By Di (Bruce) Chen

It was our great pleasure to have Dr. Jianbo Hu give a seminar on “Careers in Technology Transfer”. Dr. Hu described his career path towards a technology licensing officer, and provided several tips and training resources for graduate students interested in tech transfer.

As a senior technology licensing officer at Penn State College of Medicine and Hershey Medical Center, Dr. Hu independently manages all aspects of the College’s technology transfer needs, for instance negotiating NDA, MTA, collaboration agreements, and IP and data access for sponsored research agreements with many pharmaceutical companies. He also contributes to the College’s research contracts and clinical trial agreements negotiation with both for-profit and non-profit organizations.

Dr. Hu received his Ph.D. from the Department of Animal Sciences at Washington State University in 2000, he continued as a postdoctoral fellow and then a research scientist. He started as a Technology Transfer Specialist at the National Cancer Institute in 2007. Before moving to Penn State in September 2017, Dr. Hu worked at Oregon State University as a Licensing and Patenting Manager. He has significant experience in handling technologies in the areas of biomedical and life sciences, chemistry, chemical engineering and microfluidics.

During his talk, Dr. Hu started by introducing the Bayh-Dole Act in 1980, how it dealt with intellectual property arising from federal government-funded research, and further motivated the universities to establish technology transfer offices. He also gave a thorough explanation of technology transfer as an industry, an overview of the job market, and a typical day-to-day life as a technology licensing officer.

Next, Dr. Hu talked about how his research experiences in National Cancer Institutes led him towards the fellowship position as a Technology Transfer Specialist, where he started a career in tech transfer. He then pointed out that the transitioning process was rewarding but also challenging, and then introduced the resources and professional organizations he found helpful along the way. Finally, Dr. Hu provided advice and tips for graduate students interested in a tech transfer career, and how they could get prepared during graduate school, such as collaborating on industry projects, working in the area of medical applications/drug discovery, and engaging in multidisciplinary research.

If you are interested in a career in tech transfer and would like to get more specific suggestions, feel free to reach out to Dr. Hu (jxh1078@psu.edu) and also see the below resources and tech transfer organizations.

By Kelly Marie Ness

Dr. Melissa Crampsie, director of the Oncology Business Unit at SAI MedPartners, came to speak to graduate students on Thursday, February 1st. SAI MedPartners is a global pharmaceutical consulting firm that assists its clients in identifying potential markets, developing commercialization strategies, and protecting themselves from competitors.

Melissa graduated summa cum laude from West Chester University with dual degrees in pharmaceutical product development and cell and molecular biology. She knew early on in her undergraduate career that she wanted to work in the pharmaceutical industry, and therefore, transferred to West Chester University when she heard about their pharmaceutical product development program from a friend. As a part of her degree requirements, Melissa completed two internships at Johnson & Johnson, the first in the laboratory, and the second on the business side; both of which cemented her desire to work in industry following graduation.

Melissa quickly realized that in order to move up in the pharmaceutical industry, she would need to go back for her doctoral degree, so she applied and was accepted into the pharmacology Ph.D./M.B.A. dual-degree program at Penn State Hershey College of Medicine. The dual Ph.D./M.B.A. program sounds challenging: Melissa completed her doctoral research and accompanying classes during the day, and M.B.A. classes at night and over the summers, yet she still managed to graduate in five years!

Many graduate students feel pressured to stay in academia post-graduation, with a sense that academia is the ‘golden’ path down which only the most successful students venture. Choosing a non-academic career path such as the pharmaceutical industry, many feel as though they are choosing the ‘lesser’ path. When asked about this phenomenon, Melissa responded that she never felt pressure to remain in academia. In fact, she felt impervious to the academic ‘shaming’ of industry careers because she came into graduate school with clear career goals: pharmaceutical product development, marketing, and business strategy.

