Postdoctoral Training
A letter from Director Christina Parker, MD
February 22, 2006
Dear Postdoctoral Researchers,
As the director of the Office of Postdoctoral Training and Career Development (OPTCD), I welcome you to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. I joined Dana-Farber for the first time when I trained here as a postdoc. After over a decade directing research and training postdocs and graduate students in my own laboratory at the Brigham and Women's Hospital, I returned to Dana-Farber in 2001 as the assistant director of Faculty Activities. Based upon my experience as a physician, scientist, and mentor, I know how important your postdoctoral training is. This is the time for you to develop the skills and analytical thinking that are critical to your development as an independent scientist, and, thus, serves as the springboard for your career. Your laboratory mentor and peers will teach you how to conduct your experiments and to critically analyze your data. The OPTCD supplements that training, offering resources to help you acquire expertise at networking, grant writing, interviewing skills, and experience in collaboration. We also offer seminars and individual support to help you develop a career path and plan that is right for you. I am committed to developing OPTCD initiatives will create a top tier, nationally recognized postdoc program that supports the success of Dana-Farber postdocs during and after their training and enhances the recruitment and retention of first-rate trainees to our institution.
This Web site provides information that will help you during your time at Dana-Farber. Please monitor it to learn about upcoming seminars and training events. In addition, we are ready to help if you need individual support for your career development or about other aspects of your postdoc experience.
Sincerely,
Chris Parker, M.D.
