This time Scientific Bangladesh has interviewed Dr. Kazi Mohammad Mostafizur Rahman. He is
pursuing postdoctoral research at the National Cancer Institute in the USA after completing PhD in Biomedical Sciences. Before that, he obtained two MSs, from Bangladesh and Japan. He shares his experiences and insights gained from three countries. Here are what he shared
1.Scientific Bangladesh: Tell us about your education- from primary to PhD. Don’t miss this opportunity to express gratitude for your great supports in this journey.
Kazi Mohammad Mostafizur Rahman: I started my academic journey at Comilla Zilla School. After finishing my SSC there I enrolled in Notre Dame College for Higher secondary education. At that time I became interested in biological sciences and enrolled in the Microbiology Department at the University of Dhaka. Finishing my BS and MS there, I flew to Japan as an MS student to get better research experiences supported by the Japanese Government funded ‘Monbusho’ scholarship. These two-years research experiences have significantly enhanced my interests and scope for a research-oriented career. I got admission to the ‘Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. program’ at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, USA. Subsequently, I moved to the University of Georgia with my mentor and obtained my Ph.D. degree in Biochemistry from there. Currently, I am a postdoctoral fellow at National Cancer Institute and doing interesting research on host-virus interactions. Although I got tremendous supports from members of my family, friends, and teachers during this journey, the most significant influence I received is from my beloved mother. She was my teacher, my guide, and my source of inspiration even today.
2.Scientific Bangladesh: What was your PhD research area? What are the results of your vigorous research, including publications, patents, awards?
Kazi Mohammad Mostafizur Rahman: During my PhD, I studied the pathogenesis of a human parasite called Toxoplasma gondii. It is estimated that 1/5th of the world population is latently infected with this parasite. However, this infection could be fatal in immunocompromised people such as AIDS and cancer patients. My research had focused on how his parasite resides in various parts of the body such as the brain, lungs, and stomach coping up with unrelated oxygen tensions in those parts. I discovered a unique cellular pathway in this and similar group of parasites and characterized the roles of pathway genes using molecular and biochemical methods. We published at least three papers in high-impact journals and one of my first author papers has been selected as ‘Paper of the Week’ by the Journal of Biological Chemistry editors due to the significance of the works. Also, this works has brought several travel awards for me and my group members. Currently, our lab is working to develop an effective anti-parasitic drug against the pathway I discovered which we expect to patent soon.
3.Scientific Bangladesh: What was your motivation to go for PhD? What do you think about your decision to go for PhD?
Kazi Mohammad Mostafizur Rahman: My initial motivation to go for PhD stemmed from my MS research in the laboratory of Dr. Mozammal Hague sir at the University of Dhaka. Although we had limited scope there for research, I engaged in molecular biology works that created my enthusiasm to learn further in that field. My subsequent research experiences in the Japanese institute have enhanced my interest in practically engaging and committing to further research through PhD studies. I believe that my decision was right for my career and basic interests. Due to that route, I engaged in investigating top research questions in sciences, gained skills in state-of-the-art research tools, and learned how to ask questions and go for answering those questions.
4.Scientific Bangladesh: Why should someone pursue PhD? Should anyone go for PhD as friends are going for it, parents, parents -in-laws want it?
Kazi Mohammad Mostafizur Rahman: Definitely one can choose to do PhD for various background reasons. I have seen people who initially started PhD because they were motivated by their friends or family, however, in course of time they loved the research track and enjoying science. But, I believe that a pre-motivation developed from answering questions in sciences helps much better stay up to a successful PhD track.
5.Scientific Bangladesh: How would you like to describe your PhD life?
Kazi Mohammad Mostafizur Rahman: My PhD life was a mixture of adventurism, risk, and rewards. My research questions were outstanding that provided a huge interest in the works. I attended many workshops and engaged in a significant amount of studies on the topic. It was really rewarding to publish those works to scientific communities. In addition, meeting the top scientists in the conferences bring an additional level of joyous moments in a scientific career.
6.Scientific Bangladesh: PhD is stressful – how did you manage stress?
Kazi Mohammad Mostafizur Rahman: Undoubtedly, many factors could bring stress during PhD. Especially many of us get stressed from cultural shock, strenuous course works, laboratory rotations as well as limited time to consult with others during the initial time points. Subsequently, the stress in fulfilling research goals and other academic responsibilities aggravates those things. I was also in similar conditions but I was able to cope-up those challenges pretty well. One of the ways I overcome those was by getting huge support from my mentor. He understood my persistence and usually did not put any deadline. In addition, many of the works were done in a collaboration that relieved my burden a lot. Outside of the research, I was very much engaged with the community inside and outside of my campus. I frequently joined various social programs that provided significant relief from the research-oriented stresses.
7. Scientific Bangladesh: Looking back to your PhD life, what mistakes you would advise future PhD students to avoid?
Kazi Mohammad Mostafizur Rahman: One of the mistakes some people do during the PhD is they think they would do everything of their own. However, I found that many cases that reduce the capacity to engage multiple projects and negatively affect publication outcome. My suggestion is “ Never hesitate to ask for help if you really need’. Science became more dependent on collaboration and therefore the scientists as well.
8. Scientific Bangladesh: How did you manage relationships with your i) supervisor(s) and ii) labmates? How important to maintain a good relationship with them?
Kazi Mohammad Mostafizur Rahman: My supervisor was exceptionally gentle and very helpful. He kept his door always open for me and all the lab members. I realized very early that my supervisor likes that his trainee has the motivation, not the experiences. That’s why I always try to meet him with new and new ideas. I took experimental initiatives to prove many of the ideas beyond his intervention that really impressed him. Finally, my colleagues were very nice as well. I kept my eyes open, hands extended if they needed any help. I helped some of them outside of the lab that created an excellent relationship with them ins and outs of the lab.
9. Scientific Bangladesh: Did you change supervisor? If yes, when and why? What are your suggestions if a PhD student needs to change supervisor?
Kazi Mohammad Mostafizur Rahman: Yes, I changed my supervisor very early stage of my PhD as he moved to a different school. Rather, I stayed in the same school with another mentor who has a collaborative project with my early mentor. So, that was pretty much for a trivial reason. However, I know that it is sometimes difficult to guess or identify the best supervisor at an early stage. If a student finds a supervisor is not supportive or has other issues, I believe that she/he should change the supervisor and take someone who appears to be more supportive, collaborative, and enhances your academic and professional development.
10.Scientific Bangladesh: What are your overall suggestions for future PhD students from your PhD life experiences?
Kazi Mohammad Mostafizur Rahman: My overall suggestion is, work hard and finish your PhD as soon as possible.
PhD is not everything in an academic career. That is just a way to gain the capacity of independent thoughts.
Once you achieve that, go for honing that ability further in different directions.
11.Scientific Bangladesh: What are your suggestions for those who are about to finish PhD and entering to Post-doctoral phase?
Kazi Mohammad Mostafizur Rahman: Determine what is your career goal. If you are planning to go for academia, you must go to the best lab for a postdoc, otherwise, your career will be ruined. On the other hand, a postdoc is not the right choice if you have other ambitions such as a career in industry or technology transfer, etc. In that case, directly join in those jobs as soon as possible or do an internship in that field for an easy transition.
12. Scientific Bangladesh: What is your Postdoctoral research area? Is it the same or different from PhD? If different, then why?
Kazi Mohammad Mostafizur Rahman: Currently, I have been studying host-virus interaction in my postdoctoral training. This is different than my PhD studies where I studied host-parasite interactions. This is different in terms of fields. However, I have been utilizing many techniques I learned during my PhD. After finishing my PhD, I found that there is a huge scope in the virology field than the parasitology field. So, I decided to switch to that field and started utilizing my previous expertise in this field as well as learning new and new methods. Especially the current COVID-19 pandemic has proved that my decision was right to engage more in relevant research.
13. Scientific Bangladesh: Scientific Bangladesh: What is your future destination? Academia or Industry or Entrepreneurship? Why?
Kazi Mohammad Mostafizur Rahman: I have trained myself in several fields during my postdoctoral periods. However, I am still eager to be a faculty in a research-oriented academic institute. I believe that it would give me the utmost utilization of my scientific knowledge and skills and fulfill my desire to engage in investigative research. However, I am also open to other options if the faculty option doesn’t work. But I wish to develop innovative ideas wherever I go to advance the scenario of that place.
14. Scientific Bangladesh: Did you have family ( husband/wife and children) with you during PhD? Do you see any advantage and/or disadvantage of having a family during PhD?
Kazi Mohammad Mostafizur Rahman: Yes, I had my family with one kid during my PhD and we have our second baby born during my PhD final defense. Having a family brings huge benefits. You will get your stresses relieved whenever you play with your kid. In addition, my wife provided enormous support during that time. She sacrificed her career at that time but ultimately made that up when the kids grew up. So, we are lucky and very grateful to Almighty for making everything easy for us.
15. Scientific Bangladesh: Would you like to share your knowledge and experiences with the readers of Scientific Bangladesh by writing a regular column in Scientific Bangladesh. You can register for authorship https://scientificbangladesh.com/registration-2/
Kazi Mohammad Mostafizur Rahman: Yes
Scientific Bangladesh: Thank you for sharing your insights and experiences. Our readers will be waiting to read your regular writings. Pls, register to the above link for access as an author.