Dr. Crampsie’s career trajectory is evidence of the importance of networking. In searching for careers post-graduation, she applied to SAI MedPartners and suggested that her friend also apply for the open position. Prior to hearing back from SAI, Melissa was offered, and accepted, an industrial post-doctoral fellowship at a startup called BioSample Solutions; upon which she withdrew her application from SAI and her friend landed the job. A few years later, when BioSample Solutions dissolved, Melissa’s friend returned the favor by recommending her for an open position at SAI MedPartners.

At SAI MedPartners, new associates are brought on as analysts. They handle the majority of the literature research and preparation of presentation materials for clients. Their work is reviewed and interpreted by senior consultants whose assessments and work hours are coordinated by project managers. The jump from consultant to project manager is the most difficult transition for most people because the position involves a very different set of skills. Project managers need to create budget proposals for clients, keep their teams organized, within budget, and prompt. They also work with office managers to ensure that no team members are over- or under-utilized in any given workweek. This is coordinated through a resource-allocation meeting that occurs each Monday morning, in which staff work-time is divvied up between project managers (for example, if one project has deliverables due that week, they may request more days of work from the analysts assigned to their project that week, and the other project managers adjust their other assignments to that analyst accordingly).

Consulting is known for brutal travel schedules and long work hours. SAI MedPartners is committed to creating a better work environment for its employees: associate preferences are taken into consideration for travel and the target for all associates is a 40-50 hour workweek. SAI is also very flexible in allowing its employees to work from home; the majority of their consultants do so regularly or on a part-time basis (i.e. three days a week in office, two at home). For students considering making the transition to the pharmaceutical consulting world, Melissa stressed that scientists learning business-strategy have an easier time than the reverse, which is why SAI tries to hire analysts from science or healthcare backgrounds and trains them on the consulting process.

Pharmaceutical consultants perform lots of primary research by following earnings and investor calls of clients’ competitors, reading and assessing clinical trials data for upcoming drugs, and attending medical conferences to learn about research breakthroughs and establish relationships with scientists and physicians in the field. SAI MedPartners relays this information to their clients via reports and presentations and also uses it to provide clients with strategic advice, marketing and communications suggestions, and assessment of the overall competitor landscape.

If you are interested in Pharmaceutical consulting, feel free to reach out to Dr. Crampsie for advice or to answer questions about the general career.

By Hillary Figler

It was refreshing to listen to Dr. Lydia Cox’s career seminar last semester. After getting her Ph.D. and a few years employed in industry, she decided to take some time off to raise her children. This is quite unique in the life sciences. As female scientists, we usually can’t afford a gap in our career, for fear of never getting back to the place we once were. To be able to do this she gave the following advice, “Don’t burn any bridges – the world of science is smaller than you think.” It was refreshing to hear that Lydia had re-entered the workplace successfully, and not even that but was able to take an eleven-year break between employment. While this isn’t for everyone, it’s nice to have options. Currently, Lydia is working at Nichino America, an agricultural chemical company as Director of Regulatory Affairs. She describes her current job as science plus business, and a logical progression and on the job training allowed for this.

“The people that I see as successful are those that are not only driven, but who are also positive, optimistic, and can interact well with others who are above and below them in the hierarchy.”

Dr. Cox received her Bachelor’s in Animal Science from Cornell University and Ph.D. in Toxicology from the University of the Sciences. She then completed a postdoc at New York University. Now in her current job, she works in regulatory affairs. She explained the field, “Everyone I know in Regulatory Affairs started off doing another job first and then moved to Regulatory Affairs.  I think it is unusual to be hired into Regulatory Affairs directly from graduate school, at least in my industry sector.”

As graduate students, we must keep an open mind and consider all possible career options. If you are interested in regulatory affairs, feel free to reach out and ask Dr. Cox additional questions.

by Lila Herk Rieber

Like many graduate students, Zach Fuller was undecided between doing a postdoc and taking a job in industry. Eventually, he accepted a postdoc position in population genetics, a decision he discussed in a seminar sponsored by GenoMIX. Though he is still in an academic environment, he discovered that becoming a postdoc is a major transition from graduate school.

