I’ve mentioned a couple of times recently that I’ve had some distractions in real life. They’ve reached a level of confidence that I may as well explain them here. Short version: I’ve had a job offer from the CDC, and I’m
probably almost certainly going to leave my position at Michigan State University and join the CDC in Atlanta in the near future.
In handy pretend-question-and-answer format:
What’s the job? My title will be something like “Head of the Influenza Pandemic Preparedness and Vaccine Team“. Being a government job, it probably sounds rather grander than it is. It’s a small to mid-sized research team that covers various aspects of influenza pathogenesis, virology, and surveillance, focusing mainly but not only on the non-standard (i.e. non-seasonal) flu strains.
Why are you leaving MSU? I don’t think of it as “leaving MSU”, but rather as “going to the CDC”. What I mean by that is that I’m very happy at MSU, it’s a great place, my research is going reasonably well, we are very fond of Michigan, and so on. The only reason I’m changing positions is that I think the CDC position is going to be even more exciting and interesting. And yes, I’m aware that I’m incredibly fortunate to be able to choose between these two wonderful opportunities.
When are you going? I’m probably moving in mid-June.
Do you have ten thousand and one things to do before then? Yes.
Are you looking forward to summers in Atlanta? No. I’m Canadian. I don’t deal well with heat.
What about this blog? There may be some hiccups as I have to worry about moving, selling and buying houses, and learning a bunch of new stuff. But overall, I think it should keep going.
Atlanta summers suck!
Interesting. I am leaving The Scripps Research Institute (final postdoc on HIV) and taking a tenure track position at Georgia Perimeter College in Atlanta (well, a bit outside Atlanta) in July.
Congratulations! Very well-deserved, and its good to see that all that virology wisdom will be more directly applied to help with the CDC's real-world public health efforts!
[…] Go to Publisher to continue reading […]
No more basic research? :(
No worries! Basic research is a significant chunk of the team's function.
I have followed the blog for a while (I'm an immunologist working in industry) and think that it is interesting and useful as well as covering an nice range of topics I really hope that you find time to keep it going. Congratulations on the new position!
Congrats! I do hope that the new job is both rewarding and leaves you time to continue the blog.
I truly hope you can keep up w/ Mystery Rays. It's THE BEST of its type. Plus, as they say in Make Way for Ducklings, I'm “bursting with pride” that someone in the sorry state of Michigan can write such fantastic stuff for the world out there.
Wow. Moving on to something better. Change is something we all should face one way or another. Good luck!
Congratulations Ian!!!
Sorry to barge in with a comment for a commenter…but I have to take this opportunity to see if this the same Jeff Mahr from Irwin's lab in Davis? If so, super happy to see you doing well, and congratulations on your next position. We do miss you and think of you often, as a picture of you, Ketta and Raleigh (packing through the Tahoe snow) is hanging on our wall, Come stay with us any time you are in Eugene! Susan, Brad and Raleigh (who is now in college.) hmnpwr@yahoo.com
[…] Careers, distractions, changes […]
[…] when I said the blog might have some hiccups as I transition from Michigan State to the CDC, I wasn’t really expecting them to be this […]