CAREER PATHWAYS
Laboratory Call Proves Strong for One Fellow
By Rudolph Nowak , MPH , senior specialist , Marketing & Communications
Having married , taught school and raised her children wasn ’ t enough to overcome the call of the laboratory for one fellow in the Public Health Laboratory Fellowship Program : an APHL-CDC Initiative . Janet Lynch , recently an environmental health fellow and , as of August 31 , 2023 , a new employee at the Wadsworth Center , New York State Department of Health , is proof that there are no barriers that can impede that call .
“ I went to school for chemistry and in the process I got a minor in physics and a major in math . After graduation I ended up getting married and having a kid , so the best thing for me at that point was to teach ,” Lynch said . She taught while her children grew up , but her interest in research grew as well .
“ I was learning about medical research and drug development and thought ‘ this is interesting to me ,’” she said .
After her children were grown , Lynch decided to go back to school , a bit unsure if it was the right path for her . She entered a biotechnology certificate program at her local community college which gave her an opportunity to return to the laboratory , and secured an internship at a research laboratory .
“ I realized that science had really changed since I finished my bachelor ’ s degree , so it was good that I went back and got some more experience and learned about the new instrumentation ( and ) computers .”
The experience helped Lynch decide to pursue and complete a doctorate in Chemistry at the State University of New York . Her desire was to work at the state level as a research scientist , and that public health may be the best avenue to reach her goal .
Janet Lynch
“ I found the APHL fellowship and it looked really appealing to me . It gave me the opportunity to get into the laboratory , find out what public health laboratories were actually doing and do some research . It checked a lot of the boxes that I was looking for .”
Lynch knew it was a national fellowship , but she was hoping to stay close to home .
“ I really wanted to stay in New York State because my kids are here , my husband is here and we own property . It would have been hard for me to move .”
She crossed her fingers and waited for offers . “ I did get the opportunity in Albany , so I jumped at the chance .”
The fellowship also gave her the opportunity to attend two conferences , APHL 2023 in Sacramento , and the National Environmental Health Association Conference in New Orleans . While she enjoyed both conferences , Lynch believed the best part of the fellowship were the people .
“ Wadsworth built a nice camaraderie among the fellows . There were New
York State fellows and APHL fellows , so Wadsworth had monthly meetings with all the fellows , and they used the APHL curriculum to guide the meetings . It was a great way to meet people . And we could learn together .”
The comradery and Lynch ’ s life experience led to some questions from other fellows and coworkers about her career path .
“ Several people were asking questions about what it took to complete the PhD , why I did it and if I had any advice ,” Lynch said . She also gave advice to mid-career laboratorians thinking of pursuing a doctorate to advance or change careers .
“ There are considerations when you get to be a certain age and you ’ re going back to school . And so I shared my experiences with them ,” Lynch added . As she begins her new position at Wadsworth Center , she reflected on her fellowship experience .
“ I think the fellowship was a great opportunity for me . I feel like the training allowed me to get a nice overview of how public health works . I really enjoyed the training and the support that APHL gives to the fellows — it is really excellent .” g
The production of this article was supported by Cooperative Agreement # NU60OE000104 , funded by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of , nor an endorsement by , CDC , HHS or the US Government .
4 LAB MATTERS Winter 2023
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