biology and decided to become a marine biologist. I wanted to be like Jacques Cousteau. I chose Occidental College (Los Angeles, CA) largely on the basis of their marine biology program. I got really interested in cellular biology in college and then heard a very small amount about the immune system in my Physiology class. That sounded super cool. I double majored in Biology and French as an undergrad. I applied to programs in both Physiology and Immunology for graduate school.
I ended up choosing to go to Yale University in the Immunobiology Program, which at that time was part of the Biology department. I did not have much of an opportunity for research as an undergrad. As a graduate student research is a huge part of what you are doing. I did several small lab rotation projects as I explored labs in order to choose a lab for my thesis research. The lab I chose had a molecular biology focus. My first thesis project was an attempt to clone the gene encoding a protein called Leu 19 (now known as NCAM or CD56). A big lab at UCSF cloned the gene before I could, so that project was over. I seriously considered leaving graduate school at that time. BUT, I decided to stick it out. I started working on a new project investigating the CD8 molecule and its method of signal transduction. This project went well and eventually got me out of graduate school with my PhD.
From there I did a post-doctoral fellowship at Bristol-Myers Squibb in Seattle – yay back to the West Coast!! I had a great post-doc! I worked on lots of different cell surface receptors – 4-1BB, CD19, CD40. After 4 years as a post-doc, I took a staff scientist job at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. The FHCRC is great, but my experience there was not. I did not get along with my supervisor for a variety of reasons (I was not the only one). After a year I started looking for other positions. I got hired at Immunex as a Research Technician in the Molecular Biology department. Immunex’s focus was immunology. My new supervisor was great! My project was interesting, the group was great, my boss was great. YAY. Five years later I got promoted to Scientist I. I had been offered promotion before, but turned it down several times because I had really young kids and the Research Tech job gave me really good work/life balance. At the same time Immunex got purchased by Amgen. I worked at Amgen for another 13 years until they shut down the WA site in late 2014.
At that point I took a year off to decide whether or not I wanted to go back to a basic research position or transition into a more science education type of job. I’d been doing science ed stuff on the side for years and really liked it. I decided to look for a science ed job and ended up at Shoreline Community College as Biotech Outreach Manager and Adjunct Faculty.
What do you like most/what do you find most interesting about your job?
On the research side what I like most is figuring things out. Figuring out how a molecule transmits a signal. Figuring out how cells communicate. Basically using experiments to learn something new about cells, proteins etc, how they function and what happens when they are not functioning properly. On the education side I really enjoy developing curriculum and teaching.
What skills do you find to be most vital to your job?
Communication skills are really important. In research you need to be able to communicate what your are doing, and what your results mean – verbally, visually, and in writing. Communication skills are equally important in curriculum development and teaching. It’s also important to want to learn and to enjoy learning, then using what you have learned to try to answer scientific questions.
How did you first get started in this field? What do you think a high school student just getting started in this field should do to jumpstart their career?
I studied the sciences, especially biology in high school, college and graduate school. My learning in molecular biology and immunology happened in graduate school. Back when I was in high school there were few if any summer camp opportunities or internship opportunities in the sciences. I did volunteer at the Seattle Aquarium in high school and I did an internship there the summer after my freshman year of college. These days there are more opportunities for high school students outside of school in the Seattle area. I’d recommend high school students get involved in science-themed clubs, camps, internships etc if they are able. There are citizen science opportunities out there as well that are good opportunities for learning and getting experience. Volunteer at a science organization like the zoo, the aquarium, the science center. It is as important to find out what aspects of science you don’t enjoy as it is to get experience in the aspects you do enjoy. I highly recommend learning some computing skills also.
As a woman, what challenges have you faced in this field?
There tend to be pretty equal numbers of males and females in biology at least through higher education and into entry level jobs. This is not true in chemistry, physics and computer science. Women in our society still shoulder the majority of home and child-rearing work, so it gets tougher for women to advance up the ‘ladder’ in science careers. I already knew that moving way up the ‘ladder’ was not for me. I like to do the actual bench science. I did not want to supervise a lab group. Women are often not paid equal salaries for equal work. My advice to young women is that when choosing a life partner, choose one who is willing to do an equal share of house work and child-rearing work (if you want to have kids). Work/life balance is always an issue no matter what your gender, but it is usually more of an issue for female people.
How do you see the future of science playing out (hopes, predictions etc.)?
I think that the fields of nanotechnology and biomanufacturing will grow exponentially. I hope that science will continue to support the creation of more sustainable products and life practices. We need to protect our planet! Data sets in all aspects of science will continue to grow, hence the need for young scientists to have computing skills.
What is the coolest experiment, study, research, or work you have ever done?
I really enjoyed my thesis research on CD8. My main project at Immunex on NKG2D/Dap10 and the ULBPs is probably my favorite project. The work I did on BiTEs (bi-specific T cell engagers) at Amgen was really interesting too.
Do you have anything else you’d like to share about your career, story, life, etc.?
Don’t be afraid to take some risks. Don’t be afraid to learn new skills. Work/life balance is important!!!
My Reflection:
As always, thank you to Dr. Chalupny for her insightful and deep responses to my questions! I really value all the information that she has shared with me, as it shines a light on some options I have in my future and what I can look forward to in my science career. I’d also like to say that I had a chance to work personally in a lab with Dr. Chalupny in a program I did at Shoreline Community College, and it was so cool to be taught by her and get lab experience guided by her, and it is certainly an experience I will remember as a key point at the beginning of my scientific career. I really enjoyed reading about Dr. Chalupny’s path to science, as it was cool to see how she was able to start with a broader love for science and animals and narrow it down to a specific focus. I also loved what she said about communication – I completely agree that communication is vital in science, because without it, most discoveries mean nothing to the majority of our population. I really appreciated what Dr. Chalupny wrote about the inequality between men and women in families, and I completely agree with her emphasis of work/life balance. I think that is becoming increasingly important to the younger generations and it is definitely a value I hold. Additionally, I totally agree with her on the idea that science needs to be targeted to protecting our planet! We are certainly running out of time, but I believe we can save the planet if we act quickly. Lastly, I really love the piece of advice she offered about taking risks and learning new skills. I aim to remain open to learning and change throughout my entire life and career. I also loved Dr. Chalupny’s engaging writing, it made it very fun to read her responses 🙂 Thank you again to Dr. Chalupny for sharing her expertise with me, I am incredibly grateful!
The Rosalind Project 