Making Sense of Social Graph and Network Relationships - Ben Hallen

In Chapter 16 of 21 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, business school professor Ben Hallen answers "How Have You Applied Your Computer Science Education to Better Understand Relationships?" Hallen notes the popularity of "the social network" and "the social graph" as social media and networks have developed. He also notes how graphs have been studied by social scientists for decades. There is research covering the structural representation of networks and graphs, and Hallen cautions we not oversimplify our relationships and consider richness of the bonds. Hallen is an Assistant Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at London Business School. Previously, he was Assistant Professor of Management and Organization at University of Maryland. Hallen earned his PhD from Stanford University and its Stanford Technology Venture Program (STVP). He has been a startup CTO and graduated from the University of Virginia with a BS in Electrical Engineering and a Masters in Computer Science.

How Relationship Dynamics Impact Entrepreneur Fundraising - Ben Hallen

In Chapter 20 of 21 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, business school professor Ben Hallen answers "What Compels You to Focus So Much Time and Energy in Understanding the Process and Problems Involved with Fundraising?" Hallen channels his entrepreneurial experience into his academic research, focusing on high commitment relationship building and how entrepreneurs alter and change dynamics Hallen is an Assistant Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at London Business School. Previously, he was Assistant Professor of Management and Organization at University of Maryland. Hallen earned his PhD from Stanford University and its Stanford Technology Venture Program (STVP). He has been a startup CTO and graduated from the University of Virginia with a BS in Electrical Engineering and a Masters in Computer Science.

Stacie Bloom on Discovering a Passion for Science

In Chapter 1 of 19 in her 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, Stacie Grossman Bloom answers "When Did You First Become Interested in Science?" She shares how it began as a child, from capturing fireflies to choosing Trivia Pursuit green (or science) questions to naturally being inquisitive to reading an Encyclopedia Britannica set end to end.

Stacie Grossman Bloom is now the Executive Director at the NYU Neuroscience Institute at NYU Langone Medical Center. Previously, she was VP and Scientific Director at the New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS). She earned her PhD in Neurobiology and Cell Biology at Georgetown University and did a post-doctoral fellowship at Rockefeller University in New York City. She earned her BA in Chemistry and Psychology from the University of Delaware.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: When did you first become interested in science?

Stacie Grossman Bloom: So, I became interested in science as a little kid, I think. I was always sort of running around the yard and capturing fireflies and looking at insects and playing with things, playing trivial pursuit -- I always wanted to land on the green, I was always I think naturally inquisitive and always really interested in science. I can’t remember really a time that I wasn’t questioning things, my surroundings, myself, religion. And I just really can’t remember a time where that wasn’t something interesting to me.

Erik Michielsen: What about this encyclopedia set that you picked up when you were 6 or 7 years old?

Stacie Grossman Bloom: So, when I was a kid there was a traveling encyclopedia salesman who came through my town and my father bought, at our front door, bought a set of encyclopedia Britannica’s -- those really big leather bound expensive sets of books. And, either he bought it separately or it came with like a children’s encyclopedia set. And, I remember literally reading the entire encyclopedia set. Starting with A and going all the way to the end and it was all illustrated, it was perfect for kids. Literally read the whole encyclopedia.

Stacie Bloom on How a College Class Inspires PhD Neuroscience Career

In Chapter 2 of 19 in her 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, Stacie Grossman Bloom answers "How Did One College Class Unexpectedly Springboard Your Science Career?" While studying psychology at the University of Delaware, she takes a graduate level course in a neuropsychology. She finds the small class forum and the neuroscience study of the brain align her studies to her interests. Grossman Bloom then thrives in the classroom, earning As and continuing to Georgetown for a PhD.

Stacie Grossman Bloom is the Executive Director at the NYU Neuroscience Institute at NYU Langone Medical Center. Previously, she was VP and Scientific Director at the New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS). She earned her PhD in Neurobiology and Cell Biology at Georgetown University and did a post-doctoral fellowship at Rockefeller University in New York City. She earned her BA in Chemistry and Psychology from the University of Delaware.

Transcript:

Erik Michielsen: How did one college class unexpectedly springboard your science career?

