Dr. Laxmi Slider, PhD in Pathology | Senior Scientific Director at PRECISIONscientia

In this episode, we discuss how mentorship impacted Laxmi’s decision to pursue a PhD in pathology at Johns Hopkins, what led her to explore a career in medical communications, and her advice for those with advanced degrees in science searching for their next career step.

Hosted by Lois Dankwa

To connect with Laxmi and to learn more about her story, visit her page on the PHutures #100AlumniVoices Project website.

Transcript

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Lois Dankwa

Hi, I'm Co-host Lois Dankwa and this is the 100 Alumni Voices Podcast stories that inspire where we explore the personal and professional journeys of a diverse group of 100 doctoral alumni from Johns Hopkins University. Today we're joined by Laxmi Slider, PhD in Pathobiology and current senior scientific director at Precision Scientia. Hi Laxmi.

Laxmi Slider

Hi, thanks for having me.

Lois Dankwa

Yeah, of course. So how are you today?

Laxmi Slider

I'm good, it's been a busy day. I'm excited to be here.

Lois Dankwa

Ah, well, I'm glad that you've taken time out of your busy day to chat with us, and I think I first want to start by hearing about what made you pursue a PhD in Pathobiology and just a little bit about your graduate work at Hopkins?

Laxmi Slider

Sure, so I. Started as an undergrad at Hopkins, actually. So, I graduated as a Hopkins BME and it. During that course I got exposed to many different types of research. But I was exposed to the laboratory in which I eventually went to get my PhD. So, it was just through the natural curiosity, I think, of all Hopkins undergrads and exploring. And as I was exploring, I got exposed to the different grad programs at Hopkins, so I applied not only Hopkins, but everywhere, but that's how I got into our pathobiology program.

Lois Dankwa

I love that I, as someone who did more of the hard sciences in undergrad, I know very well the oh let me do a research project and just how that felt. And it it's a very exciting moment, so I see how that led you to kind of your next moment. So, I guess I'm curious about when you were in Hopkins pursuing your PhD. Then really, what were you thinking? Your career plans were like? Did you always see yourself in this current role? How did it transform? All of that.

Laxmi Slider

I will say I never saw. Myself in my current form. I was the ultimate geek. I accidentally stained something since I worked in the pathology department that only showed mitosis and I freaked out about it, so I thought I would be in research forever because I get very excited by simple things like that. But as I went forward in my research, I really found I liked presenting the data and I liked talking about the data and the story and the big picture. And so, I started to get an idea in Graduate School. Maybe I just want to talk about the science or present it in a different way than never really pursued that. By the undergrad school, I knew I didn't want to be in academia, and then I started looking at other opportunities and I initially started working with a nutraceutical company. Me and. There I was. Exposed to all the different ways you have to communicate science and I was like, I wonder if there's a way to do this permanently, even though I loved what I did and I found medical communication. So, I started talking to friends and networking and I kind of fell into it and it just turned out to. Be the right. Mix of my talent and passion and study that I did as a graduate student.

Lois Dankwa

Ah, I love that. I love how you mentioned. Kind of. I mean so it took a couple things for you to notice what the things were to get you where you are now, and I think it required some self-awareness for sure, but then also really pinpointing what those activities almost the tasks and the day-to-day things you would be doing were that you most liked about the field that you were working on. And I'm curious. Kind of how you even. How you were able to pinpoint that it was those things like? Was it just over time you realized? Or was it certain projects or talking to people? How does one figure out what things they like the most of the thing they're doing?

Laxmi Slider

I will say I was blessed to have very strong mentorship, so I worked with Doctor Angela Demarzo and Doctor Karen Spanos at Hopkins and they were amazing mentors and they talked to me and not just about the science I was doing but what it meant. You know they always pushed me to think about, well this these are your data, but what do they mean? And then you can't see behind me. I have a book hidden beauty that I got when I graduated and it was just it encompassed everything I loved, which was not only just the pictures but the science itself. I'm a total nerd and I'm very proud of it. I love everything about science and I know that. That as I was talking to my mentors, including actually Doctor Donald Coffey, who isn't with us anymore, but. I loved talking about it. I loved the story behind it. I loved driving that story and so I think it was my mentors who really drove me to be like there are multiple paths and maybe the path I know doesn't exist. Or maybe it does exist and I have to, you know, find what it is, but I wasn't by any means meant. To be on one track or another. So, I think that natural curiosity was sparked by the mentors. That I had.

