SAN FRANCISCO — After three decades working on cell and gene therapy, David DiGiusto has expertise that’s hard to find. So hard to find, in fact, that one cancer immunotherapy company stopped at nothing to try to hire him.
First, DiGiusto was told he could name his salary. Next, he was told he could name his desired equity stake. When those offers didn’t work, the chairman of the board tried to woo DiGiusto with a last-ditch deal: He’d buy DiGiusto a $10,000 Omega Speedmaster wristwatch — if only he’d join the company.
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And yet,
cross referencing his linkedin profile with his pubmed record, it seems he went through both his MS and PhD without publishing one single first author research article (from where I come from, that wouldn’t qualify you for a PhD). And, although, being research professor (how that happened?) at City of Hope institute since 1998, he didn’t publish a single research article (just a few reviews) till 2006! That’s 8 years without delivering any actual new research!
I wish academic institutions, biotechs, karma and the universe were as much understanding and entrusting me, as they were with him!