I passed up an opportunity a couple of months ago to move out of this industry and into consumer care. The demand for shampoo / moisturizer / etc is pretty constant, though the dollars are less. It’s a completely different business model. Anyway, I passed up the opportunity because I want to help people with cancer, like my dad. I’ve been a research scientist for about 25 years now. I’m pretty good at it. And one of my projects could produce a clinical candidate - a trial my dad very well could take part in. That’s some serious motivation, I can promise you that.

But I’m getting sick of this downturn. I’m sick of the layoffs. I’m sick of thinking about my company’s runway. I’m sick of long hours and sparse vacation for somewhat unremarkable pay. I’m sick of seeing friends hunt for jobs for months with nothing to show for it. I’m sick of imagining myself in the same position.

I’ve done a lot of good science in my time. I’ve been directly responsible for some major breakthroughs and published a couple of very good papers. I know I’m important. But I’m not sure how much more of this I’ve got in me. That is all.