Author: [AUTHOR] Published on 3/1/2023 12:00:00 AM
Karen Brown, PharmD, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana
What is it like being an Editor-in-Training for Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics?
In the last 6 months, we have been getting our feet wet with Editor-in-Training (EIT) duties by completing a number of reviews and consultations on a wide variety of prospective manuscripts. As EITs, we are also responsible for running social media posts and working on data-gathering projects for the editorial team. It has been a really rewarding position. We are able to work directly with the associate editors and get one-on-one mentoring time with Piet van der Graaf, PharmD, PhD, and Kathleen Giacomini, PhD. I feel like I have learned so much about the backend of the publication process and how much work goes into putting together special themed issues. I would say the most valuable experience has been completing rapid reviews and learning how to better evaluate scientific merit.
What is the most important leadership lesson you have learned the hard way?
Pick up the phone and have the hard conversation. As a leader, learning how to work with and for people will always be your most important job. You do not want to get to the point where there is resentment or undue stress because of friction with another person – boss, employee, partner, client, etc. In my short career, I have had a number of times where a conflict has come up that I could see it coming but did not head it off with an open and honest conversation. Going back and trying to resolve a personnel issue is so much more difficult than getting ahead of it.
Who has inspired you in your career?
My post-doc mentor, Erica Woodahl, PhD, has been one of the greatest inspirations for my career. I was lucky to be working in her lab when I was completing my PharmD and subsequently finished a clinical postdoctoral fellowship under her mentorship in pharmacogenetics. She was really the one who inspired me to stay in science and to work at the intersection of science and humanities. I think especially as a woman, the opportunity to train under her and see the way she runs a lab, serves on the local and national level, and teaches her students and trainees has been invaluable. I am a better writer, presenter, and scientist because of her, and her work has really paved the way to great research partnerships and a nationally recognized program that inspires me to do the same for future scientists to come!
What's one thing people would be surprised to know about you?
One of the questions I regularly receive when networking is “How did you end up in Montana?” People are regularly surprised to find out that I was actually born and raised in Montana. I am sure they would be even more surprised to hear that I grew up in a small town of fewer than 200 people. I graduated from high school with a class of 25 people. I owe much of my work ethic, ability to learn, and interest in science from growing up working on a 9,000+ acre dryland wheat farm. Dr. Brown has been a member of ASCPT since 2021.
