Meera Vaswani

I attribute my success to my unwavering commitment to doing research in the field that I'm passionate about, rather than what others wanted me to do. When I worked at the pharmaceutical company, they wanted me to do research on the products they wanted to promote, but I left because I wanted to do research in my field, in drug abuse. Even when my immediate boss at Ranbaxy tried to convince me to stay, telling me I had done fantastic work and would get promotions, I chose to leave because my parents needed my help and I didn't have new projects in my pipeline that aligned with my interests. What mattered to me was my quality of work and having the freedom to do what I wanted to do. I was fortunate to work under topmost mentors - one of the topmost chemistry professors in India during my PhD, and then one of the topmost pharmacologists of India during my postdoc. I told my postdoc mentor that what mattered to me was my quality of work and having his mentorship, even though I was leaving a permanent job for a temporary fellowship. Throughout my career, I maintained this focus on meaningful research over financial incentives or job security, and I believe that dedication to quality and passion for my field is what led to my achievements.

Always Keep your focus on your goals no matter what

Try to develop inner strength and Maintain Balance in times of Adversity

Always remember in life that every day would be different and after darkness, there would be light just like Sunshine follows darkness

I would tell young women entering toxicology or pharmacology that it can be very difficult to work in industry because industry wants to make profit. When I finished my PhD, I could have easily gone to any pharmaceutical company, and I did work for six months at Ranbaxy Lille. But after six months, it was difficult for me to work there because they wanted me to do research on the products they want to promote, and not what I want to do as a researcher. I was interested in drug abuse, and if you want to do research in drug abuse in any industry, it is only those companies which are making drugs for substance abuse. The challenge is that pharmaceutical companies make drugs based on studies that may say addiction happens because of down-regulation of a neurotransmitter, so they'll make drugs to upgrade it. Then other studies will say it's because of upgradation, so they'll make drugs to down-regulate it. But the real answer lies in genomic pathways and individualized treatment. Depending upon your genomic background, the treatment has to be individualized. Not everybody responds in the same way. So my advice is to pursue academic research if you want the freedom to investigate what truly matters, rather than what a company wants to promote for profit.

Every field has challenges, in fact Life it’s a Challenge

The most important values to me are the quality of my work and the freedom to pursue research that I'm passionate about, but also recognizing that family comes first when they need me. When my mother was sick and my father was undergoing eye surgery, I needed one week to be with them, and my company created a fuss about it. My immediate boss tried to convince me to stay, saying I had done fantastic work and would get promotions, but I told him that work is important, but if my parents need my help, that takes priority. I said to him that my mother is sick, my father's undergoing eye surgery, I need to be with them. I have one sister only, and my sister was also taking off from her job, so I couldn't expect her to do everything. For me, what matters is my quality of work and having the freedom to do what I want to do, but not at the expense of my family responsibilities. I've always believed that my achievements should be earned through my hard work and intelligence. As I told the interviewer, my CV talks about me - it's based on whatever my achievements are, earned through dedication to meaningful work.