Zach received his PhD in biology from Penn State and B.S. in biology from Creighton University. He is currently a postdoc at Columbia.

What are your current roles/responsibilities? How have these changed over time?

My current role is a postdoctoral fellow in Molly Przeworski’s lab. As a postdoc, I have a lot of independence over my own research projects, of course with guidance and advice from Molly and other lab members. Since I am still fairly new, my roles and responsibilities have not changed much. So far, most of my responsibilities have been centered on grant writing and applying for fellowships. At the moment, I am also in charge of a coral genome project that I am trying to get started.

Is there anything specific that prepared you for your current position?

The main preparation I had was learning how to operate independently and reach out to collaborators, both of which I gained experience in while a PhD student. Being a postdoc requires a lot of independence, and I was glad that I gained this experience while at Penn State. I think having the ability to work on side projects and other collaborators outside of my main thesis work really helped me develop these skills.

Had you always wanted to do a postdoc?

No, not at all. In fact, about half way through my PhD I was pretty set on going into an industry job and getting out of academia. However, after learning a little bit more about what I would be doing in some of the industry jobs I considered and talking with some potential postdoc mentors, I realized I wanted to do a postdoc. The main motivation for me was that it would be more difficult to go back into academia if I found that I didn’t like industry. Having the freedom to explore my own research interests is what I want out of my career, so a postdoc made the most sense, for me.

What skills have made you and others in your field successful? Were there any unexpected skills that you needed to learn?

I think having a practical ability to code is the biggest skill that I can see. It doesn’t require being an absolute expert and there are always going to be people who are better computational scientists than you for the hard problems, but I think being able to quickly code or write a script to accomplish some task is a big skill to have. In a general sense, I think having the ability to critically assess what you know and what you don’t know is the biggest skill to have. Understanding when you need to reach out and get help from others or read more on your own is critical in gaining the knowledge needed to explore interesting research questions.

What’s the most challenging part of being a postdoc?

The most challenging part is realizing that there is so much that you don’t know. As a graduate student, you spend 4-5 years becoming an expert on a very specific area of research. As a postdoc and trying to establish your own future research program, you have to branch out and expand from the very focused area of your PhD work. This was very overwhelming for me at first.

What can a graduate student do to prepare for a postdoc? Any tips on specific ways to network in the field?

The biggest piece of advice would be to start developing your independence as early as you can and reach out and pursue collaborations and side projects. There are many opportunities for sources of external funding available, and looking up some grants/fellowships that would allow you to be in charge of your own projects and funding is a great way to learn this. To find postdoc opportunities, it is really important to start reaching out to potential advisors early and build relationships with them. Take advantages of conferences and push yourself to meet as many people as possible. Take advantage of other opportunities as well such as when outside speakers come to campus.

What advice do you have, about anything, for current graduate students?

Stay well-rounded and keep balanced. I think it is easy to get caught up in minuscule details of one specific project, so it is important to keep the bigger picture in mind. I also found it really helpful and beneficial to put effort into outreach and teaching and I think my research really benefited by taking a step back and learning how to communicate science effectively.

By Di (Bruce) Chen

While pursuing a postdoctoral position is currently a common path for many Ph.D. students after their graduate training, most of the opportunities are usually provided by academic institutes. On the other hand, more and more companies in the field Life Sciences are setting up post-doctoral programs as well, and this can be a great platform for those who would like to eventually land at positions in the industry.

As part of the Huck Graduate Student Advisory Committee’s (HGSAC) Career Exposure Seminar Series, we invited Dr. Xuan Ye from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals to give a talk at Penn State on January 13th, 2017. Xuan obtained his Bachelor’s Degree from Wuhan University, and received his Ph.D. in Biology at Penn State. He then joined Regeneron Pharmaceuticals at 2015 upon finishing graduate school and is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at the company. See below for some of his experiences as an industrial postdoc and suggestions for current graduate students.

What are your current roles/responsibilities? How have these changed over time?

