My name is Sue Abbatiello, and I've made a series of career changes over the years that have impacted me for the better or worse. I was diagnosed at the age of 5 with type 1 diabetes in 1979, and was determined to become a pediatric endocrinologist. Once I entered undergrad and realized how different I was from my pre-med cohort, I turned my attention to lab work. After completing 4 years of undergraduate studies, I was burnt out and felt I wasn’t ready for grad school. I accepted an offer as a research associate at Genetics Institute and worked there for 5 years. During that time, I saw the respect and progress people made with graduate degrees and decided to go to graduate school. I attended the University of Florida and earned a Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry, focusing on mass spectrometry analysis of drug-resistant leukemia. Beyond graduate school, I was perplexed...go back to industry, or pursue an academic position? Academic positons are difficult for women, especially those wanting a family, which I wasn't sure of, but I didn't want to rule it out. I took on a post-doc position at the University of Pittsburgh. The work was interesting, but I didn't see myself pursuing an academic position. Instead, I joined the Broad Institute, and worked for Steve Carr in the Proteomics Core Facility. There, I was exposed to several really interesting biological projects that used mass spectrometry. It was a wonderful experience, but my family grew and having 2 children in childcare was not feasible in the Boston area with a non-profit salary, so I hopped back to "for-profit" and joined Thermo Fisher Scientific as a product specialist. This was a bit of a lateral change in career status but taught me much of what goes on in the for-profit industry. I was lucky enough to become product manager of the FAIMS-Pro interface, some hardware I truly believe in, but decided that the pressure and strain of working for a vendor was taking too much of my focus from my family. In 2018, I left Thermo to join Northeastern University as the Executive Director of the Barnett Institute of Chemical and Biological Analysis. There, I have felt fulfilled to work with undergraduate, graduate, post-doc, and staff scientists to provide them liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry resources to support their research projects. My tale is probably somewhat unusual, but it illustrates potential paths one can take to balance work and family and general happiness in one's career path.

Varieties of choices for career paths in analytical chemistry: One woman's journey

ACS Spring Meeting 2021

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.