Shikta Das
BIO
Senior epidemiologist, data scientist, mother of two researching on genetic causes of obesity, type 2 diabetes and neurological disorders.
Instagram: @sh_das
Twitter: @shikta_das
Shikta Das
“It is never easy to perfectly balance a career and motherhood.”
I have been fascinated by the pharmacological potential of Bioinformatics since the age of 15 – the first time I learnt about this whole new area. Human genome sequencing was just taking off and I followed the ground-breaking developments and decided to aim for a career in research. My friends and family thought that I was going through a phase and I would get over my ‘research obsession’ after doing an MSc and then a MPhil. It turns out that the bug wasn’t going to go away so easily, even after having a preterm baby and twelve months on maternity break. As soon as my first born turned one, my mind turned to a PhD and I was lucky enough to win coveted Medical Research Council funding for it at Imperial College London.
I always knew it was going to be difficult to take up doctorate research at one of the top graduate schools in the world in a ground-breaking field, but nothing had prepared me for the scale of it with a toddler thrown into the mix!
I was extremely fortunate that my supervisor was an amazing inspirational woman – balancing research, her own family and her ‘brood’ back in the school. She was my backbone during my PhD. She pushed me in the right direction and always, and I do mean always, had suggestions when I felt stuck. I really needed a strong woman to show me this path. She also taught me how to stand for myself.
The only downside is that she set the gold standard for me and I have never since had a boss like that! But role models don’t come in a single shape or size. Another supervisor who initially was very critical of my work later made me a manager of the lab – he had recognised my leadership potential. That role really provided me with a new mindset and approach which I am grateful for.
It is never easy to perfectly balance a career and motherhood. There is constant juggling of priorities, always making lists in your head and running from A to B. My life is all about routine but sometimes this routine gets to me. Moreover, one can’t plan for kids’ health issues! My kids went through the usual challenges as toddlers – GP/A&E visits were frequent but a part of my brain always worried about the next research deadline I had to cover. I always felt that I was not being the mom I should be, and on working days I always felt like I was not a good researcher. I put this down to my strict and traditional upbringing at home and a convent education at school.
A state of perpetual guilt for the known and unknown is part of my DNA – when I was being a focused scientist, I felt guilty about neglecting my dear toddler. When I was being a devoted mum, I felt guilty about letting my supervisor down.
I also feel that there is generally a culture, unique to academia, that we should ‘always’ be dedicating our full attention to our research. Even when I was on a holiday, I felt like I was procrastinating on some paper deadline. I couldn’t relax at all. It was ingrained in me that I should be dedicating 100% to research. I guess this is the thin end of the flexibility wedge that academia offers – you can work ‘whenever and wherever’ you want. This culture needs to change, and the stereotypes need to change. I was the only one with a toddler in my department so it was hard for colleagues to understand why I couldn’t join departmental drinks, leaving dos or even most seminars after hours.
In my time in academia, most of the people I had come across were sceptical of industry but I thought I needed to try it for myself, hence I chose a new challenge and moved to scientific roles in pharma. Initially I was apprehensive about how transferable my skills would be. I needn’t have worried.
In addition to a structured, scientific, and logical approach to issues generally, I feel that women like me bring a circular view as well to the problems, not just a one-sided view. I try to move around the research question to understand it in-depth. Of course, the commercial perspective that pharma entails was a completely new aspect and I am enjoying that immensely too.
Several ideas and people have influenced me in my journey so far. I wish I had a wider range of role models to look up to when growing up. Due to my own experiences, I am now a strong advocate for STEM and Women in Tech and taking up every opportunity to appear in social, digital, and traditional media to talk about my research and current issues. Epidemiologists like me have been in high demand in the last year for obvious reasons. I have been on BBC TV, Radio, Al-Jazeera and LBC Radio in the last six months - I want to make sure that my daughter’s generation doesn’t have to look that far and wide.