Treat your research life like a clinical trial. Primary outcomes. Secondary. Exploratory. Repeat.
Let me explain what I mean…
Early in your research career, you’re told to publish. Then publish again. Then publish some more.
So you do.
One paper at a time. One project at a time. You chase ideas like a dog chases tennis balls—whatever bounces closest, you grab it.
But at some point, someone asks: “What’s your research program?”
And your confident swagger turns into an awkward pause.
I’ve been there.
When I started my first faculty job, I had a google drive folder of 23 research ideas and no idea how they connected. It felt like building a puzzle without the picture on the box.
But a folder full of papers is not a research program.
A research program is your academic identity. It’s what makes people remember your name. And it’s what tenure committees, funding agencies, and future collaborators are actually evaluating.
So how do you build one?
I use what I call the 80:10:10 framework to structure both my projects and my learning.
It’s the simplest—and most sustainable—way I know to:
- Stay focused
- Keep learning
- Make space for curiosity
Let’s walk through it.
80% Core: The Intellectual Engine of Your Career
This is your home base. Your signature. The clinical problem you want to be known for solving.
If you’re in cardiovascular research, maybe your 80% is:
Studying the long-term effectiveness of blood pressure control strategies in underserved populations.
Or in diabetes:
Testing how culturally adapted nutrition coaching impacts HbA1c in newly diagnosed patients.
Everything else should orbit around this.
This is the work you:
- Present at conferences year after year
- Write grant proposals around
- Train your students in
- Stack paper after paper on
When you look back five years from now, the 80% is what gives your CV coherence. It’s the main storyline of your research life.
Ask yourself:
- What problem do I want to be known for solving?
- What expertise do I want to be called on for?
- What would make me proud to look back on?
If you’re not sure yet—don’t panic. Start with what you’re curious about. Then validate that curiosity against real clinical impact and funder interest. When those two things align, you’ve found your core.
Pro Tip:
If you think of your research portfolio as a clinical trial, this 80% core project is your primary outcome. The anchor of your clinical trial, so to speak.
10% Adjacent: Keep the Edges Soft
This is where you stay curious without getting lost.
You explore neighboring ideas, datasets, or methods that build on your 80%.
Example: You study diabetes prevention (core), but start dabbling in digital interventions via social media to deliver group coaching. That’s adjacent.
Or you’re a hypertension researcher exploring how air pollution affects systolic BP. That’s not your core—but it’s adjacent enough to stretch your thinking and unlock new angles.
This work often:
- Leads to new collaborators
- Provides preliminary data for future funding
- Keeps you from getting bored
The key? Stay close enough to your core that it still builds your program.
Treat this like the secondary outcome of your clinical trial. Important but meaningful only if the primary outcome is significant.
10% Moonshot: The Scary Idea That Won’t Let You Sleep
This is the high-risk, high-reward idea. The one you think could change your field if it works.
For me, this started when I stumbled into machine learning by accident while finishing a course for credit. My only reason for enrolling was because my wife had signed up too. One session sparked something—and I ended up designing an AI course project even after I’d fulfilled my credit requirements.
That led to a new line of research I never planned for. One that now integrates with my psoriatic arthritis outcomes work.
Your moonshot might be:
- Building a decision aid that personalizes hypertension treatment by integrating EHR + genomics
- Testing whether wearable data can detect hypoglycemia risk before symptoms show up
These projects might not get funded right away. But they keep your imagination alive. They give your program a future.
Keep one moonshot active. Just one. Otherwise, your core program suffers.
Think of the last 10% of your research projects as the exploratory outcomes of your clinical trial.
Why This Framework Works
Because it forces alignment between curiosity and coherence.
Tenure committees and funding agencies aren’t evaluating your paper count. They’re asking:
- What are you building?
- Where is it going?
- Why does it matter?
In other words, they’re not looking for scattered genius. They want a body of work that grows over time.
That’s what the 80:10:10 model delivers. It keeps you:
- Centered enough to build momentum
- Curious enough to grow
- Brave enough to lead
Plan Well, But Be Ready For Things Not to Go According to Plan
This is how I plan every year:
- Review my research vision
- List all active and upcoming projects
- Map them to the 80:10:10 structure
- Rebalance if needed
Every student project I supervise gets mapped too. That way, their work builds the program, not just their CV.
But here’s the part no one tells you…
Research is messy. People leave. Datasets don’t work. A grant you pinned your hopes on doesn’t even score.
That’s why your research program can’t be a rigid plan. It has to be a living system.
I update mine every year.
What changed? What still fits? What doesn’t?
You’re allowed to evolve. Just do it intentionally.
Get Started (Today, Not Someday)
If you’re overwhelmed, start small.
- Draft your one-page research vision
- List 3 active or potential projects
- Sort them into 80/10/10 buckets
- Sketch how they connect
You’re not building a brand.
You’re building a body of work that reflects what matters most to you—and why it matters to the world.
So yes, publish papers.
But make them count toward something bigger.
That’s how you stop asking “What’s next?”
And start answering, “Where am I going?”