Lois Dankwa

I love that. I also love how. You talked about how? So, I'm also very nerdy, which is that's fine. People that do doctoral programs might be the nerdy people. It's OK, but it's I love how you mentioned how your mentors had such an important role in just helping you see the different opportunities. And I'd love to kind of hear more about. How your mentors were able to help shape your perspective, but also in moments when you were really struggling to perhaps figure out what your next step would be like. Was there any sage advice or important and useful advice you received? And yeah, I'd love to hear an example. There's some that sticks out.

Laxmi Slider

So, the one that sticks out is actually as I was applying to graduate schools and it's stuck with me the entire time and it came from Doctor Donald Coffey. So, I was thinking about applying and I was talking to doctor coffee and I was like I don't feel like I'm the smartest in the bunch. I don't have like the perfect grades. I don't have like the normal things you would look for in a transcript. And he looked at me and goes. So what? And I was? Like, well, that's what you need to. Get into Graduate School. Like this is like dogma, right? This is what everyone says. You need good grades. You need all the extracurriculars you need all the the. And he just kept saying So what? And he looked to me and he was like, do you like what you're doing? Yes, do you have a passion for it? Yes, then don't let the world tell you what to do. And I was like ohh don't let the world tell you what to do. And so, I was like I'm gonna apply everywhere and I did and I stayed at Hopkins. From multiple reasons, it was my comfort zone, but I also felt like if I'm surrounded by such great mentors like Doctor Coffey was like, go apply, go do whatever is you wanna do. I wanna stay.

Lois Dankwa

Here Mm-hmm I love that you know it made First off, I got full body chills from that so thank you for passing that on. Don't let the world tell you what to do. But I also it made me think about a time when a mentor who I still talk to this day was. Like, do you believe that this idea that you have is possible and I was like yeah and she's like OK then don't let anyone tell you it's not and it's like that's right you just gotta believe in yourself and I think another really important lesson from what you just shared is that we can get in our way before we've even started. And it's none of our stories are perfect. The stories that got us to our PhD program, like they're not perfect stories either yet. We've made it to this moment right in being in doctoral programs, and it's almost when we're thinking about the next steps the imperfect story is what will get us to the next moment, and I love how you highlight that. I also really loved that you mentioned you realized you were really interested in medical communications. And I am I'm someone that loves talking to people. I love learning and listening and I am curious if you could just tell us more about what it means to be in medical communications. Maybe common myths about this area and this field that people wouldn't. Like people assume, but are wrong about things like that.

Laxmi Slider

Sure, I'll start backwards, right? So, people hear the word medical communications and they're automatically thinking of manuscripts. They're thinking of like boring documents, and that is certainly one of the many elements of medical communications that medical communications in and of itself is a huge, expansive fields. And we cover. Many different modalities of communication if you will, for many different molecules all the way through to products and then loss of exclusivity. So medical communication. Just doesn't have a niche, it's everything that you would want about science as well as pharmaceuticals, right? So medical communications is there anyone who has a passion for driving the story behind disease states behind drugs behind anything and everything that would be required to understand. Right, so we have people from all different backgrounds. PHD's MD's Pharm D's we have a couple ADO's MP's as well so definitely advanced degrees masters in higher. But it doesn't matter what field you studied, it doesn't matter what type of science you studied, as long as you have the passion. To communicate that science, that's all you need so we can do podcasts. We do slide decks, we do brochures, we do advisory boards, so we work with many. Pharmaceutical clients to really be like, well, what do you need to bring this market or bring this drug to market? Or this drug is already on the market, so what it is that that you need now to take it to the next level. Or like does anyone even know this drug exists, right? A lot of rare diseases people don't know about the disease. They don't know about the. Existence of a drug to treat that disease, and in some cases, people don't know anything at all because it's so cutting-edge science, right? So, I read more papers now than I ever did in and one day in grad school.

Lois Dankwa

I love that. That's so that's really interesting about. Well, so you said a couple things that really stand out to me, but I think that I love that you said medical communications is really it's very much about the messaging about things related to medicine and it. While you were talking, my brain was like oh so it's kind of like health policy where it's everything. But also, very specific. It's almost like a pathway, a pathway to communicate medical things. That's what medical communications is and I'm kind of curious about in your current role.

Laxmi Slider

Right?

Lois Dankwa

What has surprised you most about the work that you're doing? Because since it can be everything. Are there parts of it that are shocking? Or is it what we would assume would then happen based off of what you just described?