Stacie Grossman Bloom: So, I went to college at University of Delaware. I was an okay student. It was nothing great. I was taking a lot of chemistry and psychology and I was in these giant, giant lecture halls with hundreds of other people. And, decided one day when I was looking through the course book for what to sign up for there was this really interesting looking class in Neuropsychology and I thought I’ll sign up for it. And when I went to the class it turned out to be a graduate level class and it was totally different from what I was used to. It was just in a small classroom. There were maybe twelve or fifteen students, and a professor. And I had never been in an environment like that before, that was so interactive. And it changed my life to be in a small class like that. I did amazingly well. I got A’s from then on. I started taking more of those graduate level classes, not because the content was so much more challenging but simply because the forum was a better fit for me. And, really helped foster my education. It was also that I had discovered at that time that neuroscience was what I was really interested in. So I think it was those two factors combined -- the forum and the content.

Erik Michielsen: What did you find most appealing about neuroscience?

Stacie Grossman Bloom: I was always just really interested in the brain and how the brain works and how your thoughts are controlled and why you need sleep and how you get addicted to drugs and why the brain fails. It was just a natural fit, I think, for my inquisitiveness. And, at the time neuroscience was really becoming a blossoming field. At the time that I was applying to graduate school most schools didn’t even have a neuroscience yet. Which now it’s 2011 that’s impossible to fathom. When I was going to Georgetown I ended up getting into the cell biology department because that was the closest thing they had to neuroscience. Now of course they have a full neuroscience program.

Stacie Bloom on Making Education a Top Family Priority

In Chapter 3 of 19 in her 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, Stacie Grossman Bloom answers "In What Ways Has Your Family Cultivated and Supported Your Passion for Science?" She notes how her grandparents were Holocaust survivors who came to Brooklyn and made education a top family priority. Stacie's parents pass on these values in their own parenting, doing what it takes to support their children's education.

Stacie Grossman Bloom is the Executive Director at the NYU Neuroscience Institute at NYU Langone Medical Center. Previously, she was VP and Scientific Director at the New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS). She earned her PhD in Neurobiology and Cell Biology at Georgetown University and did a post-doctoral fellowship at Rockefeller University in New York City. She earned her BA in Chemistry and Psychology from the University of Delaware.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: In what ways has your family cultivated and supported your passion for science?

Stacie Grossman Bloom: In my family, education was always really important. My father’s parents were holocaust survivors who lost everything and started their lives basically from the ground up. Came to America, came through Ellis Island, settled in Brooklyn. My father met my mother and they believed firmly that education was the key to success.

And, I have one brother and growing up that was the one thing that was always so important that we do really well in school and that they provide us with whatever we would need to do really well in school. And, we did. We did really well at school, they did a good job.

You know, I went to college; I was the first person in my family to go to graduate school -- that was a really big deal. And, I remember finding out that I had been accepted and calling my parents and I was very excited and I was going to Georgetown and it was so unbelievably expensive and my father said that no matter what he had to do, I was going to go and he would even take a second job. And it was like such an amazing thing. Fortunately, I ended up getting a fellowship and full ride and stipends and nobody had to get any second jobs. But, I would say that I was always really supported and given the resources that I needed to do well in school. 

Stacie Bloom on Choosing a Science PhD Program Over Medical School

In Chapter 4 of 19 in her 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, Stacie Grossman Bloom answers "What Variables Did You Consider When Deciding Between Graduate School and Medical School?" She notes how we are conditioned to be a lawyer, doctor, engineer, etc. and not a molecular neurobiologist. As she started to apply to medical school, she become more exposed to what it meant to get a PhD. She finds the personalized study and sense of discovery more compelling than studying a standardized set of material.

Stacie Grossman Bloom is the Executive Director at the NYU Neuroscience Institute at NYU Langone Medical Center. Previously, she was VP and Scientific Director at the New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS). She earned her PhD in Neurobiology and Cell Biology at Georgetown University and did a post-doctoral fellowship at Rockefeller University in New York City. She earned her BA in Chemistry and Psychology from the University of Delaware.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: What variables did you consider when deciding between grad school and medical school?

Stacie Grossman Bloom: I thought I wanted to go to medical school because I think it’s a very typical career path that you think about. From the time you are a little kid, are you going to be a lawyer, are you going to be a doctor, are you going to be a fireman, are you going to be this that. Nobody ever really sits down as a little kid and says, am I going to be a molecular neurobiologist.

I would say as I got closer and closer and closer to actually going into the medical school track, my eyes were opened up to what other possibilities were out there.

When I was applying to graduate schools and medical schools and I still wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted to do and as I spoke to more and more people who had PhDs. I didn’t know anybody with a PhD when I was a kid. There is nobody in my family with a PhD. My friends, and their parents. I just didn’t have anybody in my circle.

