Annie McDougall
BIO
Post-doctoc in fetal health and pregnancy at The Ritchie Centre, and mom to two daughters aged 1 and 4 years old.
Instagram: @annie_mcdougall
Twitter: @mcdougall_annie
Annie McDougall
“It’s amazing what new mothers can achieve at work if the support and acceptance is there.”
I fell in love with science early on when I first started learning about genes. From that point on, there was no question that I would keep pursuing science as a career. My love for science only grew when I started my PhD - I was discovering genes that are involved in fetal lung growth just before birth. Research was so fun and exciting. It used every part of my brain, I had to be creative and organised and thoughtful.
I’ve worked as a post-doc now for seven years, discovering novel causes of injury to the newborn lungs and cerebellum, but have actually worked the equivalent of 4 years in that time. I have two daughters, aged 4 and 1, and have worked part-time since my first daughter was born.
The greatest challenge I’ve found is that my brain is often so full with managing children that I don’t have the same freedom to just think about research problems and the bigger picture anymore.
Although I’m highly efficient in the lab and in meeting publication and grant deadlines, I’ve lost time to think and let my mind mull over my research, like before I go to sleep or when I’m walking home. Instead, I’ve got the next day’s schedule or the evening routines going through my mind.
The best part about being a mother in science is the comradery with other moms at work. Everyone is facing the same challenges and working out how to keep up with their ambitions while loving and caring for their families. They will provide you with the confidence you need when things get tough.
Just before the birth of my second daughter, I was encouraged to apply for a competitive leadership program for women in STEM, but it overlapped with the first five months of my maternity leave. I thought “there is no way I can get through the program with a newborn”, but the other moms at work were so encouraging. I got accepted and it was a fantastic way to keep my head in the game and broaden my network while I was on leave. I ended up strapping my newborn into the baby carrier and she came to all the workshops with me. It’s amazing what new mothers can achieve at work if the support and acceptance is there.
Even with an excellent network, working in research part-time is challenging. My experiments involve growing primary lung cells in culture and examining the effects of various types of injurious forces on these cells to mimic the forces applied to the newborn lung during resuscitation or ventilation. These are technically difficult experiments and often involve 3-6 days in a row in the lab, keeping the cells alive.
I’m lucky to be in a supportive research group and there is always an extra pair of hands to help out on days I am not at work, but it is not the same as being there myself and being able to problem solve if things aren’t going right. As all scimoms would know, lab-based research doesn’t wait. If you are half-way through and experiment and your kids are sick, it’s a battle to coordinate everything when you need to be in two places at once.
After five years balancing biomedical research with being a mom, I’m now undertaking a Masters of Public Health. I am working to improve health outcomes for women, babies and children at a population level and through health policy and promotion, which I can combine with my passion for health equity and social justice.
I’m excited to keep working on the best way to balance being a scimom. I want to design my life, so that I can have both a fulfilling research career I am passionate about and be an active and energetic mom. It’s hard facing the uncertainty of following a new career path, but I can’t wait to see what new challenges and opportunities are ahead.