Career Conversations: Networking and Collaboration

In these webinars, mid-career researchers from academic health centers share their perspectives and experiences on navigating their career pathways in the current funding and collaboration environment, which means seeking sources in and beyond the NIH. Focusing on cross-cutting core competencies of communication and mentorship, each one-hour session will include short presentations and a discussion moderated by a researcher.

Session dates

Session 3: Networking and Collaboration 
December 18, 2026 | 12:00pm ET
Registration deadline: December 17, 2026 | 12:00pm ET
This session will focus on the role of networking and collaboration in navigating funding sources and partnerships beyond NIH spaces. Speakers will share strategies on understanding your contexts to effectively engage your audience and build connections. They will also share tips on locating and preparing for opportunities to network and collaborate across disciplines and sectors within and outside of academic health centers along with common challenges and solutions when seeking out, connecting, and re-engaging with different non-NIH sources and partners.

Meet the Presenters

Shruthi Mahalingaiah, MD, MS, FACOG, is the Mark and Catherine Winkler associate professor of environmental, reproductive, and women’s health in the Department of Environmental Health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (HSPH). At Mass General Hospital Fertility Center, she is a physician specializing in ovulation disorders, reproductive endocrinology, and infertility, as well as director of clinical research in the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility. As founder of the Mahalingaiah Lab at HSPH, she answers research questions about how environmental exposures (such as air pollution, environmental toxicants, and common chemicals) are associated with reproductive health outcomes across the entire lifespan. Mahalingaiah has published extensively about ovulation disorders, changes to menstrual cycles and health over time, and fertility outcomes. Recent professional accolades include Boston Top Doctor status (2020- 2026), and receiving the inaugural Carole Mendelson Award from the Society of Reproductive Investigation (2024). She attended Harvard Medical School and an OB/GYN residency and fellowship in reproductive endocrinology and infertility at Mass General Brigham. She also received her master’s degree in epidemiology at Boston University School of Public Health and her bachelor’s degree from Middlebury College. 

Jeffrey A. Sparks, MD, MMSc, is a rheumatologist and associate professor of medicine at Mass General Brigham / Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Sparks serves as the director of Immuno-Oncology and director of the Rheumatoid Arthritis Program for the Division of Rheumatology, Inflammation, and Immunity. His research focuses on using patient-oriented and epidemiologic methods to evaluate the etiology, outcomes, and public health burden of rheumatic diseases. His research themes are rheumatoid arthritis risk and outcomes related to pulmonary disease, infections, and rheumatic disease risk and outcomes, and rheumatic immune-related adverse events from immunotherapy for cancer treatment. He has received research awards from the National Institutes of Health, American College of Rheumatology, European Alliance of Rheumatology Associations, Rheumatology Research Foundation, Arthritis Foundation, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Brigham Research Institute, and Harvard Medical School.

Meet the Moderator

Seward B. Rutkove, MD, is the Nancy Lurie Marks Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School and serves as the chair of the Department of Neurology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. With extensive past and ongoing funding support from NIH, Rutkove’s medical research focuses on the application of innovative clinical neurophysiological techniques for the assessment of neuromuscular disorders and muscle dysfunction with an emphasis on electrical impedance methods. His research efforts have also included the study of partial gravity analogue models in rodents (to mimic lunar and Martian gravity) with substantial funding support from NASA. An investigator with more than 300 publications, he also served as the associate editor for Annals of Neurology. In 2011, he was awarded the Biomarker Challenge Prize from the non-profit foundation Prize4Life, Inc for his work demonstrating that electrical impedance measurements of muscle could speed clinical therapeutic studies in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. In 2019, he also received the Herman P. Schwan International Award in Electrical Bioimpedance, and in 2021, the Innovation Award from the American Association of Electrodiagnostic and Neuromuscular Medicine. He continues to focus his research on novel diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to improve neuromuscular health across many domains, from disease to aging to microgravity.

Time commitment

One-hour sessions on Zoom.

Audience

These sessions are designed for early-career researchers from the clinical and translational science (CTS) community who are interested in pursuing funding beyond NIH sources, developing a diverse funding portfolio, and collaborating across sectors and industries. In addition, attendees who are broadly interested in learning about what it looks like to build and sustain a CTS career by acquiring alternative funding sources and partnerships are welcome to participate.

Eligibility

There are no eligibility requirements.

We believe that the research community is strengthened by understanding how a number of factors including gender identity, sexual orientation, race and ethnicity, socioeconomic status, culture, religion, national origin, language, disability, and age shape the environment in which we live and work, affect each of our personal identities, and impacts all areas of human health.