But as I was starting to apply to medical school, Georgetown had a big PhD research arm and I started having conversations with people there and learning more about it. And as I was exposed more and more to it, I was more and more attracted to it.

And when I learned what it meant to get a PhD and what it entailed, that was something that I was more interested in. I thought, rather than sit in a room and learn everything that everybody else is learning, I’d rather be off in a lab discovering something that nobody else knows yet.

Stacie Bloom on The Long Term Value of a PhD Investment

In Chapter 6 of 19 in her 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, Stacie Grossman Bloom answers "What Do You Believe is the Greatest Long Term Value of a PhD Investment?" She notes that the training required to get a PhD creates a transferable skill set that allows one to solve problems in creative independent ways. She shares how her PhD in cell biology and post doc in molecular neurobiology proved extremely transferable in her career. Specifically, she used the core skills learned during her PhD to become an editor at Nature Medicine and also applies the skills in her role at the New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS), which she held at the time of this interview.

Stacie Grossman Bloom is the Executive Director at the NYU Neuroscience Institute at NYU Langone Medical Center. Previously, she was VP and Scientific Director at the New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS). She earned her PhD in Neurobiology and Cell Biology at Georgetown University and did a post-doctoral fellowship at Rockefeller University in New York City. She earned her BA in Chemistry and Psychology from the University of Delaware.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: What do you believe is the greatest long-term value of a PhD investment?

Stacie Grossman Bloom: I think the greatest long-term value of a PhD investment is that the training required to get a PhD, what it really, I think teaches you more than a specific niche that you are working on research-wise is it teaches you how to solve programs in creative ways, independently. I think it’s a very transferable skill.

I mean my PhD is in cell biology. I did a post doc in molecular neurobiology. That’s what my PhD is in and that’s what I was trained in. That doesn’t mean that I couldn’t become an editor at Nature Medicine and understand a much broader range of scientific topics. I would say now, even in my current job, I oversee not only life sciences and biomedicine but also now physical sciences and engineering, which was like a foreign language to me, but I think when you have a PhD you acquire skills that allow you to help figure out other areas. 

Stacie Bloom on Using Trial Jobs to Explore Science Career Options

In Chapter 7 of 19 in her 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, Stacie Grossman Bloom answers "What Did You Find Most Challenging About Teaching College Biology at Bard College?" Teaching biology at Bard College while doing her post doc work at Rockefeller University, she finds it easy to connect with college students. She uses the opportunity to explore career options and find out if teaching is a good fit. Teaching one college class helps Grossman Bloom rule out that as a career option and she continues using the exploration and trial approach in other pursuits, including a role at Nature Medicine. Grossman Bloom is the Executive Director at the NYU Neuroscience Institute at NYU Langone Medical Center. Previously, she was VP and Scientific Director at the New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS). She earned her PhD in Neurobiology and Cell Biology at Georgetown University and did a post-doctoral fellowship at Rockefeller University in New York City. She earned her BA in Chemistry and Psychology from the University of Delaware.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: What did you find most challenging about teaching a biology class at Bard College?

Stacie Grossman Bloom: College students.

Erik Michielsen: How did you connect with them?

Stacie: As a post doc it wasn’t that hard to connect with a college student. I still felt like that was kinda my life. I was making no money. I was in jeans and sneakers all the time. I felt like a kid still and I felt like a student still. I think they probably looked at me very differently.

At the time I was trying to explore career options for myself. I thought, “maybe I’d like to be a college professor.” And that was a way for me to rule it out.

But it was a great opportunity to see if that was a good fit for me.

Erik Michielsen: What did you learn about yourself through the experience?

Stacie Grossman Bloom: I learned that for me, it was important for me to do trial runs of things before I went full-fledged into them. When I started at Nature and left the lab, I was doing it just two days a week as an intern. That’s what really was a good way for me to see, to test the waters. And, same thing with teaching. So, take on one class at a college, try it out, see if I like it. I didn’t like it, so I didn’t do it.

Stacie Bloom on Getting a Post Doc Lab Job Working for a Nobel Laureate Scientist

In Chapter 8 of 19 in her 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, Stacie Grossman Bloom answers "How Did Working for a Nobel Laureate at the Rockefeller University Shape Your Science Career?" After earning her PhD, she looks to return to New York City for her post doc. She applies to Rockefeller University and gets an opportunity to work for Paul Greengard, who goes on to win the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine five months later. The Rockefeller lab experience shows her the best of science and what is like to be in a world renown successful laboratory where funding is not an issue. Ultimately, she finds the lab environment was not for her and decides to choose something different.

