I moved to the US with my pets in 2012 and joined Dr Ron Duman’s lab at Yale University as a post-doc fellow. There, I quickly became interested in rapid-acting antidepressants and other topics that were new to me. In summer 2015, I started to look for jobs and thought I would need to go back to France since I was on a J-1 visa here. I wanted to work outside academia. By chance, at that time there was a job opening at a biopharmaceutical company that fitted with my skills. Long story short: I applied even though I was not feeling ready and it worked out: the company even sponsored my visa and later on my green card.

During the PhD and post-doc, it is expected to work long hours, even on weekends. I would say that work-life balance is more reachable at a later stage, beyond the post-doc. And one of the best ways to maintain it is to have clear boundaries while remaining flexible and willing to help our colleagues.

Having nice colleagues with good team spirit is very important and motivates to come to work. That makes a huge difference at the end of the day. I am otherwise always looking for improvement in all sorts of areas, buying new books, watching inspiring shows or documentaries. During the pandemic, we all had to rethink our schedule. I stopped exercising for a while and I realized I’d better move more if I want to feel well.

I wish I had learnt transcendental meditation earlier as it has been making a difference compared with other meditations I had tried. Meditating regularly helps me remain grounded. I get a clearer mind and am able to focus better, which helps during experiments. I would encourage anybody to find an activity that helps them reset on a daily basis. It can be activity-based like running, yoga, or more art-focused… but TV does not qualify!