ACCEPTANCE OF THE EMINENT PARASITOLOGIST AWARD MY JOURNEY THROUGH PARASITE LAND: EIGHT SIMPLE TIPS FOR SUCCESS FOR EARLY-CAREER RESEARCHERS

My journey from mediocre undergraduate with zero interest in parasitology to this year’s recipient of the American Society of Parasitologists’ Eminent Parasitologist Award has been shaped by serendipity, lucky breaks, and near misses. It is a story beginning with great mentors and then supported for 3 decades by a wonderful cast of students, postdoctoral researchers, research assistants, and collaborators. In this essay, I share that journey to date (it is not quite finished yet!) and some of the research directions I followed along the way. I then present 8 simple tips for early-career parasitologists, distilled from my years of experience in the field, in the hope that they may help others achieve success in research.