Back In The Saddle Again

Sometimes, life throws you a curve ball.  Last year, just 3 months after my job promotion, I was let go in a reorganization when a new CEO took power.  Apart from learning the valuable lesson that a new boss swaps out the executive team, I found myself asking the question, “Now what?”  My 2012 job search seemed not that long ago and I dreaded brushing up my CV to hit the interview trail again.

However, life’s a bit easier when you have team to get you through the tight spots.  I formed a “Board of Directors” of close friends and former work colleagues to support me in the search.  Whether helping me compare job offers at the final stage, or talking me away for the cliff during the roller-coaster called job searching, this band of brothers did more for me than any class, diploma, or license of mine.

In the end, I landed in biotechnology, working at Halozyme Therapeutics to develop cancer treatments that act on the extracellular matrix.  The latest scientific thinking focuses on the tumor microenvironment, how to better target our own immune system, and what treatment combinations give the greatest survival effects.  Our drug ‘eats up the gel’ that surrounds tumor cells and blood vessels, allowing chemotherapy and white blood cells to reach the tumor.

The extracellular matrix - before and after:

Make no mistake about it, our drug is no sure thing.  I consider this as a ‘high-risk but high reward” opportunity that rarely knocks twice on life’s door.  If we lose, I still have enough years to make it up.  But if we win, I can say I was there when this journey started.  Early in my evaluation, I wondered why having an extra 6 months to live for a pancreatic cancer patient meant something.  Then I heard their stories, about how precious life becomes when you only have a 9 month lease – creating a window to attend a wedding, see a granddaughter graduate, or welcome your child’s return home from Afghanistan.  Framed from that perspective, work becomes more meaningful.

So as you can tell, I’m crossing my personal Rubicon river right now.  Although historians debate what Caesar might have said at the banks in 49BC, whether “the die is cast” or “throw the javelin”, I like to think he meant “let’s roll the dice and see what happens.”  Although the outcome is far from certain, the journey of taking chances makes life worth it.  Stay tuned.

Ken

http://www.halozyme.com/About-Halozyme/Executive-Management/default.aspx