Stacie Grossman Bloom is the Executive Director at the NYU Neuroscience Institute at NYU Langone Medical Center. Previously, she was VP and Scientific Director at the New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS). She earned her PhD in Neurobiology and Cell Biology at Georgetown University and did a post-doctoral fellowship at Rockefeller University in New York City. She earned her BA in Chemistry and Psychology from the University of Delaware.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: How did working for a Nobel laureate at The Rockefeller University shape your science career?

Stacie Grossman Bloom: So, that was a pretty serendipitous event in my life. I knew I wanted to come back to New York City and I was applying to post doctoral positions in New York City and a friend of mine at the time who was in New York City said to me, “if you are going to go and do your post doc there, you should go to the best possible place you can go and that’s The Rockefeller University.” And, for people who are not familiar with it, The Rockefeller University is one of the most unique universities you will ever come across. It doesn’t have an undergraduate program; it has a graduate program and an MD-PhD program. It’s small, it has no departments, it has no silos, it’s unbelievably well funded, it’s an amazing intellectual place.

And I applied and got an interview in this guy, Paul Greengard’s, lab. I was interested in the stuff that he was doing. I went on my interview and gave my presentation, went out to dinner with him and got the offer, and five months later he won the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine. And, I never could’ve known that that was going to happen when I accepted my position in the lab. And I always joked with him that it’s good that I got in before he won the Nobel Prize because after he got it, the applications to the lab were skyrocketing and I always thought I would never get in and he always said, “yes, you would still get in, you would still get in.” But that experience showed me the best of science - what’s it like to be in one of the most world-renowned successful laboratories,  what’s it like to be a scientist in a lab where funding isn’t the biggest issue, like it is in most labs.

And for me, even in that environment, I knew I didn’t want to stay in the lab. The fact that I chose a different path, even though I was in this amazing environment was really emblematic of the fact that that environment wasn’t for me and I needed to get out of there and choose something different.

Stacie Bloom on Leaving Academia for a Science Industry Job

In Chapter 9 of 19 in her 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, Stacie Grossman Bloom answers "What Did You Find Most Challenging Transitioning Out of Science Bench Research Into the Field?" Working in a protective university science environment as a post doc, Grossman Bloom finds the greatest challenge leaving the security of the academic culture for outside work. By building a strong working relationship with her boss, Nobel Laureate Paul Greengard, she is able to test an outside opportunity by interning twice a week at Nature Medicine.

Stacie Grossman Bloom is the Executive Director at the NYU Neuroscience Institute at NYU Langone Medical Center. Previously, she was VP and Scientific Director at the New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS). She earned her PhD in Neurobiology and Cell Biology at Georgetown University and did a post-doctoral fellowship at Rockefeller University in New York City. She earned her BA in Chemistry and Psychology from the University of Delaware.

Transcription: 

Erik Michielsen: What did you find most challenging transitioning out of science bench research into the field?

Stacie Grossman Bloom: I think the most challenging thing was getting my mind readjusted to the fact that I was leaving that track. You know, that’s the only track I really knew and then I was entering into sort of uncharted territory. I think also the university is a very protective environment. Nobody is--It’s not like at a law firm where you have x number of years to make partner, and if you don’t make partner, you sort of have a tough decision to make. You can waiver around in a university lab as a post doc for infinity and nobody is ever going to kick you out. So, making the decision to leave a track and leave the security of the university atmosphere, I think was the most challenging.

Erik Michielsen: How did you get over it?

Stacie Grossman Bloom: I just did it; it was like ripping off a band-aid. I did it more slowly than others. I was really fortunate, I was in a laboratory, as a post doc, of a Nobel laureate who was very flexible in what he allowed me to do and let me leave the lab part-time to pursue an internship at Nature Publishing Group. Nature is a great scientific journal and it’s based in New York City. And he let me sort of dip my toe in the water and feel it out. And, I got the internship at Nature and then when it came an offer for a full-time position, it was a little bit easier than pulling off a band-aid.

