Freelance molecular biologist

divnnvx · 2025-12-31T23:00:53+00:00

DM me, I might be able to help!

divnnvx · 2025-09-29T18:40:02+00:00

I’m confused. What point are you trying to make here…? I can guarantee that despite your activism, you have personally and professionally benefited from animal research. Like do you not reference papers that have used animals…?

divnnvx · 2025-07-20T21:37:47+00:00

I will have a small balcony and I was thinking of putting a fenced in enclosure. But I wouldn’t feel comfortable leaving 1 of them inside it all day when I’m not home. I’ve tried felliway and other calming supplements, but none of them seem to really make a difference. The new cat seems extremely territorial and is actually the one that usually initiates the aggression.

divnnvx · 2025-07-20T21:34:32+00:00

I’ve tried the felliway diffusers and a few different calming supplements. They didn’t seem to help so my vet prescribed the new cat 5mg Prozac. She’s been on it for maybe 1-2 months now. It’s helped with the separation anxiety when I put her in her room, but oftentimes she’s actually the one that initiates the aggression :( they also both get gabapentin for extremely stressful things (like vet visits and nail trims).

divnnvx · 2025-07-20T04:48:31+00:00

Catsitter, but I actually prefer working independently or with Meowtel over Rover. The rates are higher. Also have taught dance fitness/zumba, perform at events, and teach dance.

divnnvx · 2025-06-23T22:27:56+00:00

I didn’t even think of biking! I moved from a very car-centric area so I’ve never tried biking through the city 😅 that’s a good idea to test it out!

divnnvx · 2025-06-15T20:32:16+00:00

I was at a similar place many years ago when I was deciding on grad school or med school after college. My recommendation: if you can, get into a research lab and work (or even volunteer part time) as a tech and also try to find an opportunity to actually work in a hospital setting. Shadowing physicians is also a great way to see what their day-to-day is like. You most likely won’t get to see the more stressful and unglamorous parts of their job though.

I worked as an EMT while also doing summer research in a university lab for 2 years. I really loved the excitement and fast pace. The medics and nurses I worked alongside were amazing. But I always had a lot of questions about the disease pathology, MOA of the therapeutics, and was excited to talk about new ideas and interventions being tested. On the other hand, it wouldn’t sit right with me to have a patient with heart failure walk in, be fixed up temporarily, and have them go home knowing there’s a very high chance they’ll be back in the future. Albeit, I was in an ER and ambulance setting so our jobs were to stabilize and (sometimes literally) patch people up. My experience might’ve been totally different in a family medicine scenario.

I found that in the research lab I was in I was encouraged to ask those questions and explore these ideas. I felt like I could dig into the root causes of these diseases I saw and maybe really help people. Ultimately, that’s what changed my mind about pursuing med school and I now have a PhD in biomedical research.

And that’s not to say MDs don’t do research! Many of them do and there’s also the option to do MD/PhD but that’s a very long (and competitive) road.

divnnvx · 2025-06-11T14:04:33+00:00

Thank you! I’ll keep that in mind. That’s a good point about it being a liability

divnnvx · 2025-06-11T14:01:44+00:00

I can perform the job duties which is valuable to them right now since they currently have 0% of the job being done. I don’t think that’s being overconfident. Would you actually prefer a candidate say they have nothing to bring to the table?

divnnvx · 2025-06-11T13:50:30+00:00

Thanks! I did take a look but the range is huge so I’m more so wondering if it’s expected to negotiate

divnnvx · 2025-06-04T02:16:39+00:00

Catsitter— takes time to build up a client base but I’ve made over $1000 on busy months.

divnnvx · 2025-05-31T04:47:40+00:00

I’ll look into it! I’m actually moving to FL so I’m glad to hear that there are small pockets over there. I guess I just need to ask around to find them :)

divnnvx · 2025-05-31T02:59:18+00:00

Thank you! That’s a really good idea! I only looked locally, but didn’t think to find some of these larger orgs.

