The OARSI Young Investigator Sub-committee is organizing a "Meet the Mentor" session each year now. This session has been very successful as it creates a friendly environment for Young Investigators to talk to experts in the field. We have been very fortunate to have enthusiastic mentors that volunteer every year sharing their passion for science and insight into career management.
This session is an informal, roundtable discussion in different areas of expertise. Discussions may be research specific and may cover career decisions in general. The Young Investigators are requested to select a specific research area topic they would like to be seated in so they can be paired up with experts within their own field.
The research areas are :
Research disciplines include Cartilage / Chondrocyte Biology, Clinical Trials and Therapy, Clinical Aspects/ Outcomes and Epidemiology / Health Services research, Imaging, Animal Models, Biomarkers, Biomechanics and Gait, Stem Cells, Tissue Engineering and Repair, Bone Biology, Genetics, genomics and Epigenetics. Questions for the mentors can range from career aspects to research methodologies, and discussions during these sessions have been in the past beneficial to both Young Investigators and mentors alike.
To strengthen further the links you may have formed during these sessions and to allow for further discussion, a social event follows, including drinks and nibbles at the conference venue and an outing to a local venue.