Stacie Bloom: A Day in the Life of a Bench Research Scientist

In Chapter 10 of 19 in her 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, Stacie Grossman Bloom answers "What Do You Respect Most About People Doing Bench or Laboratory Science Research?" She believes the people who are working as the bench scientists are the people who are solving the problems of the world. She shares the challenge life scientists encounter in their work and the persistence and commitment required to succeed in the job.

Stacie Grossman Bloom is the Executive Director at the NYU Neuroscience Institute at NYU Langone Medical Center. Previously, she was VP and Scientific Director at the New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS). She earned her PhD in Neurobiology and Cell Biology at Georgetown University and did a post-doctoral fellowship at Rockefeller University in New York City. She earned her BA in Chemistry and Psychology from the University of Delaware.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: What do you respect most about people doing bench or laboratory science research?

Stacie Grossman Bloom: The people who are working as the bench scientists are the people who are solving the problems of the world. I think every physician who is treating patients in the clinic should have to have a glimpse into the day of a bench scientist, on a day that the experiment isn’t working well.

Erik Michielsen: What does it look like?

Stacie: It’s really frustrating and it’s really hard and usually you are surrounded -- if you are a life scientist -- you are usually surrounded by a million little, tiny, labeled tubes, and pipette tips, and radiation shields, and freezers, and maybe mice, and you’re probably there at two o’clock in the morning, 3 o’clock in the morning because everything is always timed. I appreciate their commitment to that job. That job does not pay well. It’s really hard. And for every experiment that results in a high-quality scientific publication, there are probably a hundred that failed.

Stacie Bloom on Reasons to Work in Science Writing and Publishing

In Chapter 11 of 19 in her 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, Stacie Grossman Bloom answers "What Have You Enjoyed Most About Science Writing and Publishing?" She enjoys being an effective communicator of science in a realistic way. From a publishing perspective, she finds value seeing research results and unpublished data before others see it.

Stacie Grossman Bloom is the Executive Director at the NYU Neuroscience Institute at NYU Langone Medical Center. Previously, she was VP and Scientific Director at the New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS). She earned her PhD in Neurobiology and Cell Biology at Georgetown University and did a post-doctoral fellowship at Rockefeller University in New York City. She earned her BA in Chemistry and Psychology from the University of Delaware.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: What have you enjoyed most about science writing and publishing?

Stacie Grossman Bloom: Being able to take a very jargon-y, niche-y, scientific finding and translate it into a way that the mass of people can understand without overselling it, I think is a really important skill. I would say that’s the thing that I’ve enjoyed the most: being able to be an effective communicator of science in a realistic way. In terms of publishing science, that’s such an easy answer for me. The thing that I’ve enjoyed the most is having the privilege of seeing these research results before anybody else sees them. As an editor at a high-level scientific journal you’re really in a great position because you really have this amazing privilege of seeing unpublished data. In the scientific world unpublished data is -- you never get access to unpublished data. Everybody is scared that you are gonna steal it, you’re gonna use the findings and publish it first. So, being in that position where you are the first person to see the unpublished data and then determining whether that data is of high enough quality and importance to be published in the highest tier of scientific journals.

Stacie Bloom on Building a Professional Network in a Science Career

In Chapter 12 of 19 in her 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, Stacie Grossman Bloom answers "How Did You Turn Extensive Travel as a Science Editor into Building a Better Network?" Regular travel to conferences and labs provides her a platform to meet new scientists, authors, and reviewers and build relationships over time. Peer professional relationships help Grossman Bloom use publishing contacts - first Nature Medicine and then Journal of Clinical Investigation -to build her network.

Stacie Grossman Bloom is the Executive Director at the NYU Neuroscience Institute at NYU Langone Medical Center. Previously, she was VP and Scientific Director at the New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS). She earned her PhD in Neurobiology and Cell Biology at Georgetown University and did a post-doctoral fellowship at Rockefeller University in New York City. She earned her BA in Chemistry and Psychology from the University of Delaware.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: How did you turn extensive travel as a science editor into an opportunity to build a better network?

Stacie Grossman Bloom: You know, one of the things that was great about working at Nature Medicine was getting to go to all of the scientific conferences and all of the lab visits all over the world. Those are great opportunities for networking. One skill that I think is important to have as a scientist is the ability to interact socially with other people. And so, being at a conference in a far away place is a great opportunity to have a drink with someone, have dinner with someone, talk to someone, become friendly with someone, and then stay in touch afterwards.

Erik Michielsen: As someone that has changed job functions a couple of different times, how did you keep that networking relevant in what you do?

