Careers in the Biomedical Sciences
“People entering the biomedical sciences now are doing so
at the best possible time,” exclaims biochemist,
Charles Russell
Middaugh, Iroquois
and Arapahoe, PhD, Higuchi Distinguished Professor of
Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of Kansas.
“The field is exploding. Our knowledge has reached the
point where we can really begin to think about doing
important things that will directly impact disease
processes. And we can do these things rationally. Prior
to this we’ve done things more or less by trial and
error. That’s starting to change. Some new cancer drugs,
for example, have been designed based on an
understanding of what happens to a cell when it becomes
a cancer cell. These new drugs are among the most
effective cancer drugs we’ve ever seen. I think we’re
going to see many more exciting developments. There have
never been greater opportunities.”
In the past few decades, scientists in such biomedical
fields as biochemistry, endocrinology, genetics,
hematology, immunology, microbiology, neuroscience, and
pharmacology have made unprecedented advances in our
knowledge of the nature and cause of many diseases. They
have also discovered basic processes and through this
understanding they have devised strategies that are helpful
in preventing, diagnosing, and treating many diseases.
One of the exciting projects from which scientists will
continue learning for decades is the Human Genome Project,
which was
completed in 2003. The project’s ambitious goal was to
sequence the 3 billion nucleotide base pairs,
constituting the structure of the 20,000-25,000 genes
found in human DNA. The Human Genome Project holds
potential promise for human health. The new knowledge
base resulting from this project is greatly expanding
our understandings of genetics and is revolutionizing
biology and medicine.
In the not too distant future, with knowledge available
regarding an individual’s genetic makeup, medical
intervention for both prevention and treatment will be able
to be more specific, precise, and successful. And with the
increased power of medicine to predict susceptibility to
specific diseases, people with knowledge of their
vulnerabilities will be able to alter their life styles and
take other preventive measures.
American Indian and Alaska Native biomedical researchers
who want to focus on diseases that negatively affect their
people have cause for hope. For example, Middaugh notes,
“Diabetes and alcoholism are two diseases that we’re
beginning to understand in a much deeper way, both
biomedically and psychologically, so the chances of being
able to impact these diseases in a therapeutic way is
definitely increasing.”
As with many groundbreaking projects, the Human Genome
Project and related projects, particularly the Human Genome
Diversity Project, have the potential for being beneficial
and/or harmful to humankind. For example, people worry that
genetic testing that identifies inherited diseases might
result in some people being denied jobs and medical
insurance. Indigenous people who have been exploited over
and over in the name of science worry they will be
exploited once again.
In the Autumn 1998 issue of
Winds of Change, Debra Harry,
Northern Paiute, and the late Frank Dukepoo, Hopi and
Laguna, voiced some of the widespread concerns about the
Human Genome Diversity Project and pointed to the need for
Indian people to be armed with “awareness, knowledge and
choices.” This advice is still relevant and argues for the
importance of indigenous biomedical scientists being
involved in decision-making in the biomedical sciences.
Research
and Development
Scientists who
conduct research usually work in laboratories equipped with
sophisticated computers and other high-tech equipment
needed for their work, such as, electron microscopes,
fluorescence flow cytometers, high-speed centrifuges, cell
counting equipment with a general range of
spectophotometers, and DNA sequencers.
Most scientists engage in “pure,” basic research to advance
fundamental biological knowledge for its own sake, before
we can be sure what the “payoff” in better health will be.
Typically scientists do this type of research in medical
schools, general university research facilities, and
government laboratories. They submit grant proposal to fund
their projects. Private foundations, private industry, and
federal government agencies, such as the National
Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation,
contribute to the support of scientists and their teams
whose proposals have the potential to advance new ideas or
processes.
Other scientists do applied research. They use knowledge
provided by basic research to create new strategies as well
as practical products, such as screening tests,
medications, and treatment devices. Usually these
scientists work in private industries, such as the
pharmaceutical industry, but they can also work in other
settings. Often people doing applied science in private
industry have less autonomy than basic researchers because
they need to focus on market-driven goals and products.
Biomedical research also takes place in hospitals and
clinics. For example, once treatments are approved for
human trials, scientists work with clinicians and others in
setting up protocols for providing the treatment in
clinical trials and for monitoring and evaluating the
results.
Clinical Care
Biomedical
scientists play a pivotal role within the health care
system, because they are responsible for analyzing and
interpreting the various causes of disease. People with
advanced degrees in the biomedical sciences work in
laboratories, hospitals, other clinical institutions and
“outside” laboratories. They direct the analysis of samples
of patients’ blood, urine, tumors, and other tissues and
report their findings to the patients’ clinicians.
Depending on the scope of work of a particular lab,
biomedical scientists do serologic testing for HIV and
other infectious disease, blood typing or genetic testing,
tumor and other histological evaluations, and identify
infectious microorganisms. Some biomedical scientists are
involved both in clinically-based care and research.
Teaching
Some scientists
teach in medical schools and other health professions
educational programs, including programs in veterinary
medicine. Doctoral-level anatomists, biochemists,
endocrinologists, geneticists, microbiologists,
physiologists, pharmacologists and pathologists are among
the scientists who teach health professionals.
In the past, health professions students took courses in
the “basic” (biomedical) sciences before beginning their
clinical education. These courses were taught entirely by
biomedical scientists who had little understanding of
patient care.
Now, in a growing number of schools in the health
professions, biomedical scientists collaborate with
clinicians in team teaching courses that help students
learn biomedical science in the context of patient care. In
the first year of medical school, for example, clinician
and biomedical science tutors present their small groups of
students with real patient problems, such as a woman with a
headache. In trying to understand the origins and nature of
the headache, students begin to learn the science that is
relevant to this problem. Many biomedical scientists and
clinicians, who collaborate in this problem-based learning,
report being enriched by this interdisciplinary contact.
In addition to teaching health professions students,
doctoral level biomedical scientists teach in undergraduate
and graduate biomedical sciences programs. Educators with
backgrounds and degrees in the biomedical sciences also
teach in high schools and other institutions of learning.
Other Career Areas
Some of the
other careers available to people with advanced degrees in
biomedical science include medical and scientific
journalism and biotechnology. After doing research with an
institution or project, some scientists may be asked to
plan and administer programs for testing new products. Some
may work in sales. Other biomedical scientists may test and
inspect food, drugs, and other products. Successful
scientists are asked to work as consultants to government
and business.
This
article was originally published in the Summer 2005 issue
of
Winds of Change.
(The cover
artist is the late Roy Thomas, Ojibwa
(1949-2004).