Changing Course Posted on November 30, 2007 Vishwajit Nimgaonkar (bio) describes why he decided to train in genetics.

I was very lucky because when I finished my medical education, I got some nice grades, so I could do what I wanted to. And it struck me that if I continued doing just clinical work it would probably not be satisfying in the long term. It wouldn't be challenging to me. And I thought, research is a very good avenue of work, because it promises the ability to make changes that will last beyond your own lifetime. And I was lucky also when I finished my medical training to be able to get a PhD to go to Oxford and study there.

And my PhD actually was in the neurosciences. I was very interested in the brain. But around the time that I was finishing my PhD, the genetics revolution was just beginning. And they just found linkage to a disease called Huntington’s disease. And that caused great excitement in the psychiatric field. And we had this vision that we'd find genes for psychiatric disorders very rapidly.

So as soon as I finished my PhD, I started changing course and training in genetics. And I’ve had very wonderful advice from senior people all along the way, and that’s been extremely helpful to me.

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