Stacie Grossman Bloom: The best network I built up was really when I was at Nature Medicine. Just the pool of authors and reviewers and scientists who I worked with there, that became a really important resource for me. So when I left Nature Medicine I went to another journal called The Journal of Clinical Investigation, the reason I went to The Journal of Clinical Investigation was because my former colleague from Nature Medicine hired me to work there, so that was a key factor. But, even at the New York Academy of Sciences I was able to bring that whole network with me. There are still a lot of scientists that I work really closely with who I met way back when, I was just starting out, when I had just left the lab. I would say now through my work with the academy, that network grows and grows and grows.

Stacie Bloom on Science Career Options for PhD Scientists

In Chapter 13 of 19 in her 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, Stacie Grossman Bloom answers "What Have Your Experiences Taught You About the Range of Options Available in a Science Career?" She finds her experiences allow her to use her science skills in very interesting ways. Many scientists find themselves narrowly focused on a linear academic career - PhD, post doc, research lab, professorship - however Bloom learns there are many possibilities as long as you are willing to think creatively about what you can do.

Stacie Grossman Bloom is the Executive Director at the NYU Neuroscience Institute at NYU Langone Medical Center. Previously, she was VP and Scientific Director at the New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS). She earned her PhD in Neurobiology and Cell Biology at Georgetown University and did a post-doctoral fellowship at Rockefeller University in New York City. She earned her BA in Chemistry and Psychology from the University of Delaware.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: What have your experiences taught you about the range of options available in the science career?

Stacie Grossman Bloom: My experiences have taught me that you can use your science background in very creative ways and create a career for yourself that may be a little unorthodox or doesn’t follow a typical career path but can still be really fulfilling, interesting and important. A lot of scientists are not trained in entrepreneurship or -- you know, scientists are very smart but not everyone knows how to think outside the box. So, unless you are on this very linear tenure track position, it’s a little bit hard to figure out what else you can do. So, you’re a graduate student, you do a post doc, you get a professorship in some lab, you get tenure, you stay in that lab, you make a career for yourself at that university. It’s sort of being trapped in the ivory tower. You know, one thing that leaving that has shown me is that there is a place for PhD scientist in almost every sector, if you can think creatively about what you can do.

Stacie Bloom on How to Write a More Effective Grant Proposal

In Chapter 14 of 19 in her 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, Stacie Grossman Bloom answers "Through Your Experience, What Lessons Have You Learned About Writing More Effective Grant Proposals?" She finds the best grant proposals are the ones that tell the best stories. She notes grant writing is a skill that can be learned. Bloom notes the importance of using both resource centers as well as doing outreach to the grant organizations to assess fit in advance of writing the proposal. Grossman Bloom is the Executive Director at the NYU Neuroscience Institute at NYU Langone Medical Center. Previously, she was VP and Scientific Director at the New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS). She earned her PhD in Neurobiology and Cell Biology at Georgetown University and did a post-doctoral fellowship at Rockefeller University in New York City. She earned her BA in Chemistry and Psychology from the University of Delaware.

Transcript:

Erik Michielsen: Through your experience, what lessons have you learned about writing more effective grant proposals?

Stacie Grossman Bloom: I would say that the best grant proposals are the ones that tell the best stories. And grant writing is a really important skill. You know, some people have it and some people don’t and if you don’t have it, you can absolutely learn it, but you should go out and learn it. You know, we have in New York City, and a lot of cities have a foundation center. We have one on lower Fifth Avenue. They’re amazing, they have free workshops that talk about how to write grants and there are a lot of good resources out there. Another thing that I’ve learned that is important about grant writing is not to be afraid to pick up the phone. So, often, you know, you’re submitting a grant, you are submitting it to someone somewhere, don’t be scared to call that person and say, “hey, look, I’m scoping this out, do you think this is a good fit for you?” Don’t waste your time writing a grant when someone is just going to say no. And, nine times out of ten the person on the other end of the phone is going to be really happy to talk to you, even if that person is at the National Science Foundation.

Stacie Bloom on Teaching Business Skills to Young Scientists

In Chapter 16 of 19 in her 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, Stacie Grossman Bloom answers "How Has Your Scientific Training Informed Your Development as a Manager?" She notes how management skills challenge scientists given they are not formally trained. Bloom highlights how organizations such as the New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS) provide scientists management training via programs such as the Science Alliance.

