The name Dr. Qiu Wang is likely familiar to most Duke undergrads, especially those in my year, through her fall semester Organic I class. I actually wasn’t bold enough last year to join in that special first semester freshman orgo experience, so I only met Dr. Wang when I joined her organic synthesis lab this summer. Last week I had a chance to sit down and get to know her as a PI. It was a truly interesting conversation because I not only learned about the trajectory of a strong scientific career, but Dr. Wang also offered so many personal observations about her thoughts and experiences behind the scenes of that career – insights that I’ve gained as real, practical advice. I’m excited to share some of this valuable interview with my fellow HHRF peers and other students who, like me, may have listened to the most successful scientists and thought: “How?”
To begin with, one aspect of a scientific career that Dr. Wang and I discussed was “the moment” – the moment when a scientist takes a class, listens to a lecture, meets a mentor, or does something else so inspirational for him or her that it sparks a lifetime of passion for one specific field in science. The two prominent scientists who have spoken in this year’s HHRF program so far, Dr. Mohamed Noor and Dr. Amy Bejsovec, both seem to have experienced “the moment” and both have credited it as a driving force behind their careers. If I recall correctly, both took introductory undergrad classes in their respective future fields of research and fell in love with what they were learning. I’ve often thought that these kinds of moments were inspiring yet so elusive and hard to recognize within my own life. I certainly enjoyed taking Orgo I last semester, and this motivated me to join Dr. Wang’s lab; will I look back on that orgo class as “the moment” for my career, or have I yet to come across the real moment? What if I never actually have that moment?
Dr. Wang’s insight into these momentous questions was inspiring, a bit surprising, and incredibly comforting. Finishing her undergrad degree at Wuhan University as an environmental science major, Dr. Wang did not in fact fall in love with organic chemistry at first sight. She took chemistry labs because they were required for her major and thought chemical research was unpleasant; it was time-consuming, often ended in failure, and quite toxic, especially coupled with a lack of chemical hoods at the time. Yet, Dr. Wang’s experience with organic chemistry continued in her PhD studies at Emory University developing synthetic alternatives to natural compounds, which often required difficult purifications and were limited in flexibility and abundance. This divergence from environmental studies and transition to organic synthesis was largely influenced by the fact that environmental science was not a well-developed field yet and didn’t seem like a strong career option. Here was my first example of a pivotal decision in a successful scientist’s life that wasn’t guided by passion; Dr. Wang just took a chance.
The choice to continue in organic synthesis turned out to be highly favorable, as Dr. Wang has since completed two post-doctoral training terms at Harvard, one in chemistry and the other in biological techniques that would contribute to her organic research in the context of chemical biology. Now a primary faculty-member of Duke’s Department of Chemistry, she leads our lab diligently and also enjoys teaching Orgo I. Dr. Wang fondly described a balance that she values between research and teaching as a balance between the idealistic, hopeful pursuit of scientific curiosity and the practical, guaranteed propagation of knowledge, respectively. I really admire these motivations and ideals that Dr. Wang’s career is based on, and the fact that she wasn’t targeting this career from the very beginning, as it so often seems among prominent scientists, only makes her success more significant.
In conclusion, I think the takeaway from my conversation with Dr. Wang was a refreshing reminder about opportunity. Not every scientist can point to a single class, mentor, or experience – a single moment – that catalyzed their career, but every scientist did take an opportunity before they knew they would be successful. Falling in love with a field very early on may indeed increase that chance of success, but lacking “the moment” just leaves more opportunities open. Some, often including myself, may find that a bit directionless and thus frightening, but Dr. Wang’s insights inspire me to value the chance, not fear the risks.
