Conversation with Former Fellow H. Dean Hosgood, Ph.D.
Interview conducted by Akemi T. Wijayabahu, Ph.D., M.S., postdoctoral fellow in the Clinical Genetics Branch (CGB).
Years and titles in DCEG:
- Pre-doctoral (2005-2008)
- Post-doctoral (2008-2009)
- Research Fellow (2009-2012)
Current Organization:
Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York
Current Titles and Positions:
Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology & Population Health; Atran Foundation Chair in Epidemiology & Population Health; Division Head, Division of Epidemiology; Co-Leader, Montefiore Einstein Comprehensive Cancer Center, Cancer Epidemiology Prevention & Control Program; Director, Global Environmental Health, Global Health Center Co-Director
Who was your mentor at DCEG? What did you work on with them?
During my time at DCEG, my primary mentor was Qing Lan, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., and secondary mentor was Nathaniel Rothman, M.D., M.P.H., M.H.S., both senior investigators in the Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch (OEEB). I also worked with many investigators throughout DCEG. With Dr. Lan, I worked on household air pollution and lung cancer in never smokers predominantly in Asia, and looked at gene-environment interactions that were present in that population. With both Drs. Rothman and Lan, I investigated occupational exposures and their relationships to hematological malignancies, such as non-Hodgkin lymphoma and multiple myeloma. Toward the end of my fellowship at NCI, one of my major initiatives was to help design and implement the multi-center case-control study on lymphoid and myeloid neoplasms in East Asia, called the AsiaLymph study.
How do you apply the skills you developed at DCEG in your current job? Or when you transitioned from the research fellow position to your first independent academic position?
A lot of what I learned at NCI has to do with team science. How to conduct efficient and productive scientific research with experts from around the world. This was critical as I launched my independent career. I should note that I still collaborate extensively with OEEB and others within NCI—Qing and Nat continue to be supportive and trusted colleagues. During my fellowship, I believe I developed the ability and skillset to identify appropriate experts for a given research proposal, to collaborate with researchers from various fields, including epidemiologists, statisticians, clinicians, data sciences, exposure assessors, and bench scientists, and to leverage the advantages of these multiple disciplines.
I learned a lot about community outreach and engagement as well. We worked closely with local investigators and communities in China because most of our work was population based. I would say that is one of the bigger skills sets I developed during my time at DCEG.
Another thing I’ve continued and refined is DCEG’s annual review process of manuscripts and projects. There are more things you can do in a day than there are hours. When you’re at NCI you may be writing papers, analyzing data, managing collaborations and you also theoretically have a life outside of work. One of the challenges in independent research careers is setting priorities, both professionally and personally, while maintaining efficiency. I have continued to conduct these self-evaluations of my projects, grants, and manuscripts every 2-3 months to strategize and prioritize what to focus on. I apply this strategy with my mentees when developing their mentoring plans, including Ph.D. students and junior faculty, to help foster their academic, and personal, goals.
DCEG now uses an electronic IDP (Individual Development Plan) to review the progress of manuscripts and projects in addition to tracking career development and training activities. We didn’t have the IDP while I was a fellow but we use them at Einstein. I am glad to hear that DCEG now uses IDPs because they take a more holistic approach than just focusing on publishing papers.
Can you tell us a about your research work, specifically on forming national and international collaborations, such as initiating/establishing large projects like the China microbiome project and lung cancer work?
The lung cancer and respiratory tract microbiome project started when I was at DCEG. Qing and I wrote an internal proposal, which was funded to explore this in the Xuanwei, China case-control study—a well-characterized study led by Qing Lan. This was the first study to investigate the microbiome in relation to lung cancer, and I was fortunate to be part of this highly collaborative effort during my fellowship. This is a prime example of a long-standing collaboration formed around a scientific hypothesis during my time at DCEG, which has continued to influence my career.
Since I left DCEG, a major initiative I undertook was forming the Household Air Pollution Consortium (HAPCO), a consortium of prospective cohorts that looks beyond China and includes data on household air pollution. Because much of our previous work was based in Xuanwei, China, we wanted to see if our findings could be replicated in other cohort studies in other geographic regions with inherently different exposure scenarios. This was a large collaborative NCI-funded grant (U01CA242740) that was in partnership with Qing Lan. This work has also led to further collaborative pilot work exploring the establishment of consortia in Africa and South America.
