April 9, 1999

Nadia Carlesso, MD, PhD, and Karen Miller, MD, have never met, but they have a lot in common. Both are successful physicians, both are working diligently to establish their research careers, both are junior faculty members at Harvard Medical School (HMS), and both are striving to balance their full-time jobs at the MGH and their full-time jobs as mothers of young children.

Fortunately for both women, they have support to help them reach their goals: Carlesso and Miller are the recent recipients of the third annual Claflin Distinguished Scholar Awards.

Funded by the MGH Executive Committee on Research, the awards are two-year, $30,000 grants aimed at helping young women develop their research careers through their child-bearing years.

"As a research establishment, the MGH recognizes the issues women face in furthering their careers in academic medicine while taking care of their families," says Jane Claflin, MGH honorary trustee, chair of the Women in Academic Medicine Committee and namesake of the award. "With these awards, we reaffirm our commitment to supporting women physicians and scientists and helping them reach their goals."

Carlesso, right, does basic research in the field of hematopoiesis. Her research project is focused on the mechanisms that regulate the formation and differentiation of blood cells. When she is not conducting experiments at the AIDS Research Center at CNY, Carlesso is sharing her parental duties with her husband, an immunologist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Taking care of her 4-year-old son, Andrea, is both a delight and a struggle, she says. Carlesso and her husband take turns delivering and picking up Andrea from a daycare center that is open until only 6 pm. They also alternate evenings and weekends at work and at home. "You become so engaged in your research that you can't just switch it off and go home," says Carlesso. "This kind of work is never finished, and now is a crucial time in my career to keep the research going. At the same time, it is an important time for me to be with my child. I'm just glad that the MGH is sensitive to this problem that women in research face."

Miller, right, has a similar situation trying to juggle her home life with a busy research career. She recently received a five-year clinical research grant from the National Institutes of Health to investigate the effects of testosterone on bone density and body composition in women with anorexia nervosa. Starting a new research project can be stressful enough, but Miller also is the mother of a very active 2-year-old daughter, Ella, and is expecting her second child in August.

Miller shares her family responsibilities with her husband, who is a breast oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. For Miller, the key to balancing her career and family life is to meet the challenges and time constraints realistically. "It is impossible to think that you can do it all," says Miller. "This can be a tough time in a woman's career and family life, but this award provides the essential support that is needed to succeed in both areas."

Both Carlesso and Miller plan to use the funds from the Claflin awards to hire technicians to help in their research projects. With the addition of full-time help, both researchers can spend more time writing grants and papers, as well as shifting after-hours and weekend work to the technicians.