Judith S. Birkenfeld
In this installment of Senior Member Insights, OPN talks with Judith S. Birkenfeld, a Juan de la Cierva researcher at the Institute of Optics of the Spanish National Research Council (IO-CSIC). She obtained an M.Sc. in physics, an M.Sc. in medical physics and a certificate in business administration from the University of Heidelberg, Germany. She then moved to Spain to pursue her Ph.D. at the Visual Optics & Biophotonics Lab (IO-CSIC) with Susana Marcos and received her Ph.D. in physics from Complutense University. Birkenfeld received several postdoctoral fellowships at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Harvard Medical School and the Wellman Center for Photomedicine, USA before returning to Spain.
Her research is motivated by solving currently unmet medical needs and focuses on applications in eye and skin research, using state-of-the-art techniques from optics, photonics and artificial intelligence. She is currently the local coordinator of the EU Horizon 2020 project Imcustomeye, a multinational consortium developing novel technologies based on photonics and modeling approaches to detect changes in ocular biomechanics, a promising biomarker for the early detection of various eye conditions.
Birkenfeld won the prestigious Spanish L'Oréal-UNESCO “For Women in Science” award in 2021 and was included in the EVI TOP LIST of Women in European Vision Research. She is chair-elect of Optica's Microscopy and OCT Technical Group and co-founder and faculty of MITlinQ, an MIT-based program to accelerate innovation technology.
What first interested you in pursuing science?
My early interest in science was probably through my father, an experimental physicist at heart. I was about 10 years old when he built a complete solar car with his students, and some years later we constructed a Foucault pendulum in our house. I enjoyed having a small part in these long-term projects, and that was probably my first encounter with experimental physics.
What aspect of your current work do you find the most interesting or exciting?
I work primarily in eye research. A common question in my line of work is how we can detect eye diseases early enough to prevent irreparable vision loss, and which technology is needed to do that. So, one aspect of my work that I find exciting is the pursuit of solutions to currently unmet medical needs, and the collaboration with clinicians involved in this process.
Another aspect is the opportunity to apply my knowledge of optics and photonics to other areas of research. I have been fortunate to be able to work on topics such as early melanoma detection, new technologies to quantify dehydration and erythropoietic protoporphyria (a painful photodermatosis), thanks to a network of welcoming collaborators. Last but not least, I love working with our students, they are all highly motivated and have a good way of keeping me on my toes.
What tips for successful networking do you have for early-career professionals?
“ Prepare a good elevator speech about your current work, and if someone shows interest, go for it. ”
—Judith S. Birkenfeld
Prepare a good elevator speech about your current work, and if someone shows interest, go for it. Conferences are a good way to meet people and student chapters are great to network with your peers.
What professional resources do you rely on to stay active and engaged with your field?
Scientific publications and in-person conferences. Twitter can be helpful, too: Many scientists (me included) now prepare short Twitter threads to give a quick glance at their published papers. Webinars are helpful for specific topics, and it is easy to ask questions in the chat window that is usually provided.
What skills do you think are most important for someone interested in a career like yours?
You would typically come from a scientific/technical background with good skills in physics, math and possibly coding. But what students are unaware of when starting this journey is the high amount of hard work, patience and perseverance that is needed. And lastly, but this is not really a skill, seize opportunities without too much hesitation. They don´t come along too often.
What’s the best career decision you’ve ever made, and why?
At the end of my Ph.D., I felt I had to prove myself and applied for a highly competitive postdoctoral program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and I got accepted. I believe that the decision to join this program was one of the best career decisions that I made. It was developed as a career-development program for biomedical imaging researchers with the goal of designing and leading novel translational research projects.
“ At the end of my Ph.D., I felt I had to prove myself and applied for a highly competitive postdoctoral program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and I got accepted. I believe that the decision to join this program was one of the best career decisions that I made. ”
—Judith S. Birkenfeld
In my class, we were five fellows, all at a similar stage in our careers. Building a project together from scratch was a dream, but also a bit scary. We decided to use artificial intelligence to simulate a macro examination of skin lesions, which normally relies heavily on the expertise of the physician. Our goal was to provide a tool that would support this type of examination using machine learning. It was something outside of my field of expertise, and the first year was one of the most intense times of my working life.
Our team, with collaborators and mentors from Madrid and Boston, all at an incredibly high level in their disciplines, allowed us to learn and advance a lot in a short time. I am still in touch with my former colleagues; they are an important part of my scientific family.
What advice do you have for young scientists who are discouraged about their current work or career path?
Try to be very practical about it. Our work is challenging, and it comes with many ups and downs, often with little job security and low pay. Unfortunately, passion for the job is typically considered a privilege and comes with worse job conditions. We constantly have to recommit ourselves, and it is normal to be discouraged at times.
However, if this is a permanent state of mind, it is important to find out why. Sometimes it helps to just vent with colleagues, but there are situations where it might make more sense to change advisor and/or research group, move to another country, change from academia to industry, or something else. These decisions are hard to make, but it is better than endless frustration.
What is one piece of advice that you wish you were given as a student/early in your career?
Besides your skill set, there are external forces that are equally important to move forward, like brilliant mentors, peers and collaborators known along the way. And keep your mental health in check. Burnouts are real, they are hard to detect early and even harder to overcome.
What habits do you frequently rely on that help you to succeed?
Take a break with my colleagues, and get some sun and fresh air.
If you weren’t in the sciences, what would be your dream career?
I probably would have ended up in medicine.