Laxmi Slider

I don't know if it's shocking, but I'm constantly surprised at. The myths that we encounter. It's kind of like you don't know what you don't know, right? And then people start making assumptions so. We'll take COVID-19 just as an example, but there were so many myths out there, right? And working in medical communication. Our job was essentially myth busting to a certain extent to be like here. The data here. The scientific evidence that back these up. This is true. This is not true. It was a challenge because how do you convince so many people and they're convinced of one thing that that's not the case when the science is continuously evolving, right? We as scientists know this. Science changes, evolves. There's hypothesis you make and break those. Normal people don't know that and to communicate to the late public was a challenge, and so I think I am. Even now, constantly surprised at what we think we know. But then we. Don't really know.

Lois Dankwa

Yeah, you know it makes me what you just said. Kind of calls back to an earlier part of our conversation where we were talking about people being able to figure out. Like if you don't feel like you may necessarily be equipped to be in a certain role and we are now just talking about myth busting. And I’m curious if you. Have any thoughts or advice about if like how we could message about ourselves and myth, bust about people's assumptions about what direction we should or might go in as doctoral students, candidates, or postdocs looking for their next moment. How do we tell people the story? Based off of the narrative that we have as opposed to the assumed one that they have based off of looking at. Our resume and CV.

Laxmi Slider

That's a great question, and I think I would say to those people the same thing that I tell my summer camp students. So, I love science so much and I love passing that on. So, I have a 9-year-old daughter and for the past couple of years I've also been teaching science at her summer camp. And so, to all the students, I always say. Science is vast, right? Science has so many different types of science, we say science. It's a small word. But science is nothing but study of the world around you, and the world is huge, right? You have people who study with microscopes, pathologists and people who study the universe with giant telescopes. If all of that is science, then why should we be limited in what we do right? Any type of scientist, pH, DMDOM, pH? No degree at all doesn't even matter. Can do anything of any type of study. Any type of research. So, I think for people who are like oh, you're a PhD. So, you only do that one thing. I'm like my opportunities are as vast as science itself.

Lois Dankwa

I love that my you said my opportunities are as vast as science itself. That's it's. That's a good point. And it's it also Harkins back something you said earlier about just really highlighting our skills, but also our doctoral programs are teaching US skills that we are literally using. But something I realized earlier in my program is that it's not even necessarily the topic that I'm focusing on. Well, it sometimes is very much the topic that's a big deal for a lot of people, but. There's a lot of skills we're learning how to do, and we're strengthening or gaining. And how can we incorporate those skills into how we tell our story about ourselves, and that's something I have to figure out for myself, right? Because so many times someone's like oh, tell me about yourself and you have this three-to-five-minute version of yourself. That you present, but then. When you're after kind of going through the journey, that's a doctoral program. Umm it revises how you tell that story right? But it's about being able to figure out how to revise.

Laxmi Slider

I think that's very true, and I think that's one. Of the things that I love about. Medical communications, right? In this field, it almost doesn't matter what you studied, right? We have and it's not just us. I keep saying us in terms of PTMD's, but we have program managers. We have account managers and there's a whole multitude of people who work in the field. And I will say that it doesn't matter what they studied previously, it's the skills that you gained, right? So, I myself studied oncology, but I have multiple accounts and only one of them is oncology. And for the past, about 10 years or so, it's not been oncology that I've been studying as a primary account, so. It's more what I learned and how I'm able to communicate that not everyone is great at communication, and that's fine. Maybe this isn't the path for you. If you know that's not your strength, but for people where communication is a strength. It doesn't really matter what you're communicating, right? It’s the skills that you learned in grad school of can I analyze these data? Can I tell good from bad? Like was this a good study? And if the answer is no, can I tell you why right can you critically assess? And that's really what I look for, and so it doesn't matter to me what you studied or how you studied it, even if more matters to me. Can you tell me the story of what it is that you did?

Lois Dankwa

Mm-hmm wow so I have a couple a few other questions for you and one of them. And as it's, it continues on the point of about utilizing skills that you kind of begin to strengthen, enhance, gain in your doctoral program, but then also understanding and seeing a little bit more about what your day-to-day or week to week looks like in your current role. Like how are you using some of the skills that you? You were exercising in your doctoral program.

