Associate Director Loves the Autonomy and Impact

Name: Adrienne Mueller (she/her)

PhD: Neuroscience, University of Washington, 2013

What was your main area of research?

For my PhD, I studied the role of a region of the brain called the cerebellum in eye movements. I used a combination of behavior, electrophysiology (recording from neurons), and molecular biology approaches in monkeys. I learned a lot about ways the cerebellum does *not* contribute to eye movements.

For my postdoc, I studied the role of neuromodulators - like dopamine and adrenaline - in attention. I used a combination of behavior, electrophysiology, and molecular biology approaches in monkeys.

What is your current job?

I am the Associate Director of Scientific Education and Outreach at Stanford Cardiovascular Institute in Stanford, California.

My job entails quite a few things including:

Program/Project Management of research training programs
Research on education programs, including publications
Teaching
Science communications (lay articles of science)
Program/Project Management of communications initiatives (e.g. annual reports)
Program/Project Management of community-focused (formerly DEI) initiatives
Grant writing

What is your favorite thing about your job?

I really enjoy having the autonomy to manage my activities during the day and also have an impact in so many different spheres. Educational programs and outreach/communications both have a huge reach, and I really feel like I am helping make change happen.

What is the most important skill you developed or experience you had during your PhD that now helps you in your current position?

An important skill from my PhD that helps me now is planning long projects that have many contingencies and need input from a lot of sources. I learned how to be organized, patient, and 'the squeaky wheel'.

How did you build the skills necessary for your current role?

During my postdoc, I helped a lot of friends and colleagues review/edit their grant proposals. I not only had more fun working on other folks' applications than on my own, but I found I was getting faster and faster at it.

I also used LinkedIn learning, which is available through my employer, to learn a lot about project management and people management.

How did you find this position? What were the career steps you took to get to where you are now?

The institution where I did my postdoc had a career consulting service that pointed me at this position.

PhD graduate ➡️ Postdoc ➡️ Associate Director of Sci. Ed/Outreach

If someone is interested in a similar role, what would you recommend they start doing now to prepare?

I'd recommend speaking to a career counselor to identify your specific strengths and practice pitching how your current skills apply to a new role. I'd also recommend doing as much writing or editing work as you have bandwidth for.

Why did you decide to not pursue a career in academia?

I found that, although I liked the work I was doing in the lab, I wasn't really passionate about it. I didn't stay up at night thinking about dopamine and the prefrontal cortex.

When I saw the job description for my current role, I got very excited. Almost everything on the list of "responsibilities" was the type of work I enjoyed doing, and thought I was good at.

It was definitely hard to step off 'the path' to academia, because I had been on it for so long; but I'm a lot more fulfilled - and effective - in my current role than I was conducting straight science.

What advice do you have for someone getting their PhD and looking to pursue a career outside of academia?

Don't think of it as 'abandoning' a career in academia! You're transitioning to a different sector that suits you better, where you can make an impact in a different way.

Also, you may think you're an expert on termite breeding habits - and that's it; but in reality you're an expert at project management, scientific writing, a host of experimental skills, collaborating with diverse stakeholders, and a host of other things besides.