Dr. Brittany Avin McKelvey, PhD in Molecular Biology & Genetics | Director of Regulatory Affairs at Friends of Cancer Research

In this episode, we discuss how Brittany’s childhood battle with cancer inspired her to pursue a PhD in molecular biology and genetics and to pursue a career in cancer research, how Johns Hopkins’s proximity to DC sparked her interest in policy work, and how she used her network and skillset to land a role doing advocacy work in the non-profit sector at Friends of Cancer Research.

Hosted by Lois Dankwa

To connect with Brittany 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 Brittany Avin McKelvey, PhD in molecular biology and genetics and current Director of Regulatory Affairs at Friends of Cancer Research. Hi Brittany.

Brittany Avin McKelvey

Hi, thank you for having me today.

Lois Dankwa

Yeah, I'm excited to chat. How are you doing today?

Brittany Avin McKelvey

I'm good. I'm good. It's a little dreary here, but otherwise trying to keep up the the happiness. 

Lois Dankwa

That's always a good mentality. Keep up the happiness. Well something I was happy and excited about today was chatting with you, so I'm excited to dive in. 

Brittany Avin McKelvey

Can’t wait. Thank you.

Lois Dankwa

So, to start I'd love to hear more about what made you, or why you pursued a PhD in molecular biology and genetics and really what your graduate work and experience at Hopkins looked like.

Brittany Avin McKelvey

Absolutely. You know, I think I have to go back pretty far to where everything that led me to Hopkins. I always really loved science. I think the order of it, I'm a I'm a pretty type A person, but also the discovery and excitement that comes with that. But actually, what pushed me into my PhD at first was actually, when I was 13, I was diagnosed with cancer. And so, for me you know that that personal journey and that fight against cancer in my body really turned into just wanting to learn more about the disease and wanting to be able to do my part in some way to help others who were diagnosed or who went through the battle like I did. And so, for me, I really got interested in wanting to do cancer research and learn about that further. And so, I went to Hopkins because of just the you know, awesome work and research and opportunities that were there. You know, when I was doing my different PhD interviews, you know, obviously the accolades of Hopkins. But the one thing that really stood out to me was the people, and just I had been to some some interviews where it seems like everyone just kind of lived in lab, which was very much an expectation a little bit that I had going into my PhD. But the people at Hopkins really seemed to, while they worked very hard, and and were very excited about what they did, they also really seemed to be involved in other things in the community, had lives outside of the lab which was really important to me as well. Just a really great program and people. I went to the BCMB, the biochemistry, cellular and molecular biology program through the Johns Hopkins School Medicine, because, even though I knew I wanted to do cancer research, I really wanted to have that kind of breadth in depth of basic science from Hopkins. And absolutely was able to do that. I ended up joining a lab outside of the BCMB program in the Surgery Department specifically because there was the opportunity to study thyroid cancer, which is the cancer that I was diagnosed with. And so, for me it was really kind of a personal passion and drive that led me to my research lab and my time at Hopkins, which was absolutely wonderful and really influential for my next steps after my PhD.

Lois Dankwa

Wow! I love how you really for you it was a combination of your interests in general, but then also combining your lived experience, and I think that that's something that is certainly not unique to you, right? Whatever our unique experiences are, those are the things that are informing how we even go about our doctoral program. And I guess it makes me curious, then, while you were in the PhD, and even considering what you wanted to do afterwards, it sounds that you certainly liked research a lot, and cancer research in particular was important to you. But what did when you were in the program what did it look like to you, or what did you think your career might look like afterwards?