Stacie Grossman Bloom is the Executive Director at the NYU Neuroscience Institute at NYU Langone Medical Center. Previously, she was VP and Scientific Director at the New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS). She earned her PhD in Neurobiology and Cell Biology at Georgetown University and did a post-doctoral fellowship at Rockefeller University in New York City. She earned her BA in Chemistry and Psychology from the University of Delaware.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: How has your scientific training informed your development as a manager?

Stacie Grossman Bloom: Developing managerial skills, as a scientist, is not so easy. It’s not one of the skills that you learn in the lab. You can be naturally inclined to be a good manager, but I would say throughout graduate school and postdoctoral training, management is not the skills that you get. One of the things that we do at the New York Academy of Sciences is a science alliance program that provides career mentoring and skill development outside of the university. So, it’s a place where currently about 10,000 young scientists come to learn those kinds of skills. One of those is how to manage your lab, or how to navigate the visa process, or how to find a career outside of academia, how to be an entrepreneur, how to take your idea to an IPO. Those are the kinds of things that we are trying to teach young scientists at the Academy.

Stacie Bloom on How to Foster Innovation in Global Nutrition Science

In Chapter 17 of 19 in her 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, Stacie Grossman Bloom answers "What Has Led You to Create a Global Program on Nutrition Science?" Grossman Bloom, who at the time of this interview was at the New York Academy of Science (NYAS), shares how the organization designed a unique initiative to have global impact. The organization applies its 200 years of experience of scientific community led problem solving to the challenges of malnutrition and nutrition science.

Stacie Grossman Bloom is the Executive Director at the NYU Neuroscience Institute at NYU Langone Medical Center. Previously, she was VP and Scientific Director at the New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS). She earned her PhD in Neurobiology and Cell Biology at Georgetown University and did a post-doctoral fellowship at Rockefeller University in New York City. She earned her BA in Chemistry and Psychology from the University of Delaware.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: What has led you to create a global program on nutrition science?

Stacie Grossman Bloom: I am currently the vice president and scientific director at the New York Academy of Sciences. This is an organization that’s been around for almost 200 years in the United States. And for those 200 years, what it has really excelled in, is building communities of scientists in discreet areas and then driving those communities towards innovation. One area that was becoming increasingly important to address, but which we weren’t really doing, was nutrition science. So, we set out about 18 months ago to scope out a project in nutrition science. That scoping project led us to interview 48 stakeholders around the world to really design an initiative that would be unique, that wouldn’t duplicate existing efforts, that would align with them, and that would have global impact.

Stacie Bloom on Solving Problems With Public Private Partnerships

In Chapter 18 of 19 in her 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, Stacie Grossman Bloom answers "What are Public Private Partnerships and Why are They Important to What You Do?" She notes these public private partnerships are alliances that bring together academic and industry groups to collaborate and drive fields forward. In her experience at the Sackler Institute, Grossman Bloom notes how public private partnerships also enable traditional competing firms such as Coke and Pepsi to come together, share information, and work with universities to solve global problems.

Stacie Grossman Bloom is the Executive Director at the NYU Neuroscience Institute at NYU Langone Medical Center. Previously, she was VP and Scientific Director at the New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS). She earned her PhD in Neurobiology and Cell Biology at Georgetown University and did a post-doctoral fellowship at Rockefeller University in New York City. She earned her BA in Chemistry and Psychology from the University of Delaware.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: What are public private partnerships and why are they important in what you do?

Stacie Grossman Bloom: So public private partnerships are alliances that bring together industry people with academic people, typically, and why they are important is because very often and historically those two sectors have been siloed. A lot of people believe that by forcing conversations between those two sectors and increasing collaborations and cross-fertilizations of ideas, that you can drive fields forward.

Erik Michielsen: So, why are they important to the nutrition science program that you’ve just launched?

Stacie Grossman Bloom: A public private partnership is a really important element of the Sackler Institute because it brings often-competing groups of people to the table and forces them to talk in a more collaborative way, to hopefully drive progress in the field. In our public private partnership we currently have a number of leaders who have come on board. This includes Pepsi, Coke, Pfizer, Abbott, Johnson & Johnson, DSM, Nestle. I think it’s pretty clear what the impact is of bringing these mega companies together at one table. But then when you are also introducing the academic partners, Cornell, Columbia, Tufts, Hopkins, Wageningen University, universities from all over the world. You are starting with such a powerful group of people and sharing information that may not normally be exchanged.