As a clinician, researcher, health advocate, and leader, Kevin Koo, MD, MPH, MPhil knows what it takes to connect with experts in different fields to advance shared goals.

Dr. Koo joined the CAIRIBU Interactions Core to share key tips with trainees on how to network to build lasting, meaningful relationships – with mentors, sponsors, and collaborators.

Be intentional about how you present your research identity

Ideally, your research identity showcases what you wish to be known for and reflects who you are, what you do, and what you seek to learn in the future. These may seem vague, but Dr. Koo points out that your research identity already exists, through your training experiences, the people you’ve met, your colleagues and collaborators, and your scientific and scholarly output. To help others understand your research identity, Dr. Koo suggests to situate your work in a context that demonstrates how your current project ties into your emerging expertise and long-term questions. He further suggests to adopt the following framework to succinctly convey your research identity when introducing yourself:

“I study [problem] in [population/system] using [approach] because I want to understand/improve [larger goal].”

Make your work discoverable

Dr. Koo reflects that gone are the days where “in order to be discovered or make work discoverable, [you] had to go to conferences, give lectures and presentations, and publish.” In this day and age, your digital footprint shapes how others perceive you and your work. Dr. Koo cites several aspects of an individual’s internet presence that are controllable: for example, your institutional profile, ORCID, Google Scholar profile, LinkedIn, and/or lab website. He suggests that, if posting about yourself online feels too much like “self-promotion,” (1) think of your online presence as scientific infrastructure that provides context to your work and acts as an extension of your scientific dissemination, and (2) just as you would do with any infrastructure, keep your online presence up-to-date to ensure your online identity tells a consistent intellectual story. Without venturing into “influencer” territory, Dr. Koo says that strategic posting about your new paper or presentation can go a long way. And if that feels like too much, he says, start by contributing to others’ posts – congratulate colleagues on their latest discovery, amplify a training opportunity, or ask a question. Dr. Koo also strongly suggests to look yourself up on the internet, and ask yourself:

“Would a scientist who knows nothing about me understand what I work on within 60 seconds?”

Network to build relationships

If you meet someone for the first time and immediately ask them to mentor you or collaborate on a project, they are likely to decline. After all, they just met you. Successful relationship-building, rather, happens over the course of what Dr. Koo calls “repeated low-intensity interactions.” He explains that in this cycle of interactions, two people meet, learn about each other, connect over a project or question, contribute to each other’s work, follow-up over time, and eventually, develop a relationship. As Dr. Koo notes, these “touchpoints” ultimately lead to familiarity and trust. Although it’s tempting to focus your networking efforts on senior researchers who can provide guidance and open doors, Dr. Koo counsels against overlooking the importance of connecting with near-peers and peers. Senior scientists may be well-known, but they usually have more responsibilities and therefore less capacity to develop new relationships, he says. However, near-peers, like junior faculty and senior fellows, often have more availability and willingness to mentor. As for peers developing alongside you, Dr. Koo notes that they could become collaborators, editors, and leaders down the road.