I joined a research team in my freshman year in Wenzhou Medical University that focused on bioinformatic analysis regarding breast cancer. The PI had big ambitions, as she spoke often of publishing groundbreaking papers and making a name in medical science. What she lacked, however, was the ability to turn any of those dreams into reality.
For two long years, she pushed us to satisfy her endless curiosity. Our own academic interests? Irrelevant. Our training needs? Ignored. She had us running analyses and generating data, all to support her ever-shifting, half-baked hypotheses.
Despite claiming herself as a mentor in computational biology, she could barely give any constructive suggestions and guidance. I had to spend my own money on R programming courses because the guidance I needed simply didn’t exist in her team. As for experimental design, she once had us perform T cell–related studies on nude mice (Balb/c), an act that defied scientific logic.
Still, I hesitated to leave. I feared that switching labs would “break the continuity” of my research training, as if there was anything coherent about the past two years.
Then the final straw came: one day during the summer holiday, after weeks of late nights spent in the lab, she said something cruel in a meeting, dismissive, cutting, and entirely uncalled for. That was it. I said goodbye.
After I left, I found a new mentor, who has real vision, solid expertise, and the real ability to lead a big team. I also met brilliant collaborators from across the country (e.g., Shanghai Jiao tong University Renji Hospital, BIOPIC, ...), who are thoughtful, capable, and passionate regarding their insights. For the first time, I felt part of a real scientific community, not just a cog in someone else's vanity project.
Then came the milestone that I finally got my first paper accepted. It was published in Journal of Translational Medicine. That achievement would have been unimaginable had I remained trapped in that dysfunctional lab. Stepping away didn’t just spare me further frustration, instead, it led me to a new environment filled with clarity, rigor, and collaboration.
That first publication was just the beginning. Encouraged and inspired by those around me, I went on to publish my second study, which, to my surprise, was selected as a Featured Research article. Yes, again in Journal of Translational Medicine.
Now, as the first or corresponding author, I’ve published seven papers with a cumulative impact factor exceeding 50. And more importantly, I love what I am doing now, deeply.
None of these would have happened if I hadn’t found the courage to leave the wrong place.
Embrace changes.
Always.
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