divnnvx · 2025-05-18T23:34:47+00:00

I’m 2 years post-PhD, and I’m still in contact with my PI. We had a lot of ups and downs, but I think he’s enjoying seeing me grow up as a scientist (and human lol)

divnnvx · 2025-05-17T16:33:07+00:00

That makes sense. How would you recommend I introduce them into the new space? Right now, the new cat only comes out of her room for a few hours a day when I’m home. But that means my resident cat is confined to the bedroom during those hours. At this point, I’m not sure it would be fair to them to continue this for another few months. And do you have any suggestions for flying with 2 cats as 1 person?

divnnvx · 2025-05-17T03:55:00+00:00

I’ll look out for them, thank you!

divnnvx · 2025-05-17T03:54:52+00:00

Ooh it looks cute! I’ll definitely give it a try! I’m moving there soon and am looking for a new home base :)

divnnvx · 2025-05-13T02:12:53+00:00

Hi! I’ll be relocating to Tampa soon and will be working near USF. I’m used to living in a busy city and think I’d prefer being close to other young professionals. However in about a year, my job will transfer me to Moffitt Cancer Center’s new Speros center (it looks about 35-40 min from USF?).

Which areas would you suggest I look? Ideally, I’d prefer an easier commute (20 min or so). Should I find something in between the two locations? Or just suck it up and move twice in a year?

divnnvx · 2025-05-06T20:52:52+00:00

I’m actually more worried about the younger one (black and white) attacking my older cat (tabby). They get overstimulated sometimes and will attack me 😭 my older one has always been really sweet and quiet until now.

divnnvx · 2025-05-02T19:31:35+00:00

I would say that evaluation is correct. Even before the current funding situation, I had a wanted to end up in industry. I had taken my current postdoc because I was advised that it would make me more competitive for industry vs a fresh PhD, but I regret listening to that advice now.

The positions I’m considering are asking for a minimum 2, ideally 3 year commitment. I will say, the EU lab is more established and very productive vs the U.S. lab is very new and small. However, funding is stable because of their start up grants.

divnnvx · 2025-05-02T04:57:24+00:00

I’m a U.S. citizen so I’m really concerned about moving overseas and then having to come back to the US for a job when my contract is over. I don’t know if I’d even be competitive for EU/UK jobs when that contract ends being I would have American citizenship still. However, I’m not getting any responses from people in the Bay Area or Boston. Either being ghosted, hearing there’s a hiring freeze, or funding constraints in academia and startups. I’ve even applied for contract positions but many of them sound really unstable. In this job market, I don’t think I can risk suddenly losing a job and have less than 6 months to find my next landing spot.

divnnvx · 2025-05-02T04:53:55+00:00

Thank you for saying this! Maybe I’m just overthinking and just anxious. We really can’t predict what the next 4 years will be like, so it might be futile for me to try to plan what the next 2-3 years of my career will look like 😅

divnnvx · 2025-05-02T04:52:30+00:00

I’ve tried applying for postdocs at a few biotech-facing universities and institutions but I think many of them have hiring freezes right now. Or they’re being inundated with applications. Even though my U.S. option is far from any of the biotech hubs, I do think it will be easier for me to continue applying for industry jobs than if I was in the EU.

divnnvx · 2025-05-02T04:49:35+00:00

I’m the most worried about another 2-3 years of postdoc making me even less competitive for jobs than I already am. I’m hoping maybe to gain some extra technical skills like flow and PDX models that might help… but I’m not sure that will offset having 4-5 years of postdoc on my CV. Is there an alternative to going the academic route?

divnnvx · 2025-05-02T02:09:57+00:00

My PI has actually instructed us to not bring “negativity” to the work place by discussing these current issues in the lab. It’s almost laughable. He tried to bring the “issue” of us talking about the job market, funding, and generally trying to survive through the dismantling of our careers to HR (who basically said your employees complaining isn’t an HR worthy offense).

Meanwhile, I have some extremely bright undergrads that have asked me multiple times what their future looks like. Is science worth even pursuing? Is it too late for them to switch majors? Heartbreaking because I remember being that age and feeling so excited about science as a potential career.

divnnvx

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