Teratology and other related fields offer a wide variety of career opportunities for all educational levels. One could work in either the public sector (e.g., government agencies such as the National Institutes of Health, U. S. Food and Drug Administration, and the Environmental Protection Agency) or the private sector (e.g., pharmaceutical and biotech industries or universities).
Visit the Placement Service postings to see what is current.
Below is a list of some typical job opportunities available in each sector with a description of some of the responsibilities accompanying the job. The list and job descriptions are in no way complete but are intended to give a feeling for the responsibilities of each job.
If you are a student considering a career in science and Teratology interests you, many governmental agencies as well as private companies offer student internship programs that are designed to give the student an opportunity to receive hands-on experience. This is a great opportunity for a student to check out many different jobs and select one that really interests you.
Department
of Health and Human Services (HHS) is the United States
government's principle agency for protecting the health of all americans. The
Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, the Center
for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Agency for Toxic Substances and
Disease Registry are some of the agencies that fall within the Department of
Health and Human Services.
The
U. S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
The FDA is responsible for ensuring that foods, cosmetics, medicines, and medical
devices are safe and effective for human use. Animal foods and drugs also fall
under the FDA's jurisdiction. Another responsibility of the FDA is to ensure
that all of these products are labeled truthfully with the information that
people need to use them properly. To learn more about the responsibilities of
the FDA, follow this link.
What
types of jobs are available at the FDA?
The FDA employs scientists with a broad range of expertise including:
One of the principle functions of the FDA is to enforce the Federal Food, Drug,
and Cosmetic Act to protect consumers from any unsafe products. To do this,
the FDA has INSPECTORS
and INVESTIGATORS
who visit facilities ensuring that products are made correctly and labelled
truthfully. During their visits, inspectors and investigators can collect samples
that will be examined by FDA SCIENTISTS.
These scientists also prepare evidence for FDA's legal cases. For example, a
scientist may examine a product for contamination with illegal drugs.
FDA scientists also review the results of studies performed by the manufacturer in an effort to get their product approved for the market.
While the FDA is not performing basic research, it is very important for its scientists and legal professionals to have a strong background in various aspects of science. To find out what jobs are currently available in the FDA go here.
The
National Institutes of Health
The NIH is comprised of 24 separate Institutes,
Centers, and Divisions. The NIH conducts research
in its own laboratories, supports the research of non-Federal scientists in
universities, medical schools, hospitals, and research institutions throughout
the country and abroad, helps train research investigators, and fosters communication
of biomedical information. For more information, read the NIH
overview.
An NIH scientist would be responsible for designing a research plan based on
the overall goals of the specific Institute and then carrying out the research
plan. The scientist and laboratory technicians would perform many technical
skills and could include the following:
The NIH offers Student
Employment Programs. There are programs for students
at all levels including high school, college/university, postbaccalaureate,
graduate school, and medical/dental school. These programs will give hands-on
experience to those individuals who know that they want a career in the sciences
and for those still undecided on their vocation, this is a great oportunity
to talk to established scientists and collect information to help you decide
if the sciences are for you.
To find out what jobs are currently available in the NIH go here.
Pharmaceutical
and Biotech Companies
The pharmaceutical and biotech industry offer a wide range of career opportunities depending on what division of the company you work for. Below are listed a couple of jobs that are usually found in the Drug Safety or Pre-Clinical Safety Assessment Department of these companies and directly relates to Teratology.
Federal and international regulatory agencies require a battery of safety studies to be performed on any new drugs prior to their approval and release for general use. The key individual for performing these studies is the Study Director.
The role of the Study Director is defined by the FDA's Good Laboratory Practices (21CFR58) as follows:
For
each nonclinical laboratory study, a scientist or other professional of appropriate
education, training, and experience, or combination thereof, shall be identified
as the study director. The study director has overall responsibility for the
technical conduct of the study, as well as for the interpretation, analysis,
documentation and reporting of results, and represents the single point of study
control.
The Study Director, in most cases, does not actually perform the studies but
instead coordinates the study and has daily interactions with the technicians
who perform the various tests and collect the raw data. The Study Director is
the individual who makes all the scientific decisions for the study.
Most pharmaceutical and biotech companies require their Study Directors to have either a M.S. or Ph.D. degree. However, some companies do have Study Directors with a B.S. degree with several years of experience. As one can see from the definition of a Study Director from the GLPs, there is no educational degree requirement by the federal government. They only require that a Study Director have "appropriate education, training, and experience, or combination thereof".
The job responsibilities of a technician (job titles vary considerably from one company to the next) at a pharmaceutical or biotech company can vary considerably based on the Department and structure of the company. One common thread between companies is that technicians perform most of the "hands-on" work. The technician is proficient at performing a great deal of techniques required for performing the drug safety studies. Below is a list of potential job responsibilities for a technician working in the reproductive toxicology and teratology department at a representative company:
Principle
Investigator
A principle investigator (PI) in a graduate school (aka, professor) will most
likely have teaching responsibilities as well as a research laboratory. In their
laboratory, a PI will have students, technicians, and postdoctoral fellows.
The PI acts as the mentor for all of the students in the laboratory and will
help the students design their research projects.
One of the major respnsibilities of a PI is to obtain research funding for their
laboratory in order to pay for equipment, supplies, salaries, and student stipends.
To do this, a great deal of the PI's time is spent writing and submitting grant
applications to various agencies and institutions, such as the National Institutes
of Health.
In addition to teaching and mentoring, the PI will also spend time writing journal
articles for publication, peer reviewing journal articles, reviewing grant applications
(i.e., participating in a NIH study section), attending Society meetings, and
guest speaking.
Laboratory
Technician
Depending on the laboratory setup, a technician's responsibilities can vary
from a support role to one of active participation in research projects. This
type of job offers an individual the opportunity to learn many "cutting-edge"
laboratory techniques and get practical hands-on experience. This type of job
is commonly used as a stepping stone for individuals thinking of entering graduate
school but want to get some practical experience first.
Some of the research techniques that a technician would perform are listed below:
Undergraduate
Professors
A professor at an undergraduate institution generally has a larger teaching
responsibility compared to most graduate level professors. The emphasis is not
on basic research but rather on teaching. This is not to say that research is
not performed at an undergraduate institution only that it is not the main focus
(for most institutions). In institutions where research is performed, the undergraduate
professor will design the research project and may be required to write a research
grant to obtain funding for the project.