Nirmala Ramanujam

Duke University, USA
OSA Member since: 1996
OSA Fellow since: 2010

Professional/Personal Highlights:

Director of the Tissue optical Spectroscopy Laboratory at Duke University and founder of medical device startup, Zenalux.

What is your advice for balancing one’s professional and personal life?

Think about what milestones you want to hit personally and professionally and then get organized so that there is a plan in place and fewer surprises along the way. Then say no to things that do not fit within or promote the goals you have outlined. Often times it is hard to know when to say no, but if you have a clear path of what you want to achieve, prioritizing gets a little easier. Spending an hour to get organized weekly is worth the effort.

Do you have suggestions for how female scientists support each other’s careers and development?

I think that often there is a reluctance to seek help and advice particularly early in one’s scientific career in fear of looking incompetent among peers. I think one of the keys to a successful career is to seek out mentoring and advice from colleagues who have been successful. Then the question is how do you seek these people out? That’s where conferences, meetings, workshops, grant reviews become helpful to create a professional support network that you can seek out when you need it.

Link for more information: 

http://nimmi.bme.duke.edu/

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