My current position is postdoctoral fellow at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. I have taken this position for 1.5 years and this is a 3-year training program. My responsibilities are mainly performing scientific research in a collaborative manner and one of the end goals is to publish. In detail, my role requires me to conceive scientific projects; to keep up with latest updates in the field through reading literatures and attending conferences; to design and carry out experiments; to communicate and collaborate with other departments; to analyze and present data; to write manuscript and publish.

Is there anything specific that prepared you for your current career?

I received great Ph.D. training from my advisor, including critical thinking, presentation/communication skills, scientific writing skill and most importantly scientific attitude and perseverance. Things outside of your research are also important to prepare my current position, such as leadership and mentorship experience, business experience.

Was this career path something you had always considered?

Postdoc in industry is a path I have considered and prepared. Although I did consider some other positions, all these positions are related to pharmaceutical industry. I do think pharmaceutical/biomedical industry will continue to grow for at least 20 years and this is an great opportunity for biology graduate students.

What skills have made you and others in your field successful? Were there any unexpected skills that you needed to learn?

I’m still on the journey to figure out how to be successful in my field. I switched from cell biology to immunology, which is a huge change for me. I learnt the basic knowledge and technical skills from the start. It’s fast-paced in industry and learning agility is an important skill to master. In addition, pharmaceutical industry consists multiple departments groups collaborating together. And they focus on a broad spectrum of diseases. So it’s also important to become knowledgeable horizontally and vertically.

What’s the most challenging part of your career? And how do you think your career will change in both the near and distant future?

The most challenging part is to publish in 3 years without the help from research assistants. Biological research is very laborious and unpredictable. It’s important to find a niche which can take full advantage of company’s resources to test innovative ideas.

Traditional career path after postdoc is to become a scientist in industry and formally involved in the pipeline. It’s a great opportunity to experience the process of drug discovery. In the distant future, I hope I can work in an early stage biotech company to experience the excitement and challenges of establishing a company from scratch.

What can a young scientist do to position him or herself for a career in industry? Any tips on specific ways to network in the field?

First, try to get into a field related to diseases during the PhD study. Pharmaceutical industry focuses on make innovative therapeutics for human diseases. Working in a disease-related field helps you to think like them. Second, do your homework. There are tons of free information on the internet. At the same time, talk to people in industry is also helpful for you to know how it’s like and what skill sets are required. The best way to network with them is through professional conferences and meetings.

What advice do you have, about anything, for current graduate students?

Scientific research is a tough career path. Try your best to learn as much about your field but also broaden your horizon. At the same time, try to enjoy the process and have fun. In addition, keep connected to the real society and gain a deeper understanding of this world. As a scientist, the best reward is the satisfaction of curiosities. As a person in pharmaceutical industry, the ultimate fulfillment is to make innovative drugs to help patients.

By Xiaoyu Zh

As Graduate students, most of us have experience in TA, or mentoring undergraduates in the lab. If you happen to enjoy it, then congrats! You have one more good option for your future career: faculty at a liberal arts college, which allows you to teach and research at the same time. Then how do we prepare ourselves for this career path, and what to expect on this journey? As part of the Huck Graduate Student Advisory Committee’s (HGSAC) Career Exposure Seminar Series, we were honored to have Dr. Jill Keeney, a biology professor and the Department head of Juniata College, to share her experience from a graduate student to a leading faculty member.

Dr. Keeney received her BS from Penn State and her PhD from Washington University in St. Louis. She then did her postdoc in Johns Hopkins Medical School. Dr. Keeney is now the head of the Biology department at Juniata. In addition to teaching, Dr. Keeney runs a student centered research program, and has received grants for this endeavor from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.

• What’s your educational background? Is there anything specific that prepared you for your current career?

BS in biochemistry from Penn state

Ph.D. in immunogenetics from Washington University in St. Louis

Postdoc in molecular genetics at Johns Hopkins university.

Mentoring undergraduates in the lab during graduate and postdoc work was helpful in getting me thinking about teaching undergraduates. I did not have any formal teaching experience before I applied to my current position.

