Women in Science Celebration: Interview with Dr. Thu Huynh

Please, tell us a little bit about yourself:

My CV tells a nice story about a girl who graduated with a Molecular and Cellular Biology degree from the University of Arizona, and moved to NYC to pursue her dreams of a PhD in Neuroscience. However, as Wei Ji Ma’s Growing up in Science series can attest- things on paper are rarely what they are in actuality. 
 
My real story is of a girl who had dreams of going to medical school, but lacked the credentials to do so straight out of college. I had a few key people take a chance on me, and with their help, I got into New York University’s Neural Science PhD program, where I ended up working in Dr. Eric Klann’s lab with an Italian postdoc who taught me everything she knew about neuroscience and to be honest, life.

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One constant of my education, was my interest in teaching, likely because of some of my own struggles as a student. As a result, I took it upon myself to seek teaching opportunities during my PhD and postdoctoral fellowship. From this, I was teaching assistant at NYU, and an adjunct assistant professor at Hunter College. I am certain this teaching experience is what helped me earn the position I am currently in, which is an Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics at Midwestern University. At Midwestern, I am involved with the delivery of team-taught Biochemistry courses to healthcare professional students, and I run a small laboratory studying the effects of stress on memory and neuroenergetics.
 
I am also married to a fertility specialist, and we live in Arizona with our two children (3 & 1) and our mini-golden doodle.

'For me, work-life balance means setting boundaries [...] and also not comparing myself to other people.'

In your opinion, what is the best way to maintain work-life balance?

Right now, a healthy balance for me means being able to spend quality time with my young children, while also finding time for myself and my husband. Whereas, 10 years ago, it meant making time for happy hour, exercise, dating, and learning more about myself. Needless to say, “life” has carried many different meanings for me since I started my PhD in 2010.

Because women panels these days focus a lot on how to balance marriage and children, I would like to emphasize that no matter what “life” looks for you, a healthy work-life balance is so important. It was equally important to me to find a healthy balance as a single woman in NYC as it is now as a wife and mom. 
 
For me, this means setting boundaries. Acknowledging that I have to balance feeling burned out one week and underproductive another.  Working at the same speed for me, all the time, is untenable, so I accept that my productivity will ebb and flow while keeping my goals in sight.
 
A healthy work-life balance for me also means not comparing myself to other people. One thing my dad taught me is that someone will always have more than you, and someone will always have less than you. In science this is especially true and comparing my successes and failures to someone else’s is a breeding ground for arrogance and resentment.

'The dialogue has to change where women can make decisions that best suit their lives, without any judgements regarding which societal stereotype that woman is fitting into or breaking- especially since this seems to be the case with men.'

What are your thoughts on the pressure that women face in having to make a choice between having children and progressing their career?

Too often, people assume all women want to get married and have children. Now, it is not uncommon to find women who have no plans for either OR have plans for one without the other. I think more broadly stated, women are judged for picking their passions and pursuing them full throttle. First, the dialogue has to change where women can make decisions that best suit their lives, without any judgements regarding which societal stereotype that woman is fitting into or breaking- especially since this seems to be the case with men. If we are successful in accomplishing this, I hope that a woman can make the decision to have kids and how it will impact her career will be a non-issue.
 
At the end of the day, career expectations should be the same for a woman regardless of whether she is married, or has children, which relates to my opinion about work/life balance. I truly hope that people do not expect less of me because I have children, and I certainly do not expect more of my female colleagues who do not have children. In this regard, I hope that a woman will feel safe to make decisions regarding her personal life and not feel that it will affect her career whatsoever. 
 
I also recognize that I come from a privileged background where I have a supportive partner, the ability to afford childcare easily and a lot of family nearby. The absence of any one of these things would make parenting more challenging, and is a reminder of the amount of support a woman has to be in possession of in order to comfortably have children.

'The PhD and postdoc life can be lonely. [...] One of the secrets to success in this field, is feeling supported, even if it means finding the support on your own.'

What advice would you give yourself if you were starting your career today? What would you say to encourage other women to persevere in their career path?

If I could offer a piece of wisdom to another woman in STEM it would be this: The PhD and postdoc life can be lonely. Nobody else in the world is studying exactly what you are studying and doing it exactly the way that you are doing it. BUT, women are unified in our experiences, struggles, and wins. Make it a point find people, especially women who seemingly have everything you're working towards, and talk to her. If it’s an assistant professorship plus having children, talk to her! If it’s a K99/R00 in a high-powered lab, talk to her! If it’s a thriving lab at a PUI, talk.to.her!! Chances are, she experienced similar struggles as you, and can share what she did to overcome her challenges. One of the secrets to success in this field, is feeling supported, even if it means finding the support on your own. 
 
If I could give my former self advice, it would be that progress is progress. Many of my proudest accomplishments are the ones that don’t come in the form of an acceptance, degree or certificate, but it was hard to see or appreciate at the time. Moreover, getting a PhD and pursuing a postdoc can feel strange during our mid 20-30s when friends are already advancing in their careers after graduating college. It gives the illusion that we are in stasis, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. After all, it is a real job to work as a PhD or a postdoc, even though you’re pursuing a degree and potentially earning less than your friends. Ok, I might also reassure myself that yes, I can eventually raise two children, finish my PhD and teach medical students about the Kreb’s cycle.