“最佳雇主”求职亲历

    职务：肿瘤学研究副总裁

    任职公司：基因技术公司

    2006年，艾勒•梅尔曼的两位同事被诊断出癌症。当时，梅尔曼在耶鲁大学（Yale）担任系主任，兼任学校癌症研究中心的科研主任。他说自己当时非常喜欢做学术研究，曾打算一辈子都在学校搞研究。但当初自己改变想法的一刻，到现在都记忆犹新。

    当时，他妻子刚去探望了两人共同的一位朋友，这位朋友被诊断出患有癌症。“我妻子回家后对我说：‘你们总说自己多聪明，可为什么不能做点什么去帮帮她呢？’”梅尔曼知道，这只是妻子过分单纯的想法，但却让他很受触动。

    早在2005年，梅尔曼曾受邀前往生物科技公司基因科技（Genentech）进行演讲，还在不久之后就获得了该公司提供的工作机会。最初，他拒绝了这家公司的邀请。但朋友的遭遇却改变了他的想法。他意识到，他在学术界的位置无法最快接触到可行的癌症药物。于是，在2007年，他加入了基因技术公司，目前负责公司内癌症与免疫学关系的相关研究。

    到目前为止，他已经参与过多个很有前景的项目。其中一个项目涉及一种名为PD-L1的蛋白。这种蛋白是一种抗体，正常情况下可以保护细胞免受人体免疫反应的影响。但部分癌细胞表面也有PD-L1蛋白，导致白血细胞无法检测到癌细胞。目前，梅尔曼正在进行针对癌症患者的研究，主要方向是PD-L1与免疫系统之间的相互作用。在梅尔曼的带领下，短短两年半时间内，PD-L1疗法便已经进入二期和三期临床试验。“当时人们都跟我说我不可能成功——要想应用于临床至少要七年时间。”

    梅尔曼称，从搞学术向企业的转变，听起来很矛盾，但它是一种很好的改变。“这就像打了一针肾上腺素，之前你一直以为自己并不需要这东西。现在我的咒语是‘别废话，赶紧去做实验。’”

    Title: Vice President, Research Oncology

    Company: Genentech

    In 2006, two of Ira Mellman's colleagues were diagnosed with cancer. Mellman was at Yale -- he was the chair of his department, and the scientific director of the school's cancer center. At the time, he loved academia, and could have stayed there forever, he says. But he remembers the moment the switch flipped.

    His wife came home after visiting one of their mutual friends who had been diagnosed with cancer. "My wife was saying, 'you guys say you're so smart, why can't you do anything to help her?'" That was an oversimplification, Mellman knew, but it shook him.

    Back in 2005, Mellman had been asked to speak at biotechnology company Genentech, and was offered a job there shortly after. Initially, he dismissed the offer. But his friends' diagnoses made him reconsider. In academia, he realized, Mellman wasn't in the best position to fast-track potential cancer drugs. He joined Genentech in 2007, and now leads the company's research related to the relationship between cancer and immunology.

    Already, he's worked on some promising projects. One involves a protein called PD-L1, which is an antibody that normally protects cells from the body's immune response. But some cancer cells have PD-L1 on their surface so they can sneak by white blood cells undetected. Mellman is now researching treatments for cancer patients that target this interaction between PD-L1 and the immune system. Under Mellman's watch, PD-L1-based treatments have gotten to Phase II and Phase III clinical trials in only two-and-a-half years. "I was told this would never happen -- that it would take seven years at least to get to patients."

    The switch from academia to the corporate world can feel jarring, but it's good, Mellman says. "It's like, getting a shot of adrenaline that you never even knew you needed. Now my mantra is, 'stop talking about it and just do the damn experiment.'"