The other thing I’ve learned in developing the skill set for doing international collaborative work is that it is highly applicable to community-based work in the Bronx, the catchment area for Einstein. During COVID-19, we organized town halls, and other colleagues and I sat in front of the room and listened to community health concerns and needs. We then worked closely with our community advisory board to establish an important collaborative initiative investigating air pollution and other climate- and water-related exposures that may be influencing their health outcomes. Understanding the needs directly identified by our community members has been crucial for our collaborative initiatives in the Bronx.
Besides research, how did you get involved in DCEG life and culture (e.g., leadership, mentoring, teaching, organizations)? How did it help build your independent career?
I gave guest lectures at Yale and George Washington, and other locations throughout my whole career at DCEG. Within DCEG I served on a number of different committees, including a the Technology Transfer Committee, the Technical Evaluation of Protocols committee and a number of committees for various consortia which I am still part of, such as the Asia Cohort Consortium, and the Female Lung Cancer Consortium in Asia (FLCCA).
Being in these different committees has made me a more well-rounded investigator, as it provided me with a better understanding of the various steps from design to implementation of observational research studies. Also, being part of the protocol evaluation committee, I learned about protocols other researchers are developing, and how science in other branches was moving forward. Though it took extra time out of my day it was a valuable experience to have for career development.
What did you do in your free time?
I started out as a pre-doc and was part of the Yale-NCI training program. As such, I was frequently traveling back and forth between New Haven and Bethesda. In addition, much of my work was in Asia, so I was traveling often. It was a challenge for work-life balance. What I tried to do was prioritize and be present wherever I was, being 100% focused on my work while I was in Bethesda or in the field. On weekends, when I was in New Haven with my fiancé, now my wife, I tried to be 100% focused on being present there. I should emphasize that I “tried.” It was typically not possible to strike this balance. It can be hard at times, with ups and downs, but it was important to do my best to prioritize and be fully present. While in New Haven, during my fellowship, we focused on marathon training and wedding planning.
Are there any fond memories from your time during the fellowship at DCEG that you would like to share?
Some of my fondest memories were when we were establishing the AsiaLymph and Xuanwei follow-up studies in Asia. We were traveling back and forth quite frequently. There were times when I would be in the field for weeks. It was exhausting, but some of the best memories were trying unique cuisine, learning about new cultures, and sitting down with different researchers to listen and learn from them. Those are the invaluable experiences that are not often mentioned, or specifically designed into your training. To be able to go to numerous countries and sit down with local investigators to hear about what it is like for them living and raising families in other countries, as well as what are the environmental exposures they are concerned about in terms of their families’ health, was one of the best experiences I had during my fellowship.
Follow-up question: How did these international field experiences shape your ability to collaborate with researchers around the world?
Humility! No matter how well trained or educated we think we are, everyone in their own community knows their lived experience better themselves. For me, it is a matter of establishing a trusted collaboration and saying, "This is what brought us to your community, here is what the world hopes to better understand from our research." It may not be the same thing the local researchers or the community want to understand, or are even worried about. Learning how to meet in the middle, co-design the research, establish trust, work together, be flexible and be open to change were essential lessons that continue to shape my career.
What is your leadership style? Do you have any advice for emerging public health leaders in academia?
I would say that it’s important to lead by example and with grace. In academic medicine or any competitive research field, achieving success takes a unique skill set that combines drive, intellect, perseverance, and resilience. Spending a year on a research project that you believe is groundbreaking, only to receive critical feedback, can be challenging to handle repeatedly. I like to instill in the people under my guidance the importance of resilience and work-life balance. There’s a time to work hard and a time to take a break. Without this balance, perseverance and motivation can plummet.
Leading with grace is also important. Everyone’s experience and trajectory are unique. We can’t expect everyone with the same title or general career trajectory to reach the same goals at the same time. Not everyone is striving for the same achievements. As such, I tailor my approach to each individual. As a leader, I firmly believe that it is my job to do everything in my power to foster everyone’s path towards their individualize definitions of success.