The expert鈥檚 expert
Between October 2000 and December 2007, Sir David King was the British government鈥檚 chief scientific adviser. King, already a leading authority in physical chemistry, was suddenly expected to counsel the prime minister and his cabinet on all science and technology-related policy. Overnight he became the ultimate scientific expert.
鈥淏efore I took the job that was a worry,鈥� he says. 鈥淲hat would I do if something came along in life sciences, say, a field in which I have no expert knowledge?鈥� But King quickly came to recognise the underlying universal language of science. 鈥淟anguage and acronyms are very field-dependent,鈥� he says, 鈥渂ut the surprising thing was the discovery that science and scientific methodologies are remarkably unified.鈥�
With that key insight, King says he became more comfortable giving his own expert opinion, even when scientific discussions strayed beyond the physics and chemistry he knows best.
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A scientific expert working in academia must defend their theories against the critiques of other scientists, but working for the government, King found that his expert opinion also came under the scrutiny of politicians and the general public.
鈥淎 genetic modification science review I conducted in government was good and robust,鈥� says King. 鈥淭he conclusions of the review became governmental policy. But the public never bought into it, so we still can鈥檛 buy GM products in the shops.鈥�
Working in situations where scientific expertise goes against public opinion can be frustrating. 鈥淭o be honest, what kept me sane was getting back to my research lab in Cambridge on Fridays,鈥� says King. 鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 imagine myself leaving my research behind entirely.鈥�
The PhD expert
There鈥檚 no need to wait until you鈥檝e climbed the career ladder to become an expert 鈥� you can achieve this status at any stage. Sarah Farnworth completed her PhD at the University of Edinburgh last October, studying the role of galectin-3 in inflammation. 鈥淕alectin-3 is a pro-inflammation protein,鈥� she explains. 鈥淚t plays a role in many inflammation disorders. I focused on its importance in fibrosis.鈥� When the body repairs tissue damage it can sometimes produce an excess of fibrous reparative tissue 鈥� a condition called fibrosis.
Farnworth spent close to four years studying galectin-3 and agrees that she could be considered an expert on the protein. 鈥淥f course, there are more senior experts with their own laboratories,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut if I was to talk about galectin-3 to most scientists, I鈥檇 probably know more about it than them.鈥�
PhD students quickly learn the skills that senior researchers use every day, says Farnworth, from laboratory techniques to writing scientific papers. 鈥淚鈥檝e been very lucky because I鈥檝e managed to publish all of my thesis chapters,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut it was a difficult transition to research, because I didn鈥檛 do a master鈥檚 between my undergraduate degree and my PhD 鈥� that would have made it less of a learning curve.鈥�
Farnworth found that friendly colleagues were the answer to her problems. 鈥淭he postdoc researchers in the lab really helped me out.鈥�
Farnworth will begin her own two-year postdoc in the summer, to take her expertise on galectin-3 to a higher level. 鈥淚鈥檓 going to look at the role of galectin-3 in cancer,鈥� she says.
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