A New Pathway to Independence

Sunrise over the ocean

By Dr. April Moreno

Over the past several days, I’ve been thinking a lot about creativity, healing, and livelihood. Since becoming autoimmune, completing my postdoc, and leaving toxic workplaces, I have been realizing how much creativity is central in this road to independence.

The Pathway to Independence

As a postdoc, I prayed and dreamed every day to land the NIH K99/R00 Award, also known as the “Pathway to Indpendence” award. This is a 5-year grant which lands you from a funded postdoctoral fellowship with your own project, into becoming a funded assistant professor at a university, the big dream for many of us in academic research.

I wanted to be a professor so very much. I absorbed my Deepak Chopra and Florence Scovell Shin books, visualized my goal, dreamed it, affirmed it on paper hundreds of times, and even celebrated it. And when I received my application score, my PI, a very well-respected professor and leader in the biomedical informatics field, emailed me and told me that I had a fundable score. I may have cried when I read the email.

So, I just kept on believing, and it looked like it was really happening. That weekend, a friend took me to breakfast at my favorite place, Breakfast Republic, and my postdoc colleagues were planning a celebration after-work social event. Seriously, we really believed.

But we were way too early with all of this. After the millionth status click on the NIH grant submissions website for several weeks, I received the update that it was not funded, and my postdoc contract reached the end of its time.

My department still believed in me, and I was offered a desk space to work on campus voluntarily to rewrite my proposal. But time was up and my postdoc funding was over, my community had changed, the mentorship was gone, and with it left the focus and its meaning.

I decided to pack up, go home, and spend more time focused on searching for work, or start something new.

Creating a New Pathway to Independence
2000 was my new beginning with setting up an autoimmune health equity nonprofit as the pandemic began, with a new journey in podcasting for the Sisterhood of Limitless Living. I started up an LLC business, which led to the Public Health Podcast and Media Network.

Creating new ways to envision service in public health has now become my focus. I’ve leveraged podcasting to learn about social media marketing and promoting events, conferences, and consulting opportunities.

This is my new pathway to independence, and I believe in this for all of us who are exhausted, burned out, or have lost a consulting, reserach, or employment contract. It’s still a journey and marathon of its own and in many ways is more challenging than a PhD.

So Now, We’re Here.

If you’re in this space like I am, we have no other option but to persevere and to learn along the journey. Within this season, we need a space of rest, creativity, and redesign. I encourage you to rest, enjoy nature, take time to think about what you love to do and what people need, and how to build that bridge.

The Public Health Podcast and Media Network is with you and also supports you along your creative, career, and integrative journey of learning, living, being, and working in service for our communities.

We invite you to participate our range of monthly events, podcast stories, blog posts, news, conferences, and career development membership, and truly hope to be connection with you in support, solidarity, mission, vision, and service for joy and well-being in public health and quality of life.