Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Comment
  • Published:

Flipping the narrative on launching a rewarding career in academic medicine

Fostering a nimble, innovative and resilient biomedical workforce is crucial. Here, we consider how to accelerate the readiness of early career investigators to lead, inverting the traditional pyramid view of academia to place them at the top, with expansive possibilities for advancement.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

USD 39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Flipping the narrative to elevate the next generation of researchers.

References

  1. Langin, K. Science 387, 912–913 (2025).

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Williams, C. S. et al. eLife 11, e79738 (2022).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Scientific Advice Mechanism to the European Commission. Report on Challenges for Early and Mid-Career Researchers in the Provision of Science Advice (SAPEA, 2024).

  4. Liang, Z., Ba, Z., Mao, J. & Li, G. J. Informetrics 17, 101375 (2023).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Xiang, J. et al. Nature 638, 769–778 (2025).

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Bressan, D., Battistoni, G. & Hannon, G. J. Science 381, eabq4964 (2023).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Klemm, J. D., Singer, D. S. & Mesirov, J. P. Cancer Discov. 14, 1779–1782 (2024).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Seals, D. R. Appl. Physiol. 131, 729–742 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. American Association for Cancer Research. Voters’ attitudes about federal funding for cancer research. AACR https://go.nature.com/49CozgS (2025).

  10. Baumgartner, W., Ziminski, C., Van Beek, J. & Rand, C. Acad. Med. 96, 1375–1376 (2021).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. David, D. H. J. Healthc. Leadersh. 17, 133–140 (2025).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to W. Kimryn Rathmell.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Rathmell, W.K., Shevde, L.A. Flipping the narrative on launching a rewarding career in academic medicine. Nat Cancer 6, 1918–1921 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43018-025-01076-0

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Version of record:

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43018-025-01076-0

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing