SELECTION OF DEAN. We create a modern academy together by helping younger researchers advance as group leaders, enhancing collaboration, independent research, research-related teaching and a culture of trust and respect. This is Christina Jern’s vision if she becomes Dean of Sahlgrenska Academy.
Christina Jern has many years of experience in leadership assignments both at Sahlgrenska University Hospital and Sahlgrenska Academy. She is a dual specialist in neurology and clinical genetics. She was the Director of Clinical Genetics during a time when the organization both moved from Östra Hospital to Sahlgrenska and also expanded its mission. For Sahlgrenska Academy, she has been alternating chairperson of Medi-SAM for nearly a decade and a member of the Faculty Board for more than two terms.
“Leadership assignments are challenging and stimulating,” says Christina Jern, whose leadership style is often described as visionary, clear and diplomatic. “I’m good at seeing the big picture and have a keen interest in overarching issues. I’m dedicated to research and education.”
“The University and Region Västra Götaland (VGR) have different cultures and are managed in different ways. Mutual understanding and trust are essential for us to be able to work together and achieve mutual success. Without diplomacy, the Dean’s role becomes untenable.”
…we will see clear results from focusing on bringing in younger colleagues as research group leaders. “Renewal is a major challenge for all universities. If we solve this in a good way, we will get a head start on the national competition for external research funding.”
…we will have more interdisciplinary research at Sahlgrenska Academy and more collaboration with Region Västra Götaland and Chalmers, among others. “In our increasingly complex and competitive research environment, greater collaboration is a prerequisite for success.”
…we will have a high-quality infrastructure for research that is open to all researchers and we will attract a larger proportion of external research funding. “We will strengthen independent and innovative research.”
…research links with programs will be stronger and excellence in teaching will be clearly prioritized. “Teachers who also conduct research, or in any other ways are actively involved in research, increase the quality and attractiveness of programs and improve teachers’ working environment.”
…we will have a common strategy for developing the culture and the diversity of our faculty. “We work together to create an accepting, encompassing and positive environment that strengthens our results.”
This will allow us to continue achieving successful results and greater job satisfaction, making us a model for a modern academy.
Ensuring the rise of younger researchers as group leaders
She has long been strongly committed to encouraging physicians to choose a research career, a commitment shared by current Hospital Director Ann-Marie Wennberg during their shared time at Medi-SAM. Jern has advanced this issue further as Vice Dean for matters related to the Agreement Concerning Cooperation on Medical Education and Research (ALF):
“Ensuring that younger researchers are able to take the role as a group leader is important for all categories of researchers. We are facing major retirements among both staff with combined positions and experimental researchers as well as teachers. This is absolutely one of our biggest challenges. Other institutions of higher learning are grappling with the same problem. If we can solve this in a good way, we can get a leg up on the national competition.”
Christina Jern’s extensive survey of the age structure for researchers with ALF project funding was instrumental in laying the groundwork for several initiatives on ALF physician positions. These positions make it possible to combine a clinical and scientific career through several levels. She is glad to see that the initiatives are now starting to yield results.
“We also need to establish more mid-level positions for full-time researchers. As things stand today, too many young researchers feel insecure. It’s important, therefore, that we create reliable career paths. I also want to see that more professional categories can share their working time between clinical work and academia, and that we supplement ALF-funded positions with a career track with Sahlgrenska Academy as the main employer.
Exterior influences
Christina Jern’s commitment to facilitating younger researchers take on leadership roles is not just about taking advantage of the talent that already exists in Gothenburg, but also about attracting new researchers here:
“In a global world, we need the enrichment of more external influences to ensure our competitiveness. The initiatives now being done with international visiting professors and the “Sahlgrenska Academy International Starting Grants” are excellent. We should also engage in more active recruiting, especially at the intermediate level,” says Jern, who believes that the decline in grants from the Swedish Research Council can partly be explained by the fact that Sahlgrenska Academy has not done a better job of attracting and retaining young research talents:
“I want us to work more proactively to get an overview of which researchers are abroad for post-doctoral studies and which have begun receiving grants in national competition. In this way, we create a strategic platform for successful recruitment.”
Collaboration across boundaries
As a research manager, Christina Jern is responsible for a major patient study about ischemic stroke – the type of stroke that is often caused by a blood clot. The research team is interdisciplinary, and the research ranges from the molecular to the clinical level. But even though collaboration across subject and organizational boundaries is important, it is not a one-way trip. Collaboration between the University and Region Västra Götaland works well at the overall level; yet it is her experience that there are often practical problems that make it difficult for scientists who work translationally.
