I had just returned from Sweden and was offered a postdoctoral position with Dr. Nicholas Bruchovsky. I had returned from overseas after finishing my PhD, and job opportunities in the United States were beckoning me. The BC Cancer Agency has such a great research reputation around the world and so it was so exciting to be offered a chance to do leading work at this high level in my home province, so I accepted the job. And I accepted the job because I felt I could now do work in a field of cancer research that really matters for patients.
By having resources and the expertise all in one area, clinicians, scientists, and patients, the BC Cancer Agency really is a unique place to work. Joining the BC Cancer Agency also means having available great facilities, like the Genome Sciences Centre.
The fact that the research we do is side by side with the treatment of cancer patients means that we always have at the front of our minds that the clock is ticking, and we’ve got to move quickly.
Dr. Bruchovsky was a very good mentor, his philosophy was, if you’re in a research facility where patient care is taking place, you should do the work that will impact the patient first. He was insistent that our research was applicable to a better quality of life, better diagnostics, and effective new drug therapies, something to impact patient care. And I share that same philosophy now in my motivation for research and in heading up my own lab.
Marianne