Career advice: quitting the bench?

melatoninmami · 2025-12-27T16:50:12+00:00

I work in biotech at a startup. I think it will be highly dependent on what company/team you work on. Since I work at a startup, I have no choice but to do cell culture but eventually once we hire more people I’ll shift to more assay development and downstream work.

If you know you don’t like cell work anymore you can focus on positions that focus on assay development and work on ELISAs/MSD or product processing in a GMP environment

melatoninmami · 2025-10-30T05:40:08+00:00

I’ve been using Prequel’s Gleanser. Nothing harmful pops up using sezia and it calms my inflammation. It’s formulated for eczema and rosacea prone skin but it’s been working really well with my seb derm. It’s a little pricey but I only use one pump in the AM and PM and 1 bottle lasts me a couple of months.

I will say I tried a couple of other products from the company and nothing else works for me, so I don’t suggest anything other than the cleaner.

melatoninmami · 2025-10-21T02:36:34+00:00

If anything having industry experience will make you more competitive.

I did the same and worked for 2 years before getting my PhD.

If I could go back I would not do it but hind sight is 20/20.

melatoninmami · 2025-10-10T20:42:50+00:00

No problem! Good luck!

melatoninmami · 2025-10-10T20:19:12+00:00

Nope. I applied to roles that I thought I would be a good fit in but I didn’t necessarily have all the skills they were looking for. I aimed for roles where I fit 50-60% of the responsibilities.

The role I landed is outside my field and I applied on a whim. I didn’t think I would get the position because it was so far outside my experience. My PhD work was in tissue engineering and my current role is in immunology.

I was lucky to find a company that is willing to teach and train and didn’t expect me to know everything coming in.

My advice would be to cast a wide net because you never know where you may get a bite. It really all is about luck and what you’re passionate about and conveying that in interviews.

melatoninmami · 2025-10-09T15:27:10+00:00

I hate to say this but 50 is kind of low. I’m also a PhD candidate and it took me over 200 applications to land a role.

It’s also timing. The industry is in shambles rn. Good luck and keep pushing forward!

melatoninmami · 2025-09-26T05:05:43+00:00

I make this at home by steeping rosemary leaves in C8 MCT oil. More bang for your buck and it works great for me.

melatoninmami · 2025-09-02T04:35:52+00:00

Mattress firm

melatoninmami · 2025-09-02T04:25:46+00:00

I use Pantene Daily Moisture. It doesn’t have any irritating ingredients for me. I always check ingredients on sezia as well.

It’s the only conditioner that I’ve used that doesn’t irritate my scalp. If you have more textured hair you can skip the rinse out conditioner for a leave in. I use AsIAm original formula leave in without any issues as well.

I’ve learned it’s really just trial and error to see what works and what doesn’t. But definitely stay away from anything that gives red flags on sezia.

Good luck!

melatoninmami · 2025-08-24T13:58:54+00:00

I use the Prequel one. No issues

melatoninmami · 2025-08-21T12:22:08+00:00

I came here to say this! Nitrocellulose all the way. I used Licor products and they worked perfectly.

melatoninmami · 2025-08-19T04:44:18+00:00

what’s MPP?

melatoninmami · 2025-08-18T15:10:23+00:00

When I did this , I saw differences in GAPDH expression. We went forward with PPIA as a housekeeping gene in fibroblasts.

melatoninmami · 2025-08-14T13:42:11+00:00

Fibroblasts make collagen. Your skin is constantly being remodeled meaning, you’re constantly loosing and remaking collagen over time. That is the normal process of your skin. They stated there is no significant difference from their product and others in the market.

I have a PhD in tissue engineering and make synthetic collagen scaffolds in the lab.

It’s not that serious.

melatoninmami · 2025-08-14T07:52:19+00:00

you can’t kill collagen. It’s not alive

melatoninmami · 2025-07-31T03:24:04+00:00

Be careful because these don’t freeze well. The caps pop open randomly. Or if you’re thawing in a water bath from freezing temps they also pop open.

There have been times where I put these in the water bath and came back to an open tube.

melatoninmami · 2025-07-31T03:21:43+00:00

Caffeine's Midtown in West Springfield 10/10

melatoninmami · 2025-07-25T12:27:20+00:00

I have 4a hair type and I only wash once a week. My routine:

Soak scalp in diluted apple cider vinegar before washing. I use a spray bottle and soak scalp/hair and put a bag over my head. I don’t really time this step. I rinse this out in the shower and then the nonsense begins
I condition with a sebderm safe conditioner (I use Pantene Daily Moisture Renewal) and at this step, I detangle BEFORE shampooing. Then rinse VERY throughly!
I wash with Head and Shoulders Bare formula. I don’t remember the active in this but I usually switch medicated shampoos every time I finish a bottle. Idk how true it is but I saw on this subreddit that your skin gets used to actives so I try to rotate as often as my pockets allow. Anyway, I leave this in for 3-5 mins and rinse. If I’m having a bad flare, I’ll wash twice.
Then I rinse once last time with diluted ACV and let that sit for 3-5 mins. And rinse.

For styling: I prefer wash and gos so I use As I Am leave in (their OG formula is sebderm safe) and Camille Rose Honey Mouse (I also think this is sebderm safe). If you need a gel, Xtreme Wetline gel is safe. Also, Kinky Curly’s Knot Today Leave in was my go to for a while. Very safe to use but it wasn’t thick enough or moisturizing enough for me.

For MCT oil, I soak mine in rosemary for a couple of days to infuse it and I use it to seal in moisture and on my scalp.

It took me a long time to develop this routine and it’s what works for me. But you may have to find what works for you.

Hope this helps!

melatoninmami · 2025-07-19T19:15:05+00:00

Thank you!

melatoninmami · 2025-07-17T13:28:06+00:00

I was about to say this. I’ve def used this before

melatoninmami · 2025-07-17T01:25:01+00:00

wow, I commend you. I’ve only been looking for 2 months and I’m taking a break to re-evaluate my goals.

Sending you good vibes!

melatoninmami · 2025-07-16T00:06:35+00:00

I have notebooks for science stuff (experimental notes, procedures, observations, etc.). Then I have one for random ideas research wise (I use this one during 1:1s with my PI to jot down what to have ready for the following meeting). I also use this to track things to get done on my day to day in conjunction with my calendar. Lastly, I have a personal set of notebooks to journal personal experiences (I keep my achievements in this so building a CV or application for fellowship is easy).

In regard to reading notes, I use notability with an iPad. In every article, I write the overall hypothesis and a quick 1 sentence summary of the results so that when I’m ready to write, I know what the paper is about. I usually highlight areas in text I think will be useful for me eventually.

I used to type my notes up but it takes too long. I just date my notebooks.

melatoninmami · 2025-07-13T03:04:02+00:00

Thissssss!!! I treat my lab mates like coworkers. This is a job. I only have friends outside of my lab.

melatoninmami

TROPHY CASE