“It should be easier to find and initiate new collaborations and to work together. And this applies not only to the research that today is seen as clinical, but also to basic research. You need to get help in making contacts within health care and industry. I feel strongly about this. We need better mutual strategies and action plans for our cooperation with both health and public dental care,” Jern says.
She notes that the affiliated health services throughout the Västra Götaland region, with relatively few private practitioners, are an asset for both research and education:
“It’s a competitive advantage that we can make better use of. I would also work to ensure that we increase cross-fertilization among subject areas that brings us closer to the interdisciplinary faculty that was the vision when we formed the Sahlgrenska Academy,” she says, adding:
“Proximity to Chalmers University of Technology and a number of research firms in the region is also a potential gold mine for research collaborations that I want to develop further. Obviously we also will strengthen collaboration with other faculties and institutions of higher learning, both nationally and internationally. In our increasingly complex and competitive research environment, greater collaboration is a prerequisite for success.”
Stimulating independent research
In recent years, the government’s allocation for research has declined in relative terms, while announcements of external funding are often directed at specific areas of research. Jern believes that high priority should be given at the national level to ensuring that a greater proportion of funds be directed to open calls for proposals.
“If, in addition, we strengthen our basic infrastructure, which should be of high quality and accessible to all researchers, then we will increase the possibility for new research areas to emerge,” she says. “This infrastructure should include not only analyses and equipment but also positions in statistics, bioinformatics, digital systems, registers and a grants office that complement the corresponding functions at the University of Gothenburg through a focus on national funding, such as the Swedish Research Council.”
Research-related education at the first- and second-cycles
The world is changing at an accelerating pace, requiring development of students’ critical thinking. Christina Jern argues: “It’s important to ensure that there is a scientific approach in all educational programs, and this will require a stronger link between research and education and an increased integration among subjects. We also need to increase the visibility of good teachers. Introduction of the title ‘excellent teacher’ is a great first step, and we’re going to create more initiatives like this.”
Mutual respect
At Sahlgrenska Academy colleagues have considerable scope for expressing their views to management. But relationships and collegial interaction could be even better, in Jern’s estimation.
“We have a competitive culture that promotes the production of high-quality research, but we also need to see the risks associated with this. We will continue to build on the creativity that grows out of the interplay between diversity in an inclusive environment.”
She wants focused efforts to develop the culture of the faculty, promoting a working climate that is inclusive and egalitarian, where both successful examples and setbacks can be highlighted for a common learning experience. “We need to work more closely together and develop our capacity for ethical reflection. Our organization is to be characterized by mutual respect. Such a process of change takes time, and it must begin with the leadership and involve colleagues at all levels. In particular, I would like to involve our young researchers and external expertise in this work.”
Workplace culture is not only important for how employees feel. It is also directly linked to our results in both research and education, and, as such, to our competitiveness. Christina Jern explains:
“When we have a clear set of common strategies, objectives and priorities that we are working toward together, special interests are de-emphasized and solidarity is strengthened. In this way, we can be even better at exploiting the potential of interdisciplinary cooperation and create new venues for the exchange of knowledge. My goal is that our faculty will become a model for a modern academy.”
Selected experience
- Led a research group for many years that has now grown to about ten people. Has been the principal supervisor for eight doctoral students and has large grants from the Swedish Research Council and the Swedish Heart-Lung Foundation.
- 2004-2008: Member of the Board of the Department of Clinical Neuroscience and subsequently Neuroscience and Physiology.
- 2006-2008: Director of Clinical Genetics as well as a member of the corresponding management group at SU. Also pursued a two-year leadership development program during this period.
- 2006-2013: Member of the Sahlgrenska Academy Faculty Board (the Academy Board)
- 2009-2014: Director of Studies for resident physicians in clinical genetics
- 2014-2015: R&D unit director, clinical pathology and genetics, and member of the operational district management group
- Since 2008: Member and alternating chairman with SU’s RD&E director in Medi-SAM (collaboration agency between Region Västra Götaland and Sahlgrenska Academy in the medical field)
- Since 2012: Chairperson of the Steering Group of Stroke Centre West, a multidisciplinary educational center for stroke research (http://strokecentrumvast.gu.se)
PHOTOGRAPHS: ELIN LINDSTRÖM CLAESSEN AND JOHAN WINGBORG