Brittany Avin McKelvey

Yeah, I really went into Hopkins thinking that I wanted to stay in academia. Again, like you said, you know, really enjoyed thinking critically about the science, doing experiments, but through all my time at Hopkins, while I very much did enjoy what I was doing, you know it wasn't a slog going to work. I really enjoyed my PhD. I also kind of had my priorities and interest shift a little bit where I recognized that I didn't want to necessarily stay on the bench in in research all the time, and I think again one of the great things about going to Hopkins was I was very close in proximity to DC and to the capital, and so, because I am a cancer survivor, apart from my educational pursuits, I also was really involved in advocacy with a few different organizations. And so, I had been had the opportunity to go to the hill in DC and share my story, advocate for cancer research and different programs. And so, in that time that I started doing more in the advocacy sphere, while I was a grad student, I really kind of saw the possibility of, you know, using my scientific expertise that I had in the more policy science policy world. And so, while I continued my research at Hopkins, I started to get involved in programs like the AAAS to learn more about policy, got involved with the Johns Hopkins Science Policy Group, ended up being the President during this my time at Hopkins but that was really where I saw the opportunity to kind of shift gears a little bit away from being on the bench, and still being very much in the the scientific world, for me specifically cancer, biology and science, but shifting a little bit more towards the policy aspects, regulations that would still impact our research and and therapeutics for patients with cancer.

Lois Dankwa

That's so cool. I also it, so as someone that thinks about policy a lot, and also just loves applied research, I think it's so cool how you combine just your interest and desire to be a part of advocacy to kind of how you viewed your career and the next steps that you would do. I love that.

Brittany Avin McKelvey

Absolutely, you know it's it's if they go hand in hand from research and policy. I mean, even if graduate students don't go into a career in policy, I think just being more aware in general as graduate students and recognizing, you know, our work, whatever the field, does have implications in policy and policy has implications for our work you know, vice versa, I think, is really important. We don't do our work in a vacuum. And so having that that lens is really important.

Lois Dankwa

Yeah. And it makes me, so I see that you're in regulatory affairs now, and I like my brain is kind of making the connection about how being interested in research then connects to policy. But then you're in regulatory affairs, and all of those can be distinct jobs. But then, of course, interdisciplinary work exists too where you can do all of them at once. So, I'm curious what what parts of your PhD make it into, or what you were doing and the types of thinking or approaches to thinking you were doing in your doctoral work makes it into what you're doing now? And what does it look like?

Brittany Avin McKelvey

Absolutely. There's a lot of kind of carry over. You know, I think a) just all the soft skills in your PhD that you learn, whether that's, you know, written and oral communication and task management, you know, synthesizing a lot of different information and critically thinking about it. But I actually also still use a lot of my scientific knowledge base. So, you know, Friends of Cancer Research we’re a nonprofit advocacy organization that really focuses on that intersection of you know all the different facets of health care and science and policy and regulation to help speed life-saving treatment to patients. And so, in my position that I'm at now, I execute, you know, evidence-based research projects. We have research projects looking at the use of circulating tumor DNA, and so being able to monitor a patient's response to treatment through that use of role data to be able to look at patient outcomes and diagnostic test regulation. You know, these are very scientifically heavy concepts where you still you know, everyone on our team has a PhD in the the molecular biology field. And so, these are tough scientific concepts that are really exciting, that could be really, you know, really big changes from policy and drug development, clinical trial perspective for patients. But you have to have that scientific background to be able to really understand the intricacies about the best way to promote regulation and regulatory decision-making surrounding these treatments and and tools, and so absolutely use the the knowledge base that I learned at Hopkins to be able to apply that to thinking about these jobs and interfacing with all of the different stakeholders that I interface with through my job.

Lois Dankwa

I'm so I'm so happy. It sounds like what you're doing really aligns with what you were you were really interested in doing after Hopkins.

Brittany Avin McKelvey

Absolutely. You know again it's I love science. I love thinking about science. I think your PhD, unfortunately, you know, usually you're studying one very tiny, specific little thing, one gene, which is what I did, you know very specifically. But I think having the position I do now is great, because I can still think about science, think about advancements but in a much broader and bigger sphere and think about how those advancements really impact a lot of different groups of people and patients to help shape that policy to to impact science and impact treatment.

Lois Dankwa

Yeah. And it also continuing on the note of how it seems like you did a good job of finding something that aligned with your interests, I know that I at least know for myself and I'm sure for others it can be hard thinking about what job you do next knowing that your interests are a combination of your various interests. So, like for the two of us research, policy, and advocacy, and finding a role that lets you do all of that. And I'm curious what that process, even if it was just an internal process, but what it looked like for you to think about like, what were you looking for when you found ended up finding this position, or the positions that were before this, and all of that?

