As we think about our careers beyond graduate school, it’s important to ask ourselves two questions: “What do I like about grad school?” and “What do I dislike about grad school?” For Dr. Neha Pancholi, a 2018 MVP graduate from the Weitzman lab, it was clear that she loved science communication. Neha loved learning about, talking about, and writing about science. Although she enjoyed discussing her research with others, she found herself wanting to learn more beyond the small niche occupied by her thesis project. Not surprisingly, Neha was ultimately drawn to a career in scientific writing. She now enjoys a position as a science writer for the American Association for Cancer Re- search (AACR). We had the pleasure of speaking with Neha about her experience as a science writer and her path to this career, which began largely as a co-founder of this publication, the CAMB Student Newsletter.
The following transcript has been condensed and edited for clarity.
Can you tell me about the organization you work for and your role within it?
The AACR is a nonprofit organization that supports cancer researchers through its mission to prevent and cure cancer. It publishes nine peer-reviewed journals and a magazine for patients and caregivers, funds research, and communicates with policymakers about the value of cancer research. The AACR also hosts international conferences on a variety of cancer research topics—the biggest conference is the AACR Annual Meeting, which usually hosts over 22,000 people.
I’m a science writer in the Communications and Public Relations department, and I primarily write scientific press releases for the media and articles for the AACR blog. The blog is directed toward both scientists and non-scientists, while the press re- leases are written for journalists. My job is to write about the latest topics in cancer research, including research published in our journals and studies presented at our conferences. This often involves reach- ing out to prominent researchers to talk about their area of research or interviewing the scientists behind a particular research article.
Some of the articles I write are intended for a scientific audience, while others are meant to be lay-friendly. The topic, approach, and language I use for each piece vary depending on the intended audience.
What does a typical day as a science writer look like? How would you describe the pace of your job?
The first hour of my day is usually spent reading science news, since a big part of my job is being knowledgeable about the latest advances in cancer research and medicine. After that, it varies day-to-day. I have three regular meetings each week.
One of these meetings is for the whole department to hear updates from each team. Another is with just my core team to touch base on what we’re working on that week, bounce ideas off each other, and discuss any hurdles we might be facing in our projects. The third weekly meeting is to identify newsworthy studies to highlight through the blog or press releases.
Then I’ll usually write, or conduct an interview with someone I’m writing a blog post or press release about. I may also be revising a piece, reading a paper, reviewing journal or meeting abstracts to identify exciting studies, preparing questions for an interview, or doing background reading on a topic I’m not as familiar with.
The workload is quite manageable for the most part. Of course, there are some days that are busier than others, but in general I get to work at my own pace, and I seldom work outside the normal 9-to-5 work- day. Not all writing jobs are like this, though. Before this job I was in a medical writing position, writing videos and podcasts for pharmaceutical companies, which required longer hours and was extremely fast-paced.
When and how did you know scientific writing was a career path you wanted to pursue?
During grad school, I realized what I enjoyed most was putting together posters and presentations, even though this was actually one of the things I found to be the most difficult about grad school. I liked the challenge of taking the science I worked on and finding a way to communicate it to someone else who didn’t have the same background.
I have also always loved writing, even through high school and college. During grad school, I wrote a little bit for a science blog, participated in a couple of editing groups, and served as a reviewer for the Journal of Emerging Investigators, an online journal that publishes research from middle and high school students. These experiences were instrumental in exposing me to a variety of writing formats and styles.
However, what I really wanted to do was write about the science going on at Penn. That opportunity really didn’t exist when I was in grad school, so I ended up starting the CAMB Student Newsletter and serving as an Editor-in-Chief. Writing and editing for the newsletter really solidified my decision to pursue science writing as a career. I enjoyed the experience of reading and learning about diverse fields of science, then writing about them in a simple way that a non-scientist or someone without a PhD could understand.
Is a PhD required for your position? How has your degree helped you in your current work?
For the specific science writing position I hold, a PhD in biomedical science is required, but there are other science writing roles within the AACR that require different expertise and experience. We all bring our own perspective and expertise to the table, which is really helpful and refreshing.
My training throughout grad school taught me how to understand scientific studies, ask the right questions about them, and see how they fit into the big picture. Before any conference, when we’re deciding what topics to cover, we may review hundreds of abstracts within a matter of days. Being able to digest those quickly and understand their impact, especially when the topics may be outside your field of expertise, requires a strong scientific background.
We also cover talks during conferences. Part of my role is to attend meetings and write about them on the blog. Grad school definitely prepared me for understanding scientific talks and knowing which data need to be highlighted.
What do you think is most important for students who are gearing up for a writing career?
If you want to write, get writing experience. If you’re a CAMB grad student, you should join the Newsletter team or something like it. Everyone coming out of CAMB is going to have a paper or two, but can you also write in a format different from a primary research article? Can you write a review? Can you write things that are more lay-friendly? Job applicants with diverse writing samples definitely stand out.
I would also say to expose yourself to things outside your area of research, whether that’s joining a journal club, reading a science magazine, or talking with friends. I know that this can be difficult to do during grad school, especially early on when you’re so focused on learning about your own project, but exposing yourself to other research is really helpful. This makes it easier to jump into something that’s not your area of expertise. Once you have some level of familiarity with a topic, it’s much easier to learn more about it than if you’re starting from nothing.
I also learned a lot by reaching out to alumni, so use your network. That always sounds really intimidating, but it can be as simple as talking to a friend of a friend who ended up going down a career path that you’re interested in. I have found that everyone is willing to talk about their experiences, and I learned so much just by hopping on the phone with someone for half an hour.
How did you learn how to write? Did you do any formal training in scientific writing?
Outside of high school and college English classes, I didn’t have any formal training in writing. I learned a lot about scientific writing through postdocs in my grad school lab. Before I sent an abstract or paper draft to my PI, I would often have postdocs look at it. I also learned a lot from my PI’s revisions.
I don’t know if there’s a way to get formal training, really. That’s why I think just getting writing experience is key. The more you write, the better you get at it. You start to realize what works and what doesn’t. It gets faster the more you do it, and the more things you write about.
A book that I really like is Bad Advice. It was written by Paul Offit, a physician at CHOP. He had some really interesting points in there about why science communication often fails. One thing he said that really stuck with me—and that I try to apply when I write—is that scientists often complicate any sort of statement they make, since they have been trained to say things extremely accurately. When you write a research paper, you have to be very specific and state exactly what you mean. When you write for the public, you’re going to lose your message in doing that. Finding that balance between simplifying your message while keeping it accurate is critical.
What is the best thing about your job?
I think what I enjoy the most is how many different topics I’m exposed to. I love that in any given week, I might be reading or writing about a super basic study done in cell lines before switching over to writing about a clinical trial or an epidemiology study. Getting to learn about all these different topics and communicate that knowledge in creative ways is probably my favorite thing.
To learn more about the AACR and the content put together by its writing team, visit https://www.aacr. org/professionals/blog/.