• What are your current roles/responsibilities? How have these changed over time?

My current responsibilities are teaching, supervising students in research and department chair responsibilities. At a small school, department chair is a lot of detail oriented work on scheduling and budgets, as well as mentoring young faculty in teaching and research.

These have changed over time to be more administrative tasks and to be in a mentoring role for younger faculty. Additionally, I have taken on some other roles, such as co-chairing the college’s strategic planning committee, and taking a role in writing institutional grants.

• Was this career path something you had always considered?

No, this is not something that I have always considered. Honestly I didn’t give a lot of thought to where I would be headed finishing my Postdoc. During my Postdoc, some colleagues in the lab suggested that I consider teaching as a career. For my husband and I, the opportunity to not have to live in a big city but be able to live in a small town was a plus.

• What skills have made you and others in your field successful? Were there any unexpected skills that you needed to learn?

Not surprisingly, organization is a key skill. To be mentoring students in research, while also keeping courses well organized, keeping up with course content, and taking on administrative duties requires a lot of organization. One of the unexpected skills I had to learn is mentoring students in crisis about their college career or life. Also I had to learn the skill of managing interactions and conflicts between colleagues. Fortunately, in my department this has not been difficult.

• What’s the most challenging part of your career?

I think for me, the most challenging part of my career has been balancing what I wanted to do with my work and the challenges of my family. My husband had a fulltime career in medicine with a private practice. And one of our children is high functioning autistic. This required some extra time, energy and effort to manage during the school years. Sometimes, this was extremely challenging, trying to balance time for my career with what I felt was adequate time with my children. Now that my kids are in college or beyond, I’m trying to rebuild my research.

• How do you think your career will change in both the near and distant future?

With the increased cost of higher education, I think we may be fighting a push for larger classes, including larger laboratory sections. Also, departments may be asked to reduce in terms of supplies for laboratories, and there may also be less internal support available for research. With the increased cost of research, along with decreased funding, finding funding for undergraduate research may become increasingly more difficult. On the more positive side, the trend seems to be more students pursuing college degrees. Faculty may need to play an ever- increasing role in recruitment and in general education. This is a positive change.

• What can a young scientist do to position him or herself for a career as a liberal arts professor? Any tips on specific ways to network in the field?

I think the best way to prepare may be to connect with someone at a liberal arts college, and work with them to teach a short term module in one of their classes. Spending time developing a 2-3week module, that includes assessment, may be more advantageous than spending an entire semester teaching a course. This also allows some mentoring by the faculty member. The best way to make a connection, is to either attend the education session of major meetings, such as the American Society for Genetics, or to look for small schools nearby, which there are many in Pennsylvania, and email a faculty member asking is you could collaborate to produce a module for a class.

• If you weren’t at Juniata where do you think or where would you like to be?

I cannot imagine myself being anywhere other than juniata. I have enjoyed this career very much, although with my children and husbands career, I have not been able to keep up the research program that I had hoped for. Around the time I was interviewing at juniata, I had the opportunity to interview for a position at the University of Pennsylvania. I do not think I would’ve liked that kind of position. I really enjoy mentoring many different students.

• How easy/difficult is it to balance work and family life in your career as a liberal arts professor?

Because Huntingdon is a small town, balancing work and family life I think was easier than in a city because of the non-existent commute time. I have a 1.5 mile commute and my children’s schools are within walking distance of work. This allowed me to attend all school activities, including helping out with after school activities. This would be difficult in a larger city. Of course, many liberal arts colleges are located in larger towns or cities. Teaching has very intense times with slower times, but not having the research pressure has worked better for me. The teaching job requires a lot of “on” energy during the day, but I find it very rewarding. Finding childcare was a challenge, but that is true anywhere. The tuition exchange benefit is a huge plus.

• What advice do you have, about anything, for current graduate students?

Write a mission statement for yourself; what you would like to make as your priorities in life. Life has a way of just happening, and we tend to do what is most obvious or what those around us are doing, without really giving direct thought to what we would like to achieve in life.