St. Jude Named as One of the Best Places to Work in Academia

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St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

Jul 01, 2011, 05:47 ET

The Scientist magazine ranks St. Jude Children's Research Hospital among the top 10

MEMPHIS, Tenn., July 1, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- For the sixth consecutive year, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is named as one of the top institutions in the annual "Best Places to Work in Academia" list by The Scientist magazine. St. Jude ranked second among U.S. institutions. The magazine received 2,260 responses from scientists at 92 U.S. institutions and 19 from foreign institutions.

"We know the best way to advance our mission of finding cures and saving children is to attract the best people to St. Jude and give them a place where they can do their best work," said Dr. William E. Evans, St. Jude director and CEO. "The fact that our faculty consistently rank St. Jude in the top 10 best places to work in academia is a nice external validation that will help us continue to recruit and retain the very best people."

The Scientist posted a Web-based survey in late 2010 and invited those who identified themselves as non-tenured life scientists working in academia or other non-commercial research institutions to participate. Respondents were asked to assess their working environment according to 37 criteria in eight areas by posing positive statements with which the participant was asked to agree or disagree. Respondents were also asked to rank the importance of each factor on a 0-5 scale. The Scientist weighted the factors based on importance and calculated overall rankings from the resulting average scores.

The Scientist provides print and online coverage of the latest developments in the life sciences including trends in research, new technology, news, business and careers. The full article with detailed survey results can be found in the July 2011 issue of The Scientist and is available online at www.the-scientist.com/bptw.

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is internationally recognized for its pioneering research and treatment of children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases. Ranked one of the best pediatric cancer hospitals in the country, St. Jude is the first and only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted solely to children. St. Jude has treated children from all 50 states and from around the world, serving as a trusted resource for physicians and researchers. St. Jude has developed research protocols that helped push overall survival rates for childhood cancer from less than 20 percent when the hospital opened to almost 80 percent today. St. Jude is the national coordinating center for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium and the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study. In addition to pediatric cancer research, St. Jude is also a leader in sickle cell disease research and is a globally prominent research center for influenza.

Founded in 1962 by the late entertainer Danny Thomas, St. Jude freely shares its discoveries with scientific and medical communities around the world, publishing more research articles than any other pediatric cancer research center in the United States. St. Jude treats more than 5,700 patients each year and is the only pediatric cancer research center where families never pay for treatment not covered by insurance. St. Jude is financially supported by thousands of individual donors, organizations and corporations without which the hospital's work would not be possible. For more information, go to www.stjude.org.

SOURCE St. Jude Children's Research Hospital