TWiV 208: The biomedical research crisis with Jon Yewdell

November 25, 2012

jon yewdellHosts: Vincent Racaniello and Jon Yewdell

Vincent is joined by special guest Jon Yewdell to discuss solutions for ending the current crisis in American biomedical research.

Click arrow to play | Download TWiV 208 (63 MB .mp3, 87 min)

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12 comments on “TWiV 208: The biomedical research crisis with Jon Yewdell

  1. This episode hasn’t been added to the RSS feed http://feeds2.feedburner.com/twivmp3
    (so it doesn’t show up in iTunes)

    • Thanks for letting me know. There seems to be a problem with Feedburner that I can’t sort out. 

  2. Nice!  Yewdell’s career articles are great, and it’s always engaging for grad/med students like me to hear about our chosen career from those who’ve done it well.

  3. ZaphodHarkonnen Dec 5, 2012

    Loved the episode. Scientific funding down here in NZ is a bit different but I don’t know enough to really comment deeply. One of the things we have that just barely seems to survive any of our governments are groups called Crown Research Institutes that focus on an area and have full time scientists on staff.

    This and what Jon suggests seems to be a much more sensible structure for a steady state system and not like some sort of pyramid scheme that has to grow ever faster to keep people advancing.

    One gripe. The way that Jon went on about American exceptional-ism was annoying. America has done many great things and had many great policies. It also has many black marks against its name, Trail of Tears, slavery, various -isms, supporting dictators, dozens of needless wars, and so on.

    However that’s just like every large power throughout history. The British Empire did many great things around research and the industrial revolution but also many disgusting things.

    I think when it comes down to it there’s nothing inherently special about America just as there’s nothing inherently special about Europe, Aus, NZ, Russia, etc. We all have people and policies doing awesome things and we all have stuff that’s disgusting and needs to be put into the history books.

    Anyways, as usual loving the shows and enjoy having my ideas and beliefs challenged. ^_^

  4. I love this topic!  I didn’t want to be a PI, but couldn’t financially afford to continue on as a postdoc.  I sincerely hope Jon can facilitate some changes!

  5. This episode is especially relevant to me right now. As a graduate student, I had to watch my PI, who is a great scientist, struggle to get his R01 renewed, and it naturally impacted our entire lab. As a postdoc, my position is prematurely ending after 2 years due to my current PI struggling to renew his R01. I’m a woman in her 30s, I work ~60hrs a week, make significantly less than some of my uneducated acquaintances, I can’t even think about starting family due to time and financial reasons, and now I will be without a job. I have always wanted to be a PI but now I have to wonder if that is a rational career choice. Do I really want to face the possibility of being fired every 4-5 years while making relatively little money all so I can do want I love to do?

    Perhaps it is time to go into industry where I may not be as happy doing what I do but at least there will be a better salary and job security that is based on productivity and not on government politics.