Laxmi Slider

That's a great question, so I will say I have no real day-to-day. Every day is different, but the skills that I learned in grad school that I still use now are the skills that everybody is learning, right? Like how to be methodical if you have a problem you're trying to solve. If you have a hypothesis. How are you going about it? What are the different steps right? I use that every day everything is logical. It has a step-by-step process. And then there's what I just said about critical assessment, right? As a grad student, I very much hope that you are taking the time to look at your own results with a critical lens and be like does this make sense? And if it does make sense, what does it mean? You know, extrapolate what that data means, and then think through what that next step. See and then. Of course. What is the story right when you write a dissertation? Essentially, you're writing a story, so in that sense, all those skills of actually being able to do the experiment. So, follow a logical process, being able to extrapolate the data from whatever it is that you're analyzing and then being able to tell that story. I use that every day. I still use Pub Med every single day and I'm still looking stuff up every single day and the ability to look at a paper and just its figures for example, and be able to say ohh, this is what the paper tells or these are what the data are saying. That is critical to the job that I do, and then all the other skills are really secondary. Everything else can be taught.

Lois Dankwa

That's I'm so glad that you highlighted that because it can feel so easy to just go. These are the topics. These are the buzzwords or the quote research interests I have. This is this is who I exist as professionally, but it's really helpful and important to remember that it's like OK, but when you zoom away, what is boiling to the top in terms of the tasks that you're doing? And it literally is just those chronological things and the steps and larger things that we're doing repeatedly and forgetting that those are even the things that we're doing, and I think that's really important, especially in instances when people find themselves wanting to pivot or transition to a different. Presentation or manifestation of their interest, and it's important and. It's necessary to remember that you still have those within you, so that's helpful. So, I have my second to last question for you. Is any it's about advice and I'm curious what advice that you that you might have for current or post pH D's that are in transition moments now.

Laxmi Slider

I have two pieces of advice. My first piece of advice would be to network, and by network, I mean not just within your own friends or your professors or people you know. Or if they're Hopkins only Hopkins. Network with people that can get you to other people and people that may not know you right. I am 1 Hopkins alum who is more than happy to talk to any other Hopkins student or alum so I am always happy to have the Hopkins connection. Maybe others don't, but I will say I'm happy to have that connection and I think there are other people like me who are more than happy to talk to you about their job, about their experiences. And I'm sure this series will. Help with that. So, network with as many people as you can learn as many things as you can, which is really my advice #2 and you've already hit upon it. Don't pigeonhole yourself, right? So just because you trained as a pathologist or you trained in cellular molecular biology, you don't have to be stuck there, right? Science is not one way. We have biophysicists, right? And then we have like nano physicists and nanobiology just and they all the sciences. Combined and you really don't know what opportunities are out there until you put yourself out there. We have people who study alien life here on Earth, right? You just don't know what opportunities are out there. So, part of networking is figuring out what else is there and what drives. Do and then go. Try it like don't be afraid, take. The risk?

Lois Dankwa

Yeah, it's all about right. It's all about trying it out and if you don't like it, you still learn something you learned. What things you do not like and you can maybe see if there are things you like from that but.

Laxmi Slider

Yeah, science is all about curiosity, so why stamp it out?

Lois Dankwa

This is true, so I'm curious one more thing. What inspires you, right now?

Laxmi Slider

What inspires me right now, Mm-hmm uh, my children. So, I think there's being a scientist as an adult in grad school and seeing science through like that graduate student lens. And then they're seeing science through the lens of a child, and it is. Completely different right you. Do simple experiments or just take a walk and they're fascinated by the smallest things, like a dewdrop that they're like. Why is it sitting on the leaf? Why doesn't it get absorbed onto the leaf? Why is it hanging off like that, mom? Why did it freeze over here? But it didn't freeze there and like dandelions are hyper phobic, so only the outside. Action will freeze and they have so many questions and sometimes it's annoying because they have so many questions. But other times. I love talking about it right? Because they're like everyone says, the sky is blue but the sky is not blue right now. Why is why is the sky not blue? Why is this? Guy at purple or pink or whatever color it is, and I'm like that's a great question. Let's talk about it. And so, right now I'm driven by their natural curiosity and I try and take the time to answer all One million 62 of their questions.

Lois Dankwa

Well, it's the wonder of children is so amazing and it helps you to remember like Oh yeah, that is awesome. You're right, I forgot because I had to rush somewhere. But thank you for highlighting that. I've loved all of your responses today and I'm so grateful that you took time to chat with us today. Thank you, thank you, thank you for just.

Laxmi Slider

It is absolutely a pleasure and you had wonderful questions, Lois. So, thank you.