Brittany Avin McKelvey

It's a process for sure. I mean, I think one thing that set me up while I was in graduate school was a lot of informational interviews with a lot of different people, which Hopkins was great for pairing me through the professional development and career office with those people at once I was thinking about policy. And to your point, you know that's so broad. And there's many, many different jobs within that, you know. What could my day to day look like? And so, I had oh, goodness! I don't even know dozens of informational interviews my last couple of years to really understand where, where the opportunities were. Again, just because of my personal experience and even my scientific background, I, you know, wanted to do something in the cancer sphere. And so that led me to my first position out of grad school was as a policy fellow with the American Cancer Society. Their cancer action network, which really gave me a foray. And I think you know a lot of it honestly is until you get your feet wet in some capacity, it's really hard to even be able to grasp what all is out there. And so, being in that position as a policy fellow, I started to see the other players in the field, understand a little bit better. It's, you know, speaking a different language when you go from science to policy. The learning curve is pretty steep, but I think just getting your feet wet, getting into that place then allowed me to see the different opportunities, and then really hone in on where I could fit, which led me to Friends of Cancer Research, first as a science policy analyst and then now as their director of regulatory affairs.

Lois Dankwa

Okay, I see. So, it's almost like, well, I'm I'm glad that you, so you started by saying, get your feet wet because so easy like so often, we can just be like, have such a big idea and want to do the big idea instantly. But it's like, well, no, there's 3 steps in between before you get to that big moment. And right now, the big moment for you is being the director of regulatory affairs.

Brittany Avin McKelvey

Absolutely and and if you had asked me when I was at Hopkins still, you know, when I was graduating, going through that process, if this would be my position a couple of years out, I would have not been able to tell you that because I don't know if I even had an idea that's something like this truly existed. And so again to your point, I think it's a it's a process that continues to evolve. And who knows what that looks like even in in another 5 to 10 years, to be able to carve out a niche that that suits interest and and suits your passions I think is a really it's exciting, but I can be hard to to find that place, but when you do it's a it's a great fit for sure.

Lois Dankwa

That's that's exciting to hear. So, I'm curious then, so we've been talking about, well we've been talking about all kinds of things, but the work that you do, and your day to day, and how you got to you got to this moment. But I'm curious kind of what things surprise you about the job that you're doing now?

Brittany Avin McKelvey

Oh, that's a good question. I think working in policy the surprise is how slow and at the same time fast things can go, just working in general with with the Government. We work a lot with the FDA as well as looking at again legislation and bills that are being put forth. This past year was a very busy legislative season, was a lot of legislation going that's directing about the what the FDA can and cannot do, and so in some ways, you know, working with the bureaucracy of the government can be, can be very slow, but then it can also be very quick deadlines. very tight turnaround, you know, need this information now to to impact XYZ. And so I think it's it's an exciting part of the job, because, you know, while some parts of my job are more kind of longer term projects, and I have more control, you know, part of my job is very much dependent on legislation, that's dependent on what policy is coming out. It can be very fluid. We pride ourselves at our company at being very nimble to be able to adapt to that, and so there's some kind of reactive and proactive pieces of the job which are very interesting, but can also be sometimes a little frustrating when you can't plan for for me as a as a planner. 

Lois Dankwa

Yeah, as an aggressive planner, the inability to predict all of the parts is stressful for me, too. I'm curious then. So, what are your favorite parts of the work that you do?

Brittany Avin McKelvey

I think one of the the big favorites of my job is just the interactions that I can have with multiple different, you know, really diverse stakeholders. The exposure, you know, we work very closely with the FDA on our projects and policies to make sure that what we're doing as we're thinking about getting safe and effective treatments to patients, working with the FDA we work with the bio Pharmaceutical companies, the diagnostic companies that are have these drugs and diagnostics and oncology care as well as you know, still academics, clinicians who are treating these patients and other advocacy groups, and so I think one thing that I really like about the job is how collaborative it is, and the ability to, you know, hear really diverse perspectives that don't always necessarily get along or have different thoughts on how things need to get done or should get done, and being able to really work through to find alignment to be able to push policy forward again, you know not always rosy and sunshine. There's there's some some tough conversations and it can be hard. But I think it's really rewarding to be able to just work with a variety of different people that I, you know, wasn't necessarily really exposed to in my PhD itself.

Lois Dankwa

Yeah, that's I think that's the value of collaboration. It helps you, or or maybe it's the value of policy. I'm I'm not really sure of which one, because both of those are part of the work that I do, but it gives you an opportunity to meet whoever else is thinking about the same thing that you're doing in a different way which makes it all the more exciting and it makes it really fun to be a part of everything.

Brittany Avin McKelvey

Absolutely. And I think it's we can come in with our own preconceived notions on things, and then, you know, you hear something completely different from someone else who's thinking about the same problem in a very different way. And in the end, we'll just make it stronger. And so it's it's really enlightening and always really helpful to hear from those diverse opinions.

Lois Dankwa

So, then I'm curious. I have a couple more questions for you, and I'm curious what advice would you give someone who's really interested in a career that looks like yours?

Brittany Avin McKelvey

I mean, I think first is just to recognize that there's a lot of opportunities after your PhD. I think you know, while the field is definitely getting better, and Hopkins is is absolutely wonderful and pushing students in a diverse path of careers. I think there was still this a little bit sense of this dichotomy of okay you either go into academia or you go into industry, and there's not really many other options or they're labeled as it's quote unquote, you know, alternative careers versus just a career. And so, I think, recognizing that there are so many opportunities outside of your PhD to not get stuck to that kind of one-track mindset. You know, I mentioned a little before earlier, but there's so many soft skills in your PhD that you can take to carry on into a job in policy or regulatory science. You know, those critical thinking skills, synthesizing all the information, you know, communication skills, absolutely essential that I use every day. I think just if you're interested in policy, keeping up to date with what is happening in the world, you know what's happening in politics and our government. It can seem a little bit like another language at first, a lot of acronyms. But you know, being informed is also just good as as citizens, not even just if you're interested in policy to understand what's going on. And again the implications of the work that you have, and and how policy may shape that. And the other general, you know advice or piece would be to definitely network, you know, reach out to alumni like myself, to others. I did, you know so many informational interviews and different processes. So much in policy is about connections, and so that's a really important piece that's not necessarily, you know, for me always the the most fun. I’m not super the the go-out person and strike up a conversation at random with someone. But you know, networking is really important to be able to, you know, be able to get into the field. See more that not just transactional, but really, you know, everyone helping everyone to get to that position where they do truly feel like they're you know, living out their passions, and what they want to do.

Lois Dankwa

I'm so glad you shared all of that. That's also encouraging. I I certainly am someone that is a go out there and talk to random people type of person, but I'm glad that you shared the advice even for yourself who's not that kind. It's you are an example of how it's beneficial, even if you're doing it a little bit.

Brittany Avin McKelvey

Yes, absolutely. I mean the my position as a policy fellow after my PhD was someone who I had informational interviewed with, like, I think, 3 years prior. And so again, you know, having those connections, it really, it really is important in the field to be able to even learn about the different opportunities that are out there.

Lois Dankwa

That's so cool. Well, so, as my last question, I'm curious what inspires you right now?

Brittany Avin McKelvey

Oh, man, there's so much, so much to be inspired about! I think you know, for me always, I'll say you know my personal journey does impact everything so much. You know what inspires me always is, you know, all those who have heard the words, you have cancer, or will hear those words, you know, including my my 13-year-old self, who heard those words, and wondered if my life was over and obviously you know so thankful and blessed that my life definitely was not and that this propelled me to where I am today. But I think you know, we're in such an exciting time of research and discovery in in all aspects of science, including for treatment and patients with cancer. You know we do live in a very divided political environment right now. But we're still able to push through legislation and policies that impacts patients with cancer, and you know, cancer is still so much a bipartisan effort in so many ways. And so all of the advancements that are happening for patients really inspires me to to keep pushing for more advancements and for the best treatments for patients with cancer, for those that are like me, and those that unfortunately, will have to hear those words in the future as well.

Lois Dankwa

I love all of that, Brittany. Thank you so much for sharing just all, all of these parts of you today. I've loved learning about your experience and taking some tidbits with me.

Brittany Avin McKelvey

Oh, thank you so much. I'm looking forward to hearing all of these interviews. I think this is really great and a really great resource. So, thank you.